Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2022.07.29 – 0575 – Why Voices Are Raised On Video Calls   Why voices are raised on video calls   Research has shown that when we cannot hear someone well because of noise, we speak louder, and make their gestures more noticeable.   Dr James Trujillo and colleagues at Radboud University Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, analysed video calls between 20 pairs of people [1] . For each pair...

2022.07.28 – 0574 – The Zoom Settings To Make You Sound Better How to sound better on Zoom There are a few tweaks that you can make in the settings that will make a huge difference to your voice.   Zoom automatically adds processing to the audio through the mic. This is turned on and works best if you are in a noisy environment, if your mic is far from you or you are using the built-in mic in...

2022.07.27 – 0573 - … And What You Can Do About It. It stands to reason that the higher quality the input, the better you'll sound to your listeners, and it’s important to sound your best if you hope to leave a strong impression. So upgrade your work-station to reduce such problems: ·        If you can hear other people better as well as yourself, there’s le...

2022.07.26 – 0572 - How You Hear Affects Your Video-Call Voice…   How You Hear Affects Your Video-Call Voice Video-chat software compresses audio in a conversation, so it ends up not as clear as being face-to-face. This means that: ·        People tend to talk louder to make sure that their voice carries. But often they’re not projecting like stage acto...

2022.07.25 – 0571 - How You Sit Affects Your Video-Call Voice   How You Sit Affects Your Video-Call Voice Bad posture can affect how you sound: ·        We are likely to be sitting down ·        We tend to then look down at the laptop camera, affecting the neck position and then the range of motion and flexibility...

2022.07.24 – 0570 – How Appearing On Video Calls Affect Your Voice Let’s briefly spend a few days looking at your voice on video such as home-studio webinars or YouTubes and Zoom-type classes or meetings.   There is a very real possibility of vocal strain on video-calls because it’s a very different vocal demand: ·        You sit differently · &nbs...

2022.07.23 – 0569 – A Piece On Earpieces Earpieces Because TV presenters don’t usually wear headphones on screen (although social media video presenters often do), they have small earpieces which perform the same role as headphones, being able to monitor themselves and to hear any directions from the producer in the ‘gallery’ or ‘ops (operations) room’. Alongside those directions, injected directl...

2022.07.22 – 0568 – What To Think Of When Buying Studio Headphones Headphone considerations A pretty good pair of headphones are worth it: ·        Not all headphones will make your voice sound the same. You want a pair that reproduces your voice with a sound that you are comfortable with and doesn’t make you wince every time you hear yourself – that will on...

2022.07.21 – 0567 – Headphones: The ‘One Ear On, One Ear Off’ Style The case for only partly wearing headphones Some presenters wear headphones so that one ear is covered and the other is not, as it helps them hear a ‘natural self’ in the studio as well as what they sound like on air: to hear themselves as they actually sound and how the mic and processing is making them sound like. There is a cha...

2022.07.20 – 0566 – Why Some Presenters Go ‘Headless’ The case for not wearing headphones Some voice-overs don’t wear headphones when they record their spot, so they can be more ‘in the moment of the copy’ rather than feel as though they are ‘performing’, and monitoring their melody, pitch and breaths. The thinking goes, and I totally understand this, is that if you are giving yourself feedback an...

2022.07.19 – 0565 – SQUEAEAEAL!! Headphone Volume And Feedback Headphone volume and feedback In a studio you will be able to control the volume of the headphones to a certain extent. This is though, usually limited to stop accidental damage to your ears. It also stops the volume being turned up high so noise does not leak (or ‘bleed’) from them, causing feedback (that high-pitched squeak, which we...

2022.07.18 – 0564 – How Wearing Headphones Improves Your Voice Wearing headphones improves your voice and presentation Wearing headphones gives you immediate feedback on how you sound, and so you can make immediate adjustments to your voice and presentation style. Everything we have talked about so far to do with your voice can be tweaked or turned up, dialled down or downplayed: your pitch and pa...

2022.07.17 – 0563 – The Weird Things About Hearing Yourself Through Headphones Hearing yourself through headphones   “Headphones take your ears from the side of your head  and put them right in front of your mouth so you can hear exactly what you sound like to others.” Rachel Corbett, Podcast Trainer [1]   Think about it, no-one else on earth hears our voice as we ourselves do. &nbs...

