How to Record Quality Voiceovers
You’ve found your voiceover talent and are ready to start producing your script, and the next step will be to create a professional recording. You may be working with a videographer or production team to create your voiceover script, but there are also several computer software programs and tools available to help you create the entire project from start to finish on your own.
Preparation is vital to produce a professional quality voiceover piece. In particular, you initially need to setup the room in which you’ll record in. Here are some useful tips to do just that.
1. Test your equipments. Having your talents on standby waiting for a faulty equipment setup to be fixed will cost you time and even money if you book them by the hour. Make sure you get the right equipment for the job and test them well ahead of production day, says Jay Rose, the author of “Producing Great Sound for Digital Video”. You have to go as far as testing them hours before your actual production to make sure your project goes without a hitch.
2. Make sure the room does not create echoes. The only way you’ll know if the room is creating an ‘echoing’ effect is when you turn on the microphone and shut all the doors and windows. Do some test recordings with all of your equipment to reduce the risk of the echo effect.
3. Use background music if necessary. A professionally done recording must not contain any white noise. This is specially true for a narration wherein the viewer must sense that the narrator is directly in front and having a conversation with them. If the white noise goes beyond an acceptable level, you should definitely think about adding a background music.
4. Find the best position in the room for the recording. There are no rules about where to position the microphone, so feel free to move the mic setup into different areas of the room to get the right sound. You don’t want to record when the sounds seem hollow or filtered in any way. Move around to find the best fit.
5. Don’t worry about outside traffic or small rumbles. Even simple things like fluorescent lighting or distant traffic outside the window can effect the sound quality of your voiceover recording. However, most mics do not pick up these sounds. If you do feel like the script is being affected by these outside sounds, consider adding a high-pass filter to the microphone for a crisper recording.
6. Quiet vents, air conditioners and computer fans. If you’re working in a very small space, you may have left computers or an A/C on during the recording. Sounds from these machines can cause some turbulence for your recording, so it’s a good idea to turn them off for as long as possible during each recording segment.
Also monitor always the recording session in real-time using your headphones. Utilize playback functions in a seperate room to ensure that all is in order. Doing this will allow you to solve problems real-time and spare you doing retakes.
Arlene Rakes @ July 1, 2009