Voiceover tips (recording the human voice)

[stephentedsmith]

We record a lot of voice overs at ALT Recording Studios in Brighton. I've been unable to find much advice on the web about recording the human voice.

I've given an overview of what we do but would love to hear any tips or techniques used.


I always appreciate the difficulty in recording the human voice well. Colouration be it from roo acoustics, excessive compression, bad microphone techniques etc can ruin a recording. We hear the human voice everyday and so instantly know when it sounds wrong.

As with any recording it is always best to start at the source. In this case the voice over artist. Sitting comfortably, having good posture can work wonders.What I always try and aim for from a voice over artist is to optimise volume levels, reduce excessive sibilance and microphone popping, reduce excessive bass due to microphone proximity. In our control room at our Brighton studio we position the artists with their back to wall covered in auralex acoustic tiles to help avoid a boxy sound and create a pleasant reverberation ambiance.

Each mic has its own sound. At ALT Recording Studios we use Rode valve mics for recording voice over artists. We find it has a clean yet warm quality.

At the mix down stage I usually add compression but only with ratios up to 4:1 and a threshold of less than 5dB to get rid of the the peaks. To keep everything sounding natural I use a fast attack and a release time of around a 0.25 of a second. I always try and avoid gating, de essing and eq unless there are specific issues I am trying to remedy.

I've posted more details on our website

www.altrecordingstudios.com

http://www.altrecordingstudios.co.uk...okenvoice.html

[TOM@METRO]

I find nothing here to find fault with. thanks stephentedsmith.

[fenderrocker]

Wow. Great tips. This will definitely help me with a project I'm currently working on.