Help recording voiceover

[rim]

So I may have this opportunity to record a voiceover, the narration for a short film. I do not know if there will be any other audio playing with the narration.

 

I have a home project studio that I've mostly used to record my band's demo CDs. I've recorded a few other folks but not many. I've searched the forum and what I've seen so far are people asking for gear advice for recording voiceovers but I need more help than that.

 

What I need to know is, how is recording voiceovers different than say recording a band?

 

Besides the obvious one of only recording one voice, what is the general goal? Is it dry (as in no reverb), natural (some natural reverb) or more affected (maybe more echo)?

 

Should I be recording it as dry as I can and add reverb later or should I try to capture the room sound?

 

Should I be using a dynamic mic and have the narrator (which I believe is a woman) speak closely to it for the proximity effect?

 

Should I use the mic's foam wind screen, a pop filter (in front of the mic) or neither?

 

Should I try to record in a live room or a dead room?

 

I have the clear (acrylic?) three-panel wall thing (forget the term) around my drum set. Should I use that to try a make-shift iso booth with those (I don't have a real one)?

 

As for equipment, from what I've read and what I have, it sounds like the Sennheiser MD421 is my best choice. I also have an SM58, SM57, AKG 414 B-XLS, AKG C4000B and Studio Projects C1, so please let me know if you think one of those would be better.

 

I have a DigiMax LT (going into my ProTools) to use as a preamp and an RNC as my compressor. That's probably my best choice but I also have Mackie VLZ Pro, Presonus Blue Tube and Studio Projects VTB-1 for pre amps, so please let me know if you think any of these are a better choice. I don't have any other outboard compressors but I really like the RNC anyway.

 

If you want to see my equipment list: http://rimspeed.com/equipment.html

 

Any and all help would be appreciated.

 

Rim

[alphajerk]

dry as possible. the rest depends on the needs of the producer.

[TimOBrien]

Sound is sound is sound.

 

MD421 is a great vocal mic; they've been used for decades in radio stations.

Nowadays the EV RE20 is the standard radio voiceover mic.

 

Stay simple and get as good a quality going into the box as you can. The rest will be easy then.

[Synonym Music]

The RE20 as seen in the wild....

 

 

Should I be recording it as dry as I can and add reverb later or should I try to capture the room sound? Should I be using a dynamic mic and have the narrator (which I believe is a woman) speak closely to it for the proximity effect? Should I use the mic's foam wind screen, a pop filter (in front of the mic) or neither? Should I try to record in a live room or a dead room? I have the clear (acrylic?) three-panel wall thing (forget the term) around my drum set. Should I use that to try a make-shift iso booth with those (I don't have a real one)? As for equipment, from what I've read and what I have, it sounds like the Sennheiser MD421 is my best choice. I also have an SM58, SM57, AKG 414 B-XLS, AKG C4000B and Studio Projects C1, so please let me know if you think one of those would be better.

 

-Dry.

 

-Leave the dynamics (as in the mics) out of this one.

 

-Pop filter... The windscreen in a pinch but that will cut your high freqs some.

 

-Dead.

 

-If it doesn't give you nasty reflections up close, there shouldn't be any problem.

 

I agree with the 421 as first choice, though the C4000B and C1 might be worth trying out.

 

It's small reflections of the usually small room that really kills voiceovers quick. You hear it a lot in video games (KOTOR II was notorious for this, possibly the fault of Tequila Mockingbird Studios... ) and sometimes in film (Final Destination 3 had some terrible ADR recordings).

[rim]

Thanks, everyone, for responding. Very helpful!

 

Rim

[Billster]

Electronic Musician had recent feature about this.

[Lee Knight]

Try the 421 and the 414 first. Try them both and see what gets you where you want to be.

 

Ask for a recording of her voice so you can start visualizing where you want to go with her.

 

Dry, as most have mentioned already.

 

Try to skip the RNC if you can and record naked. It's to easy to hose this up 'cause you're going to have your hands full.

 

Compress later.

 

Pop screen for sure. 2 if you need to. No foam.

 

Get a recording (off a TV commercial?) of a great female VO close to her voice. When you're placing the mic, listen briefly to that recording. Use that as a guide as to how close in are off the mic she should get. It's easy to lose perspective. Use the recording as your benchmark. Ignore it's compression for now. Just listen for possible use of proximity effect and mic choice. Don't pump the recording into her phones as you do this. It'll vibe her out. You're not being sneaky, it's a tool. You just don't want to take the wind out of her sails.

 

Zero ambient noise.

 

If you're producing this, listen for delivery, listen for pops, smacks, and other things that my be tricky to remove in post. Re-do as needed.

 

As a matter of fact, if you haven't done VO work, record your own voice and try cleaning it up in post to see what's possible. This will give you a heads up as to what's acceptable and what's not. You want clean with no recording artifacts like pops, smacks, sucking in for a breath, etc.

 

Keep a script as you track and take liberal notes. Don't be afraid to ask for another pass if you're not getting what you need.

 

Name your takes in a logical fashion. Preferably using the structure provided by the script. Add take numbers, and or dates to the file name.

 

etc.

[alphajerk]

a LOT of a VO is getting every word and phrase right. im hoping they send a producer to work with you on it.

[rim]

Excellent advice, Lee. I did try to use two pop filters but her plosives were still pretty apparent. I couldn't make myself comfortable recording without the RNC though. I did record myself before she got there.

 

Anyway, she seemed happy with the result. Of course, she was comparing it to audio she had which was recorded from a video camera (and I don't think from a high-end one, either). I tried the MD421 and it was pretty good but I definitely liked the AKG414 on her voice - more deepness/more announcer-like, which is what she was looking for.

 

The only thing that I didn't like was the noise floor. Since I didn't have an iso booth, I tried a make-shift one but it only helped a little. She said she was OK with it. I may try the noise reduction that comes with sound forge just to play with it.

 

Supposedly, she's gonna send more voice over work my way. I guess I'll see if she really did like it.

 

Thanks everyone, again, for the help.

 

Rim

[druler]

Try each pre and pick the one that sounds best. DO NOT COMPRESS ON THE WAY IN unless the vo talent is absolutely clueless on dynamics. You can always compress it in post, but, like the reverb, once the talent has left the building there's no undo on the printed dynamics either.