VO Tips

Clothing

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VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Clothing

Hey, I like the way your clothes sound…said no one ever.

Hey there, Joe Passaro here. I’m a professional voice actor and former history teacher/scholar. I’ve played Columbus in the Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip video game, AZN in the Street Outlaws: The List game, and  have voiced many commercials, web videos, and eLearning modules.

These videos are primarily meant for the non-voiceover professional—people who need to record their voice and get a decent sound without having to take a course, read a book, or do the years of training, etc. And because… there are already tons of videos and guides on how to be a voice actor.

Voicever Clothing: Why Does it Matter?

Alright, this video is about what you WEAR when recording. Voiceover clothing is something you probably haven’t really thought about much, but it can be a seriously annoying problem.

So, we’re about to record, we checked the script, our DAW, microphone, made sure the guy with the leaf blower next door has stopped for lunch, maybe even did some vocal warmups, so we start and get through a long section of the script only to listen back after and hear lots of low-volume rustling. Is it my mouth making noise? The A/C kicking on? The neighbor’s leaves flying against my windows warning me that my house is about to be ripped off the ground in an apocalyptic tornado storm in southern California? Nope. It’s my clothes. Can you hear them?

Obviously what I’m wearing is a bit of an exaggeration. But even outdoorsy pants like the Eddie Bauer water-resistant pants I’m wearing can make noise when I move. My wife can actually hear me walking down the hall with these babies on. The problem is the material. Best solution?

Solution:

I’ve found cotton clothing to be the quietest voiceover clothing. And in general I try to wear as little clothing as possible—just a t-shirt and shorts usually. I haven’t recorded naked yet…though I suppose if the character demanded a certain…shall we say, carefree attitude…I could probably go full monty.

If you have any questions or would rather have me voice the project for you altogether, reach out direct at joe@site3.webdnx.net.

Acoustics

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VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Acoustics

Alright, last video’s topic concerning mic technique reminded me about the importance of acoustics as part of your voiceover toolbox.

What is/are acoustics?

It’s essentially the way your recording environment transmits sound. If you’ve ever been to the symphony or opera, you might have noticed that the walls and ceiling are covered with paneling. These panels help control sound reflections and focus sound to the center of the theater. This is also why the best seats in the house are often right smack in the middle, not the front row. Unless you visit the opera to receive the warm spittle of a tenor on your rosy cheeks. Then the front row does indeed contain the best seats.

Why it’s important:

Anyway, many people forget about the crucial importance of acoustics when they record voiceover because they focus so much on the mic or their performance. I can tell you right now that you can have the best mic and performance in the world, but if you’re in the wrong acoustic space then you’ll still sound pretty bad. And your audience will dismiss you as unprofessional. Ideal acoustics should have little to no reverb or reflections in the sound. What does this sound like? Well, let’s step into my bathroom for an exclusive peek into the private world of Joe’s ablutions.

Welcome to my bathroom?

You can tell the acoustic difference right away. I removed the soft bath mats, leaving only hard surfaces which bounce my voice all over. This is a sound quality known as reflection and in extreme cases this can produce reverb—sort of like echoes. For you this means the audience isn’t focusing on the content of what you’re saying but the low quality of the audio. The best way to reduce reflections is by using soft absorbent material like towels, moving blankets, or even clothes. Place them around your recording space. Layers help a lot. If you really want to get into acoustic treatment, you can purchase acoustic foam—and make sure it’s acoustic foam and not mattress topper—to be used around your recording space. Or you can make your own acoustic panels out of special audio insulation. Plenty of YouTube videos on those. So I won’t get into it.

Boxiness:

Alright, back in my warm and comfy booth, which reminds me. You also don’t want your space to sound too boxy. As if you’re under the bed trying to hide from the Gestapo. You may have heard of voice actors using so-called pillow forts when on the road. I highly recommend against this because unless you know what you’re doing with EQ (aka equalization) the audio will sound like this: “this is an exaggeration, but it demonstrates the opposite of the bathroom problem in which sound does not have enough room to travel and therefore sounds muffled.”

So, ideally you would have a larger space to work in—at least 3 feet by 3 feet if possible—and put soft, absorbent material on the walls, ceiling, and floor.

Quick explanation on acoustics vs. sound-proofing:

Finally, I should also make sure you understand that acoustics is different than sound proofing or sound isolation. We’ll get into that in a different video, but think of acoustics as the quality of the audio itself and sound proofing as a barrier protecting the acoustics from external noise.

