Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2022.07.04 – 0550 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Echos Echo It’s not quite the same echo as you get when talking in a tunnel or cave, where your sound comes back a split second later, but it’s the same principle: the sound of a voice is reflected off rather than absorbed by the environment in which you are making the recording. This ‘colours’ the voice and makes it sound thin – great if you want to paint...

2022.07.03 – 0549 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Recording Distortion Distortion (or: ‘clipping’, ‘overmodding’) When the equipment is set at too high a level for the incoming audio, the resulting recording is distorted. It is ‘overflowing’ with the sound it is being asked to process. On a level or meter, the needle will barely move from the far-right hand side or lights will be fully-lit in the red. Set...

2022.07.02 – 0548 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Clicks Clicks Seemingly inexplicable clicks and bumps on a recording can often be traced to handling noise from the microphone.   In a studio put the mic on mount and simply don’t touch it. Hand-held mics should be gripped firmly but not tightly and fingers should be kept still, as any movement can often be picked up as handling noise. So if you have...

2022.07.01 – 0547 – Listen Out For These Common Microphone Muck-Ups AUDIO TROUBLESHOOTING Basic studio sound problems Forgetting to put the mic on or turn it on – even pros very occasionally omit to attach a lapel mic to themselves or start talking before they have faded their mic up. [1] Forgetting to take it off or turn it off – or walking away from a set and forgetting that people can still hea...

2022.06.30 – 0546 – Noise-Gates and Ducking Noise gating controls the loudness at which a sound will be picked up or recorded. If it’s too low a level, it simply will not be allowed to pass through the ‘gate’, which stops background noise such as traffic sounds from being heard. It’s what’s used in Automatic Level Control systems that we looked at earlier.   Ducking controls the volume of one...

2022.06.29 – 0545 – Equalisation, Compressors and De-Essers Equalization – or EQ – is a form of audio processing which allows you (or rather the studio engineer) adjust the volume level of a frequency (or range of frequencies) within a sound. As everyone’s voice is different, this can to a certain extent, cure a sound of its imperfections.   Compressors  control the loudness of the signa...

2022.06.28 – 0544 – Studio Tech That Could Make Your Voice Sound Great Audio Processing There are technical ways (such as EQ and compression) of adjusting the voice that is being (or has been) recorded to enhance it further to give it greater presence, depth and tonal quality.   This is something you have done only after you have provided the tech the best possible original signal : having go...

2022.06.27 – 0543 – Mike’s Mic Problem: A Case Study   Mike was referred for voice help by his studio engineer – a rather unusual route to consultation. The engineer’s problem was that where he placed the microphone, it would always pick up Mike’s breaths, and he determined that it was Mike at fault and not the studio equipment. And he was right!   There could have been several reasons f...

2022.06.26 – 0542 – Your Mic Levels Mixed With Music Your levels with music We looked at the use of music beds before, but the important thing to remember here is the balance of levels between the music and your voice. Many beginners tend to have background music too high because they aren’t sure of their voices and their overall confidence, and so use the bed to cover them a bit. It’s a bit of a...

2022.06.25 – 0541 – Your Mic Levels With Headphones Your levels with headphones If you notice a lower level in your headphones, you might begin to speak more loudly to compensate, and suddenly you’re in a situation of talking at the listener, rather than telling them a story, or chatting with them in a conversational way, and lessening the ability to communicate with them. Incidentally, the best w...

2022.06.24 – 0540 – Mics At Noisy Events VOICE BOX Mics at a Noisy Event If you are simply shouting over other noises (perhaps to convey the excitement of the event [1] ) then: ·        you may not be using the right type of microphone ·        you probably need to be wearing headphones so you can isolate the sound tha...

2022.06.23 – 0539 – The Magic Balance Between Mic Position, Projection and Recording Levels You can increase the basic loudness of your voice by turning up the gain [1] on your mic, but this will make you sound thin and weak, partly because more room noise is also being picked up by the mic, for which you have increased the sensitivity. In other words, your voice will be louder, but it won’t have...

2022.06.22 – 0538 – Maddening Over-Modding   On occasion it may be impossible to anticipate external noise and so be unable to use any of the techniques described above, and therefore over-modding may be the (almost) inevitable result. For example: at a sports event when a goal is scored (or at a presidential event when a political point is scored) and “ the crowd goes wild ”; at a carnival o...

