krizrox
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Voice-over recording
just curious - is there any taboo associated with using expansion or gating when it comes to radio voice-over work? I've never thought so in the past but I was wondering if any of you had any other comments about it. What about compression? Limiting?
Is there any reason to fear using whatever mic I want for such work? Or are radio professionals somewhat anal about this stuff? Just curious what you have to say about it.
Larry Kriz www.LnLRecording.com www.myspace.com/lnlrecording Sonar PE 8.5, Samplitude Pro 11, Sonic Core Scope Professional/XTC, A16 Ultra AD/DA, Intel DG965RY MOBO, Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz processor, XFX GeForce 7300 GT PCIe video card, Barracuda 750 & 320GB SATA drives, 4GB DDR Ram, Plextor DVD/CD-R burner.
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dlogan
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/01 15:10:57
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I've never recorded any voice-over work myself, but the singer in the band I'm working with has done some voice-over work for some radio ads. He doesn't know what processing was done, but his voice-overs were just recorded at the radio station using their broadcast mics. I also know someone who has a studio that is mainly designed for voice-over work (an insurance company I used to work for recorded audio work there) and they did their voice-over in an isolation booth and did use compression / limiting. That's about the most I know technically about what they did.
Dave
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NYSR
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/02 08:03:29
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The radio signal WILL go through some rather significant compression. Some stations use cheap compressors some use highly advanced multi band complex compressors. Use compression only to maintain a clarity of ennunciation and articulation. By the time your voice over hits the radio it will be clobbered anyway. But if you compress it and they compress it it might pump unpleasantly.
post edited by NYSR - 2006/05/03 07:26:43
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krizrox
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/02 08:58:15
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I had some people associated with National Public Radio in yesterday and that's why I asked the questions. Usually, I approach these things like I would any other session - do what I think is right and use whatever mic I feel like using. The problem with voice-related recordings is the background noise (among other things). I can deal with that easily using an expander plug-in. I opted not to use any compression or limiting, kept the volumes low enough not to be an issue with peaks and used a pair of Oktava MK12's with pop filters. The producer was happy and that's all that I cared about. He was planning on taking the tracks to a Pro Tools studio for final editing so it was a fairly simple session for me.
Larry Kriz www.LnLRecording.com www.myspace.com/lnlrecording Sonar PE 8.5, Samplitude Pro 11, Sonic Core Scope Professional/XTC, A16 Ultra AD/DA, Intel DG965RY MOBO, Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz processor, XFX GeForce 7300 GT PCIe video card, Barracuda 750 & 320GB SATA drives, 4GB DDR Ram, Plextor DVD/CD-R burner.
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NYSR
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/03 07:23:41
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NPR is a more au natural environment - far less compression. Good mic technique, a bit of tube warmth or at least a large diaphram mic kept about 12 inches from the mouth as you speak as naturally and yet evenly as possible.
In terms of background noise can be problematic. I created a vocal booth for voice overs where inside my recording room I have hung older mover's blankets to make a booth. THis minimizes almost everything but a jet overhead.
Cakewalk customer since Apprentice version 1, PreSonus 16.4.2 ai, 3.5 gHz i7
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DonnyAir
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/03 09:21:48
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Of course you want the track as quiet as possible when it comes to background noise, etc.
But NY is correct in that, depending on the station it's broadcast on, the amount of gain reduction or expansion they use will vary quite a bit. NPR is known for it's fidelity, and because many stations that also run NPR programming are also classical stations (WKSU for example), it's obvious that they do pay attention to sonics... but, you can't rule out that the individual stations will still be responsible for their own dynamics control, and some will likely be better than others.
I would approach it like any other project, Larry... use a decent dynamic like an RE20 or an LD condensor mic, a nice pre and you'll be fine... but if it were me I think I'd use dynamic processing sparingly.
FWIW
D.
