The EM Poll

Recording the Spoken Word

Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Perry Anne Norton

           

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Copy That
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To Have and Have Not
Talent in the Raw, Continued

Opportunities for voice-over (v/o) production have increased dramatically for project studios, mimicking the DIY paradigm shift that continues to rock the music industry. Increasingly, clients needing v/o talent and related audio services are bypassing bigger studios to hire more cost-efficient producers for everything from commercials to interactive voice response (IVR) systems.

FIG. 1: This photo shows voice-over pro Rick Adamson’s converted closet, which serves as an isolation booth.

There are basic but critical differences between music production and voice-over production. If you learn and implement elements that are unique to v/o clients and talent, however, v/o production can be a good way to augment your existing studio offerings and bring home a bigger piece of the audio-production pie.

Let's Get Physical

Voice-over recording calls for an acoustically neutral space with no reflections. When I walk into a studio, I want to hear an almost oppressive silence. To prepare for v/o work, consider all the reflective areas in your studio. If you don't already have carpeting, try putting a thick rug at the base of your recording area to supplement any other soundproofing. Even the music stand holding the talent's copy should be covered with a carpet remnant, a towel, or perhaps some acoustic foam to eliminate harsh reflections. If you can't achieve such an environment without overhauling your existing space, you might consider investing in a whisper booth (also called a vocal booth or an isolation booth). A booth's cost will vary depending on its size. As an alternative, try converting an existing closet (see Fig. 1). And don't forget that your CPU may be your most significant noise source; be sure to isolate it.

If you can't completely eliminate ambient noise or reflections, invest in noise-reduction software to clean up your files after recording. When necessary, I use the AudioSuite noise-reduction plug-in Digidesign DINR for Pro Tools just before rendering my files to WAV or MP3, but you probably won't need to do that if your space is dead quiet.

FIG. 2: Mouth noise is a common occurrence when talent is nervous or dehydrated. It would be faster to record another take than to edit this recording.

Once you're happy with the sound of your recording environment, set the stage with some commonsense props for your voice talent. Having certain items on hand, such as a stopwatch and drinking water, helps eliminate factors that could add to the time you'll spend editing. A stopwatch is handy for actors to use before recording to practice voicing commercial copy running 30 or 60 seconds. In the booth provide plenty of room-temperature water, which is better for the voice than hot or cold liquids. Adding a few drops of lemon to the water will keep lip-smacking and mouth noises to a minimum. Chewing gum between takes also helps keep the mouth moist. Be aware that some medications as well as excessive salt can contribute to dry mouth.

Whether mouth noises occur between syllables or words or throughout a passage will determine whether you'll want to do another take or try to edit them out (see Fig. 2 and Web Clip 1). To discourage mouth noise, your talent should avoid consuming caffeine and dairy products. Contrary to the popular belief that tea soothes the vocal cords, the tannins in tea actually dry out the voice, and caffeine can contribute to readings that sound rushed or nervous. Dairy products foster the production of phlegm, resulting in throat clearings that must be edited out. Keep water and healthy energy foods such as fruit on hand for longer sessions. Make a list of these tips and keep it handy (see Web Clip 2).

Usually, you'll want your actors to stand because they can achieve better breath support. For long sessions, though, you should have sturdy, quiet stools or chairs available. A set of headphones for each actor is an obvious necessity. Set up headphones so that actors can hear each other as well as you. Use a filter or windscreen halfway between each actor's mouth and mic to minimize pops on the letters b and p and other plosive breath noises (a plosive is a consonant sound produced when airflow is stopped in the vocal tract).

Mic Check

Which mic you choose for a specific actor will depend on the timbre of his or her voice, just as it would with a singer. A particular mic may sound brittle or harsh and be less forgiving of pops with one voice, yet it may emphasize another person's warmth and resonance. Because voice actors are typically closer to the mic than singers (3 to 4 inches rather than 8 or 9) and tend to stay in one place, find a mic that best matches the actor's voice and minimizes audible breathing and pops, but is as transparent as possible to convey the actor's best voice quality. You want the talent's vocal personality to drive mic choice, not the other way around. Many actors know which mics show them off best, so be sure to ask. You should avoid omnidirectional mics, as they pick up too much room sound and can make actors sound off-mic or in the distance.

