Blue Yeti Audacity

Speaking louder into the microphone is the number one thing that will make your voices less quiet.
Being confident in your delivery and speaking as loud as your character would be in their current situation is what will help you project your voice and make it clear and distinct.

As well I know a useful trick that should do you wonders. It's an Effect called Noise Removal.
It will remove the background noise of recordings so you can increase the volume of your voice without making room noise super obvious.

The defaults should be fine, but let’s say we have a Blue Yeti Pro USB microphone plugged into a laptop. Audacity’s default will most likely be the laptop mic. To fix this we need to click the recording device’s drop-down menu and select the one that says, in this case, “Blue USB Audio.”. The first image below is of the front of the Blue Yeti. As you can see, there is the mute button, which I referenced earlier, and a headphone volume knob. The volume knob will control the sound that comes out of the microphone to your headphones, which you might be using to monitor how you sound. The second image is of the back of the Blue Yeti. I recently purchase a Blue Yeti USB Microphone at Radioshack and been experiencing technical difficulties ever since I plugged it in to my Windows Vista desktop. I notice that every time I record my voice and play it on Audacity, it sounds very high pitched and distorted. At first I thought it. I don't know if Blue's Customer Support is good or not, but you might give it a try. They probably won't help you with Audacity, but if Windows can't see the mic they should help you with that. I don't own the Blue Yeti, but it's got a great set of features. If I was buying a 'podcast' mic, that's probably the one I'd buy.

I'll go through it step by step.

-Before you do a recording, hit the record button and let your microphone record for about five seconds without saying anything at all.

-After this period of time, do your recording as you usually would.

-Highlight the time where you didn't say anything.

-Go to Effects and select Noise Removal.

-A menu will pop up, from here click 'Get Noise Profile'

(Now Audacity recognizes the background noise that your mic is picking up)

-Select the track your recording is on.

-Go to effects and click on 'Repeat Noise Removal' (it should be at the top)

-Listen to your recording again, if you can still hear the background noise, click 'Repeat Noise Removal'.
Repeat as necessary.

(WARNING! If you said anything at all during the silence period, Audacity will remove certain frequencies of your voice from the recording, which will result in you glitchy and unusual)

Your recording should now be mostly clear of background noise, this will allow you to increase the amplitude of your recording without making the background noise super obvious.
Keep in mind that a good delivery is the best way to get good volume.

Hope I was helpful in some way! :P

How Do You Not Sound Like You’re In A Tunnel?

I record absolutely everything — Girl In Space, the Write Now podcast, and all of my lines and roles for other shows — with my basic Blue Yeti USB microphone. And one of the questions I’m asked most frequently is, “Sarah, how do you not sound like you’re recording beneath a highway overpass?”

I firmly believe that you do not need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on recording equipment. You can create an amazing, professional-quality show with relatively inexpensive equipment like the Blue Yeti as long as you understand how to record with it.

Get Rid Of The Echo

Hard surfaces and sharp angles are the worst of the recording culprits. Get rid of them with curves and soft, absorbent surfaces.

Use Blue Yeti With Audacity

I have a large piece of audio foam that I’ve removed ALL angles from by forming it into a semicircle. I also have a foam windscreen atop the mic itself (the little foam hat), as well as a cheap folded towel on my desk to further absorb sound/echoes.

You may also want to have something behind you as well — a hanging duvet, moving blanket, bunch of t-shirts on hangers, whatever you have access to. I don’t have this, because my body blocks and absorbs all sound coming in and out of what I’ve dubbed my TUBE OF PODCASTING.

Sometimes my cat, Midori, joins me… and while she makes an excellent sound dampener, the purring, sound of constant movement, and coating of cat hair really cancel out any benefits.

Here’s a real-life picture of my setup:

Get Close To The Mic… No, Closer!

Most people record way too far away from their microphone.

Ideally, your mouth should be about a fist’s space away from the mic when you speak into it, and the gain on the mic (the dial on the back, if you’re using a Blue Yeti) or your recording software should be adjusted so that when you speak at that distance, the sound registers around -12dB.

Audacity With Blue Yeti

And if you’re using a Blue Yeti, you should be talking into the front of the microphone, not the top.

Monitor Yourself

Be sure to wear headphones while you record to get a good feel for how you sound. If you’re following the above two tips, your voice should sound up-close and velvety to your ears.

Questions?