2022.06.21 – 0537 – How To Fix A Recorded Level That’s Too High… Or Low If your mic level is too low Your ‘live’ level can be boosted, not just with the main microphone channel but also the booster ‘gain’ setting’. But this may also increase the background noise from the studio that’s picked up, that is the general ambience of the room, as well as making the mic more sensitive to your own mouth no...

2022.06.20 – 0536 – Automatic Level Control Automatic Level Control versus Manual In a home recording studio, your mixing desk or the recording set-up on a video call may have an ‘automatic level control’ that you can ‘set and forget’. They keep signals below distortion point, and when they fall too low they cut in and boost the signal upwards.   But adjusting the recording levels manually gi...

2022.06.19 – 0535 – Why A Studio Engineer Wants To Know About Your Breakfast When asked for “ a bit for level ”, it is surprisingly difficult to think of what to say!   It sounds obvious but many people simply say “testing, testing … 1,2,3,4,5” or “Mary had a little lamb” or a producer may use the classic line “tell me what you had for breakfast”. But all of those are too short and don’t enco...

2022.06.18 – 0534 – “A Bit For Level, Please” “A bit for level” Part of working out your correct mic position before you start recording or go live, will involve of course, you speaking in to the mic so your voice can be heard by you (wearing headphones) and by any engineer you might have (in a control room), and correct recording levels can be set.   This is to check: The microphone, its cha...

2022.06.17 – 0533 – Don’t Interfere With the Sound Engineer A quick word to be kind to your sound engineer. This is the person in a voiceover or dubbing studio who is likely to be doing the technical side of things such as setting up your microphone, monitoring levels, doing the actual recording and playing back those recordings to a client. Another role will be turning on your talkback (the inter...

2022.06.16 – 0532 – Why You Need To Love Your LUFS Sound levels are gauged with decibels and ‘LKFS’ and LUFS’ [1] and on studio displays which light up vertically, or with needles that wiggle, but essentially your ‘moment-by-moment’ level should pretty much always be in a yellow-to-green area, with very occasional short peaks into a red. Or if you have a level marked up, around -10dB, or ‘peaking...

2022.06.15 – 0531 – Loudness Standards In a network or voice-over studio, a sound engineer will adjust your volume settings so the volume of voice is balanced with a similar level of those of other sources, be they of other guests or music. (In smaller studios or for podcasting and so on, you will of course have to do this yourself.) A consistent level is necessary so the listener isn’t forced to...

2022.06.14 – 0530 – How Recording Levels Affect Your Voice So, you have optimised your recording space as far as you are able, and learnt about mic technique – knowledge of each will help you ‘get a better broadcast, podcast or voice-over voice’. So let’s move on to the actual recording of your sound, with a look at ‘loudness’. But we’re not so much looking at your own ‘projection’ or volume – whi...

2022.06.13 – 0529 – What To Wear ‘On-Mic’ What you wear ‘on mic’ The microphone is a sensitive piece of equipment which will ‘hear’ everything it can. That means your voice, your breathing, the squeak of a chair, the rustle of clothing or scripts. So when a microphone is open, move and act with care. This also includes not clicking your pen or tapping your feet. ‘Jangling jewellery’ will be heard...

2022.06.12 – 0528 – On-Mic Breathing Take a breath before opening the mic, so the first thing a listener hears is a word not a gasp. Also beware of lip-smacks when you take subsequent breaths when you are on air at the start of a new story or paragraph. This is the sound that occurs when you take a breath and utter a habitual ‘wet kiss’ sound (or ‘tsk’) as you open your mouth. It can be an unconsc...

2022.06.11 – 0527 – The Off-Chance of Being Off-Mic It may sound obvious but make sure that you know which part of the microphone to talk into! With some you talk into the top, with others you talk into the side. Added to that, different mics pick up noise from different areas (their ‘pick-up pattern’), so that could be more from the front and back and not much from the sides, or only from the fro...

2022.06.10 – 0526 – Speaking On Mic Speaking on mic So you are in the booth and you have your script stand, then you need to work out how you can talk into the microphone, but also be able to read from the script. You have to try and read it ‘through’ the pop-screen or stand, or off to one side slightly, or even up higher than the mic. One thing you shouldn’t do is have the script too far below th...