High-end studios are more likely than personal studios to get requests for expensive mics. If you can afford a Neumann TLM 49, U 87, or U 47, more power to you. Fortunately, cost-conscious project-studio owners can find excellent and affordable alternatives.

For less expensive mics that are still quite effective, Dom Camardella of Santa Barbara Sound Design likes the Audio-Technica AT4033/CL for its crispy, bright sound. Cautioning that the AT4033/CL can sometimes be sibilant and trebly, however, he also suggests the AT4047/SV, which he describes as warm and rich with a strong output that's not overly bright (see Fig. 3). It's more expensive than the AT4033/CL, says Camardella, but its sound resembles that of a Neumann U 47. He says the AT4050 is another good option.

FIG. 3: Audio-Technica’s AT4047/SV is a versatile multipurpose studio mic that works quite effectively for recording voice-overs.

Camardella asserts that Australian manufacturer Røde Microphones has better quality control than many of its competitors and makes some superb mics with a great deal of consistency. If you want a dynamic mic that performs like older mics, he suggests the Heil PR 40 for its silky top end, openness, presence, and high gain. Blue Microphones has a stable of reasonably priced mics that he recommends. Camardella describes them as silky, with good signal-to-noise ratio. The top of Blue's line is the Blue Bottle with a changeable capsule.

Providing another perspective, v/o talent Rick Adamson gets fantastic results from his Shure KSM32. He likes it because he doesn't want anything with too much coloration, especially because he uses it for straight-ahead corporate work and not pumped-up promos. He says it offers an extended frequency response for an open, natural-sounding reproduction of the original sound source.

As a female, I like the Shure SM7B dynamic mic for its good signal-to-noise ratio and simply because it really complements my voice. It has a large diaphragm, bass rolloff, and presence-boost controls and comes with two different windscreen options. Because the input tends to be a bit on the low side, however, I need to boost the gain.

Placement and Positioning

The number of mics and their placement will depend on the actors and the space available. Although singers need more flexibility to move around and use a mic for dynamic and varied output, actors require fewer fluctuations in volume. Adjust the recording levels to the actor's volume, rather than having him or her move farther from the mic.

FIG. 4: The most effective miking technique for recording voice-overs is to place the mic between 3 and 4 inches from the voice actor’s mouth, with the mic capsule aligned with the actor’s upper lip and a windscreen positioned halfway between.

Mic distance for voice-overs — roughly 3 to 4 inches — may vary with an actor's natural projection and resonance. Whether an actor is speaking straight ahead into the mic or off to one side, you should place the mic capsule at approximately the height of the speaker's upper lip. Placing the mic 20 to 30 degrees off to one side minimizes pops and gives the actor an unobstructed view of the copy (see Fig. 4).

If you're recording two or more actors in an acoustically treated studio, it's usually preferable to have them standing in the same room and seated only for very long sessions. Because actors are more comfortable working off each other, that arrangement makes for a better performance. The best situation is to have one mic for each actor, but even directional mics can still pick up off-axis sounds. To avoid bleeding or spillover when you're recording actors on two different mics simultaneously, try to position the mics according to their polar pattern to achieve maximum off-axis rejection. Fortunately, actors' lines are rarely spoken simultaneously, which means that if one actor's voice spills into another actor's mic, you can use the mute button or correct the problem with editing.

If two actors must share a single mic, you're better off with a bidirectional figure-8 pattern. As an engineer, you'll need to be forgiving of people with less sophisticated mic technique. You may still have problems if one actor has a booming voice and the other has a soft voice. If you have to, place the mic a little bit above and angled down a bit toward the boomy actor so that plosives will come out under the mic. More >>>

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