Podcast readers: do you annotate your stories before reading

[Djinndustries]

Hi, everyone,

This question is for the podcast voice actors (is that the right term?). Once I had a girlfriend who wanted to read a short story for class and she marked up the book with pencil for cues for how she should be speaking. I was horrified, of course, to get a book back with penciled notes in her crappy handwriting.

But now that I've heard a couple great episode readers, I find myself wondering:

• Do you annotate your stories?
• If so, how?
• Do you highlight dialogue with different color highlighters to make sure you use the right character voice?
• Do you make notes about tone (angry! coy!)
• As a side note, some people also have better recording rigs than others. What kind of mics/headsets do you use?

I've given out readings of my favorite short stories to friends and family on CDs, but I'd be willing to up the quality if I had a little more hardware info.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback in advance!

[TheBori]

Dj,
Let's see. I don't annotate for tone or dramatic intensity. The story line usually does that on its own. I do, on occasion, highlight different characters...particularly if the author doesn't use any "he said..." or "said Susie...".
Of course, I have the luxury of digital editing. There are times when I'd get through an entire paragraph and realize I've been reading as the wrong character. Back to the top. Not a big deal, just uses up some time.

As for the setup... The first stories I recorded (for the Starship Sofa, sorry Norm) were recorded on a cheap PC mic. When I listen now, I cringe. Now I use an Audio Technical AT202 USB mic connected directly to a laptop. I don't use headphones when I record...I find it distracting. I do have a vocal isolation booth (primarily for my other voice work) that provides a nice acoustic space. I edit with Audacity...free, easy and powerful. I did have some customizations made to my copy of Audacity mainly to help speed up my editing (Thanks Ed!).

If you want more info, drop me a note from my website MikeBorisAudio.com

Good luck!

Mike