 

Acoustics are one of the hardest elements to perfect when recording audio. If you need more specific advice from a millennial voice talent or if all of this is too overwhelming feel free to email me directly: joe@site3.webdnx.net

 

Proximity Effect

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VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Proximity Effect

Well that was a long hiatus. Thanks a lot, Thanksgiving! Alright, today I want to get into mic technique.

What’s mic technique?

It’s how you use your mic to get the right sound you want and how to avoid sounds you don’t want. It’s actually related to performance in the sense that your voice, the mic, and even your recording space can be viewed as instruments or tools. How you “play” each of these contributes to your performance for better or for worse. The technique we’re talking about today is what is called the proximity effect.

Proximity effect:

The proximity effect is what happens when you get very close to your mic. You want to do this when you want to sound intimate or warm, kind of like someone confiding something to you and they get close enough to whisper. But we don’t whisper because that’s actually bad for your voice; instead, we just speak quietly. We also do this when we want to make our voice sound larger than it is, like a big monster or some grand wizard behind a curtain.

What does it sound like?

Well, let me do a little demonstration! “At Greenfield hospital we know how important family is WHEN YOU ARE THRUST INTO BATTLE WITH FEROCIOUS RAGE!”

So unless you’re trying to communicate these sentiments or characters, I HIGHLY recommend you back off your mic—at least 6-8 inches or about the distance between your extended pinky and thumb like so. Otherwise, you may sound a little scarier or more unprofessional than you might intend.

For example, if I were doing an eLearning narration on security in the workplace it would likely sound too intimate to the listener if I used the proximity effect: “Remember to keep your personal and company belongings in a safe and secure location.” But by backing off a few inches that same line sounds much cleaner and formal: “Remember to keep your personal and company belongings in a safe and secure location.”

Final tip:

Finally, one thing to remember is that mics are not all the same: some produce a greater proximity effect while others produce little to none. Most of the time you won’t use this technique, but it’s important to know what it is, whether you need it, and whether you have the right mic for it.

If you’d like to leave the technique mastering to the masters then hire a freelance millennial voice actor like yours truly. Email any time: joe@site3.webdnx.net. 🙂

Sing-song

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VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Sing-song

Today’s topic is sing-song reads. What are sing-song reads? They’re when you go up and down in your cadence, giving a rhythmic and musical sound that doesn’t correspond to targeted emphasis or conversational flow. In short, it sounds more like singing than talking.

Match your pitch and pacing to the content and audience:

Your cadence should alter with the script, the topic, and the intended audience. You might go faster and higher pitched when you’re excited and slower and quieter when you’re more serious or reflective. You could even change up your pitch and pacing in a single script if it calls for it.

Sing-song reads are a very normal way that people read text out loud early on—kind of like the read-y reads I discussed in the last video. It’s perfectly fine… unless you want the listener to think you’re just talking. This habit was one of the hardest for me to break when I first started out in voiceover but with lots of practice it’s now something of the past.

What does sing-song sound like?

So what does it sound like? Pam Beasley in the Office does a nice version of it, albeit a bit exaggerated, during a holiday episode when she describes the Scranton coupon book “worth over $1500 in savings.” Here’s a little sample of what it sounds like: The other day I went to the store to bring back some cookies for my little sweetheart. She didn’t like the kind that I bought and made me go back for more. On the way I ended up eating them all because I was so upset, and when I came home with nothing left she made me go out again.

It sounds a bit like a nursery rhyme, right? The cadence starts low then goes high then goes low at the end. It’s great for kids because it’s so musical! But for most voiceover work it’s better to be more dynamic and natural with your reads.

Sing-song is very hard to get past. So if you’d prefer to hire a freelance voice talent with lots of experience then email any time: joe@site3.webdnx.net

 

Read-y Reads

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VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Read-y Reads

This is the first video on VO performance, and the topic that I thought would make the most sense to start with is what is known as read-y reads.

What are read-y reads?

They’re when you can tell that someone is reading a script. You hear it all the time in the news when someone who isn’t used to presenting to live audiences gets up to a podium and reads a speech. The speaker tends to over articulate each word, and their cadence is very staccato or broken up. It’s very difficult to listen to because it sounds so unnatural and forced. When you hear read-y reads in a corporate presentation, eLearning module, or even on commercials, you immediately focus on the how bad it sounds. Worse: you overlook the message they’re trying to communicate.

How to avoid them:

People tend to pay attention to the message when the words flow. This is especially true when they have emotion embedded somewhere in the read. Like right now, the emotions I’m conveying are a combination of happiness, optimism, excitement, and kindness. Right? I’m being helpful, friendly, and I’m pretty content, which makes what I’m saying easier to pay attention to.

