The FIFA World Cup has started and I'll be reporting from Qatar!!!

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gm everybody!

or should I say ahlan wa sahlan (أهلاً وسهلان) The FIFA World Cup has kicked off and I've been chosen for a very small role in reporting news about the matches, interviews and off the field gossip, (lol)

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This is #El 12, a fictitious character who is a hard-core soccer fan who has been waiting all year for the FIFA Workd Cup. He's now made it to Doha, Qatar and is ready to hang out with sports fans, players, commentators and everybody surrounding this World party.

image source: creative brief provided by my client.

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I'm not a professional voiceover actor by any stretch of the imagination, but I got the part, because my voice fit the character they're going for and also because of my availability to record with very short notice. I live a block away from the studio so if we need to record and edit a clip on the fly, I can zoom down to the studio and pump it out in my pijamas if need be. Hey, nobody is going to know, right?

In this clip I'll share the news and I'll show you what my character looks and sounds like too.

I did make a Spanish version of this post for our Spanish speaking friends on #HIVE, but unfortunately I got a red card from the mods for not clearly stating my name in writing and not looking into the camera, lol.

Hey, even the best World Cup refs make questionable calls, right?

ESP 🇪🇸 version

English is my native language anyway, so no problem!

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My Setup

This is what my setup looks like behind the scenes.

My recording booth is covered in sound absorbing panels on all walls and ceiling. This helps reduce any unwanted reverb or echo.

I keep the room lights down low to create a bit of a vibe and I keep a photo of #El 12 handy so I can always be inspired and a light-up marquee to remember to stay in character.

Also very important is my portable A/C unit you can see in the back. The recording booth doesn't have any windows, so as you can imagine it gets quite hot during long recording sessions. It's super important to take a break every hour or so to relax your voice and cool down the booth.

My trusty Shure SM7B will be permanently plugged in for the next 30 days or so. That way I can record a voiceover at the drop of a hat. I also have a pop filter permanently installed to cut out the plossives from the Ts and the Ps. This will cut down on editing time.

Of course, my trusty companion Compadre is always here to make sure quality is always top notch. If anything isn't up to spec, he'll definitely ruff me up.

We made an interesting upgrade to the studio too. Something that will go unnoticed by most people, but is incredibly useful to our workflow. We cabled up the studio with audio over shielded CAT5 network cable, just like you would see at a regular office building, except with a slight, but important difference. The endpoints are connected to these breakout boxes that convert the RJ45 cables into standard XLR males that can connect to our audio interface.

this one here:
This is a Focusrite Clarett 8pre with a Octopre extender below for a total of 16 analog inputs. This interface serves as a DA/AD (Digital to analog/Analog to digital) converter so I can send the digital signal to my computer running Logic Pro 10.7

I like to use a dual monitor setup because it just offers much more screen real estate. I can run my main work area on the right screen and plugins on the left screen, with leftover space to have Slack or maybe a browser open. This is also particularly useful when editing video. The timeline and tools can be on one screen and your monitor on the other in full screen mode so you don't have to squint while editing.

stay awesome sports fans! I hope you enjoy the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar to the fullest!

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