2022.07.16 – 0562 – Three *More* Reasons You Need Studio Headphones ·        To hear a ‘split feed’, when the sound in one ear of the headphones is different from that of the other. For example, in a radio studio one channel may have the station output (what you would normally expect to hear) and the other maybe output from another source. It can be tricky t...

2022.07.15 – 0561 – Three Reasons You Need Studio Headphones Monitors (or loudspeakers / speakers): So we can hear the final mix of recorded audio in a room-situation (that is, without headphones), so several people can hear the same audio at the same time and be able to hear each other’s comments.   In a live studio, to enable us to hear the output when a microphone is closed [1]   Head...

2022.07.14 – 0560 – From Microphones To Headphones MONITORS AND HEADPHONES These are all ways to hear audio while in the studio, either the audio that we are creating inside it or audio from another source or from outside the studio.   So why are we talking about them hear? Well, a great part of getting a better broadcast, podcast and voice-over voice is not only creating that sound, but also...

2022.07.13 – 0559 – Using A Mic, Right Final mic thoughts The mic is your friend so look after it. Treat it with respect and don’t shout at it. It is there to help you, but it is sensitive. Having said that it simply wants to get on with the job in hand, to make you sound great. So, once it’s set up, leave it alone. Don’t talk to it . By ignoring the microphone and talking to your listener, you wi...

2022.07.12 – 0558 – Studio Bacteria   Pop shields, filters, headphones and desk controls in radio stations are a breeding ground for bacteria and Valhalla for viruses, with all the spit, sweat and skin deposits. They are all spoken into, worn or touched by many people and rarely if ever cleaned. If you value your voice, do what I do (even before Covid-19 struck) and invest in your own pop shi...

2022.07.11 – 0557 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Sibilance Sibilance This is ‘too much’ (whatever that is) of an ‘s’ sound, and in our line of work the pitch of that sound can be picked up and exaggerated by the microphone (and different types of mic work better with different kinds of voices, picking up different frequencies better), and with podcasts can go right into someone’s ear. There is some fix f...

2022.07.10 – 0556 – Pop Screens and Filters   Pop filters [1] work by either displacing or slowing down the flow of the air, to make it less aggressive on the mic head. There are two kinds. There’s the foam ‘hat’ that goes directly on the mic head to protect it from windblasts and usually seen on outside mics. But the microphone experts Neuman says these can reduce the treble part of a voice...

2022.07.09 – 0555 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Popping Ps Plosives (or: ‘pops’) This is the name for the small blast of air that hits the microphone when someone says words starting with the letter ‘p’. Put your hand in front of your mouth and say: “ Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers / A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked ” or “ Peter Rabbit’s burrow ”. Microphones are sensitive to t...

2022.07.08 – 0554 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Off-Mic Audio Off mic audio If your voice is off-mic, it will sound thin, muffled and distant. Move closer to the mic, speaking more clearly across its top (not directly into it, and so avoid ‘plosives’) and with better level-monitoring. Choosing a different type of microphone with an alternative pickup range may also be the answer. Wear headphones so you...

2022.07.07 – 0553 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Mouth Noise Mouth noise We all have this to some extent, the sound of too much saliva in the mouth, or too little! The sound someone may make as they open their mouth to speak, or move their tongue and lips to form the words, can create an unpleasant noise. Some of this is caused by nerves and not enough saliva to lubricate the mouth, or by eating somethin...

2022.07.06 – 0552 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Interference and Hum Interference and hum This is another kind of distortion, usually from external factors such as air-con units, mobile phone signals (not phones ringing, but when a phone is searching for a carrier), fluorescent or neon lights, computer monitors, fridges, electrical cables and so on. Move away from them or turn them off if possible, put...

2022.07.05 – 0551 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Hiss Hiss (or: ‘static’) This is usually caused when levels are set incorrectly during the recording and so the mic is picking up and boosting the ambient noise of an almost-silent room. It may also be down to a poor-quality microphone or one that has been damaged, or if the mic/line setting on a recorder (or on a connection built into the lead) is se...