Think of any great speakers or storytellers: they sound natural, as if they’re talking to you, and actually care about what they’re saying. Read-y reads almost sound robotic and emotionless by comparison. For the amateur, it’s hard to move away from this type of read because you’re used to reading to yourself not to other people and your mind doesn’t need to perform for itself. (Thankfully!) The easiest solution is just to relax and pretend you’re talking to a single person who might care about the material. For instance, I’m actually reading this script right now. But I’m imagining I’m speaking to a friend of mine who is thinking to try audio book narration. I genuinely care about this person and want to offer advice. So, I’m just talking.

Compare read-y reads with natural reads:

Now let me show you what a read-y read sounds like and I’ll read that exact bit I just did and go in and out of “read-y-ness” and naturalness to compare. For instance, I’m actually reading this script right now. But I’m imagining I’m speaking to a friend of mine who is thinking to try audio book narration. I genuinely care about this person and want to offer advice. So, I’m just talking.

The contrast is exaggerated a bit here. But you can hear the over articulation and the staccato rhythm pretty clearly when juxtaposed with the natural read. Ready-reads can be more subtle in their nuances, but our ears can hear it and tell something is off. It’ll take time and a good amount of practice, but once you can distinguish the differences in your own reads then it’s even easier to improve on.

So, as promised in the very first of these videos, this video is actually short which means you can watch another cat video and not feel guilty. Well, not TOO guilty.

And if you need any help with your reads or you’d just prefer leaving it to a millennial voiceover talent like yours truly, then email me any time: joe@site3.webdnx.net

Recording Software

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VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Recording Software

We’re back once more for our last tech video before we jump into performance tips. Hooray!

Today we’ll cover recording software or as we call it in the audio world: your DAW—Digital Audio Workstation. We love our acronyms in English, and we love puns. Well, some of us do. So, if you can’t remember the acronym DAW just throw a G at the end and call it your DAWG—Digital Audio Workstation Gizmo!

And that’s all you need to know about…DAWGs.

Actually, there’s quite a lot you need to know, but for voiceover it’s pretty simple. The simpler and more clutter-free the better…generally speaking. For basic voiceover, a single track audio editor is perfect because in most cases you aren’t adding lots of sound effects, instruments, or even a music track. Although if you do need to add music, there are some excellent multi-track options, which I’ll mention at the end of this video.

What do DAWs do?

DAWs take the digital signal from your USB mic or your audio interface if you’re using an XLR mic, and displays that in real time (or near real-time) on your screen as a wave form. In its basic use, it allows you to cut, copy, move, and alter the audio. Most DAWs record the audio in their own proprietary file type. Then you must save or export the file as a WAV, AIFF, mp3, etc. for other programs to read the file and play/edit the audio.

Pretty straight forward, right?

How to choose which DAW:

There are four core criteria you should use when choosing a DAW:

  • The Layout—is it cluttered or clean and can it be customized to your preferences?
  • Capabilities or features—is it single track or multi-track? Can you insert plugins and tools from other audio programs?
  • Learning curve—how difficult is it to learn how to use?
  • Price—many excellent options are free. And some cost more but have many crucial time-saving tools. It depends on your needs.

Popular DAWs:

Professional voiceover artists use a variety of DAWs—some even use different DAWs for different types of work. A few of the most popular paid ones are Adobe Audition (which is subscription based), ProTools (the standard in the music production world), Reaper, and Twisted Wave.

Twisted Wave in particular is very popular because it’s clean, has many specific features voice actors use, and costs $80. But, it’s Mac only. Adobe Audition is well-loved because it’s been around for a long time and has lots of features. But that monthly subscription is a doozy for some. I personally use Reaper because I love the customization and the macros. You can cut down on your editing by quite a bit.

And some professionals use free DAWs. Audacity is by far the most common. A great program with lots of features. Their latest update makes the interface quite smooth and modern. The only two downsides of Audacity are destructive editing, meaning once you delete something there’s no getting it back. Then there are some limitations about plugin compatibility which I won’t get into. Other free options are Ocenaudio—not ocean, but OCEN—and PreSonus Studio One, both free and great options.

All of these DAWs should identify your audio interface or USB automatically, but to get started using them, you can just do a quick YouTube search for the DAW of your choice.

My advice:

So…which should you choose? I’d personally start with Audacity because it’s the simplest, cleanest, and free-est option. And as you get more into recording, definitely check out the others, especially the other free options. And if you really enjoy the free ones, maybe donate $5 or so to the developers. ?

If choosing a DAW is too complicated or you just don’t have the time, a professional voiceover talent like yours truly can certainly help. Email me direct at joe@site3.webdnx.net.