How to record audio for casting

Often, when voice actors record audio for casting, they struggle with sharing and collaborating with managers, agents, and coaches. Notetracks is a platform built to easily record and annotate voice-overs, castings, or any other audio files and gather notes and annotations precisely on the track (think of SoundCloud meeting Google Docs).

To begin, click the ‘New Project’ button, select audio as your file type, and name your project.

Next, navigate to the bottom of the middle of the workspace. You’ll notice a row of playback controls, including pause, fast forward, reverse, stop, and record.

When you’re ready to record, press the red circle. Record your voice-over, casting, or audition. Your waveform will be blue while you record. Once you’re finished, click the red circle again.

You’ll now have your voice-over visible and paused in the workspace. You also have the ability to add several recordings, which can be useful if you’re practicing a scene with another talent, for example.

Notetracks also has the capability to annotate, comment, and take notes on audio castings. For instance, a voice actor can utilize Notetracks' commenting tool to pinpoint areas for potential enhancements, including aspects like tone, articulation, and tempo.

To leave a comment or note, ensure you’re in the comment pane, and then navigate to where in the audio you’d like to leave your thoughts by using the playback controls or by clicking on the waveform to move the playhead. Click the ‘New Comment’ button. A box where you can type text will appear. Write down your note and press post when you’re done.

Your comment will now be available to see visually alongside your voice-over in Notetracks. Comments can also be made over a span of time, such as from 0:00 to 0:02 by dragging your cursor across the waveform while in the comment pane.

You’re also able to annotate your casting recordings while in Notetracks. Go to the top middle of the workspace and switch to the ‘Draw’ pane. You’ll be greeted by a variety of tools, including tags, labels, and a notepad. Tools, such as labels and tags, can be useful in organizing scenes, labelling when different voices come in, and further note-taking on your casting.

To use labels, click the ‘T’ icon, select the colour you’d like to use and scroll down. On the left-hand side under the comment area, you’ll see ‘Drawings’ – make sure this is expanded. You can then double-click where you’d like to leave a label, or drag the label into the workspace.

To use stamps, select the icon you’d like to use and then either drag it down to where you’d like it to go or double-click. It will now be visually available in the workspace. Both tags and labels can easily be moved and dragged along the workspace.

Voice actors often will need to share their casting recordings with a talent coach, manager, or casting agent. Notetracks is fully collaborative, quickly shared, and distributed due to our variety of options. This feature can be useful if you’re sharing auditions with a coach or manager to receive feedback and ideas, improving the overall quality of your casting auditions.

Click the ‘Share Project’ button in the top right-hand corner of Notetracks.

You’ll be greeted by a new screen with various sharing options, including sharing through email addresses, communication platforms, a public link, and sharing at a specific time-stamp.

To share with a collaborator’s email address, enter it in the invite box and proceed to click ‘Send Invite’. You can use the drop-down menu to change your podcast collaborator’s permissions, including ‘Can edit’, ‘Can comment’, and ‘Can view’. You can also write a message to them in your invitation.

Additionally, you can easily share your audio files with collaborators via Gmail, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, and Microsoft Teams utilizing the communication platform icons.

If you’re looking to have an easy sharable link to your casting recording so your collaborators do not have to signup or login, you can make the link completely public by selecting ‘Activate Public Link’, allowing anyone to access your Notetracks project. You can also click the check box underneath the link to share your casting recording at an exact time stamp.

Once you’ve shared your casting, collaborators, such as casting agents and talent managers, can utilize the commenting and annotation tools previously mentioned to share feedback and constructive criticism. Collaboration often contributes substantially to the quality of an audio project, and with more ears listening and giving feedback, your casting can be improved more than ever before.