Thursday, January 14, 2010

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 for advertising. It is possible that you have a videographer or production team helping you create a voiceover script, but did you realize that there are computer software programs and tools that can create the entire project for you from start to finish?

The environment in which you will record your Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE voiceover has to be prepared properly to assure the creation of a quality advertising and promotion piece. Here are some essential tips when preparing the room for your voice over recording:

1. Equipment check. Booking the voiceover talent for the project and then wasting several hours testing equipment will cost you. Jay Rose, the author of the book "Producing Great Sound for Digital Video" suggests that you make sure you get the right kind of equipment and test it well before production day. Even testing it a few hours before production time can reduce unforeseen delays.

2. Try to eliminate the echoes in the recording room. 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. Conduct some test recordings with all of the equipment so that the echo effect can effectively be reduced.

3. Adding background music. In a professional voiceovers, there should not be any noise between the narrator and the listener. You want to create an audio space that sounds as if the narrator is having a face-to-face conversation with the audience. If you have a lot of 'white noise', consider adding background music.

4. Find the best part of the room for recording. There are no rules about where the mic should be placed, so you can try to set up your mic in different areas of the room to see which part has the right sound. By moving the mic around, you can find the area where the sounds do not seem hollowed or filtered in anyway. Moving the mic around until you find the best fit.

5. Outside noise like traffic is not a major concern. Noise like outside traffic and the hum of fluorescent lighting can affect the quality of a voiceover recording. Yet, most microphones do not pick up these sounds. If you notice that the recording is affected by these kind of noises, you can add a high-pass filter to the mic to reduce the pick up of these sounds.

6. Reduce noise from vents, air conditioners and computer fans. Noise from computers, air conditioners and other similar equipment may be picked up by the mic especially when you are recording in small area. Machine sounds can cause some turbulence in your recording, so try to turn these machines off while recording each segment.

You should also be able to monitor the voiceover recording throughout the production cycle using a pair of headphones. By using the playback function in a different room to check if production is going smoothly, you can reduce the need of having another 'take' and make any adjustments needed for audio quality of the voiceover recording immediately.