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rolo95
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/10 10:38:40
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hey speaking of voice overs.... when seeing the behind the scenes...of various DVD´s....( movies ) like... The corps of the bride.... the ice age... etc etc... i have seen that on the vox booth the actors have 2 condensers... one slightly back of the " main " mic... have seen that many times.... why do they use 2 mics.... ( looks like the same model... ) thats for an special acoustic effect....? or... for using 2 brands of mics... and mixing the 2 timbres....? always wondered that. Greets ROlo.
post edited by rolo95 - 2006/05/10 13:54:42
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krizrox
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/10 11:49:31
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It's funny you should mention that. I saw a DVD thing the other day and it looked like they were using an M/S configuration. They looked like Neumanns but in an M/S position. I thought that was odd and interesting.
I assume two mics allow for room ambience and/or whisper vs. loud shouting tracks. Someone with more movie experience probably has more insight.
Larry Kriz www.LnLRecording.com www.myspace.com/lnlrecording Sonar PE 8.5, Samplitude Pro 11, Sonic Core Scope Professional/XTC, A16 Ultra AD/DA, Intel DG965RY MOBO, Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz processor, XFX GeForce 7300 GT PCIe video card, Barracuda 750 & 320GB SATA drives, 4GB DDR Ram, Plextor DVD/CD-R burner.
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rolo95
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/10 13:46:09
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ORIGINAL: krizrox
It's funny you should mention that. I saw a DVD thing the other day and it looked like they were using an M/S configuration. They looked like Neumanns but in an M/S position. I thought that was odd and interesting.
I assume two mics allow for room ambience and/or whisper vs. loud shouting tracks. Someone with more movie experience probably has more insight.
Hi yaa larry yeah.-... may be... so... but hmmmm... dont have any clue... Greets ROlo.
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ohhey
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/10 14:07:24
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ORIGINAL: krizrox
just curious - is there any taboo associated with using expansion or gating when it comes to radio voice-over work? I've never thought so in the past but I was wondering if any of you had any other comments about it. What about compression? Limiting?
Is there any reason to fear using whatever mic I want for such work? Or are radio professionals somewhat anal about this stuff? Just curious what you have to say about it.
If you are recording it you can do any of that after the fact or use the clip gain envelope to get it just right. As for mics an EV RE-20 or Shure SM7 are common for this application but a normal old SM-57 will do on the cheap. Voice-over is also a good chance to use any "larger then life" preamps you might have like a Great River or tube rig, they can be too much for a dense mix but for voice over you can't get too "big", you just can't. 
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rolo95
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/13 15:16:46
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ORIGINAL: rolo95
ORIGINAL: krizrox
It's funny you should mention that. I saw a DVD thing the other day and it looked like they were using an M/S configuration. They looked like Neumanns but in an M/S position. I thought that was odd and interesting.
I assume two mics allow for room ambience and/or whisper vs. loud shouting tracks. Someone with more movie experience probably has more insight.
Hi yaa larry
yeah.-... may be... so... but hmmmm... dont have any clue...
Greets
ROlo.
ANy clues ?
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rolo95
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/15 23:57:22
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awfulfalafel
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/19 10:31:05
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Ah, the old multiple mic for voice over thingy.
Room ambience of a vocal booth? Not probable or really useful.
Typically, if you have a scene involving at least a two-shot (close-up and far away camera position) it's best to do ADR with a close-up and distant mic. The dialogue engineer won't be sure how the final edit will be definitely (even using storyboards, a scene with a two-shot is flexed quite a bit for dramatic timing) so having the two mics gives the scene editor more flexibility when putting together a scene with "authentic" dialogue.
Sometimes extra mics are setup for actors who move a bit during ADR to try and capture every bit of the performance. Compressors help, but it's safe to have a second mic if you can spare it.
Tony
Fast, Cheap, or Good...pick two! Audio Engineer -http://www.n-space.com Staff Writer -----http://www.music4games.net
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rolo95
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/20 03:31:23
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
that makes sense...
ROlo.
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rolo95
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RE: Voice-over recording
2006/05/31 12:00:15
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yesterday i was seeing madagascar ...behind the scenes...
and the same 2 condenser setup is shown on the vocal booths
where the actors speak its parts...
still wondering..... Mmmm......
Rolo.
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