Thanks Mark! Excellent topic. I regularly hear coaches telling beginners "don't worry about your mic / eq / compression (sound) just focus on performance." And you're right, there is truth there. But when you want to be more than a beginner it has to be both sound and delivery. Also good opportunity to think about the distinction between true "voice over" and other forms of voice recording like audiobooks, elearnning narration, or podcasts. But even in those genres I'm starting to lean toward the same idea. Less bass can increase intelligibility - not to cut through a music bed, but to compete with environmental sounds in the world around. Very few people listen to anything in a quiet room on a hi-fi system or nice headphones. NPR producers talk about how they use the high-pass switch on the u87 and glue it in place. That high pass is a gentle slope, but reaches up into the 1k area.
That is an extremely good point. You’re right, people do listen in challenging environments and not only is lots of low end quick to fatigue one’s ears, but it also does hamper intelligibility overall. So yes, it is something for not only commercial guys to take notice of.
"I'm not a voiceover coach..." then lays out some great advice better than many coaches I've dealt with. I am definitely going to do this and I'm guilty of loving the low end of my voice a bit much. Great tip, Mark, thanks.
Interesting topic and interesting insight, never really thought about it. I usually have a eq and some light compression in the chain while I’m recording and almost no post production, but I am going to experiment with this and see what happens. I agree with you for things like straight narration, audiobooks, etc. e-learning where there’s no music bed I think most are fine but for something where there’s going to be a music bed that changes the whole Spectrum dynamic.
Thanks Terry! Gone are the days when the "engineer" will shape the sound of your VO in a mix, so knowing how much of the sonic spectrum you can occupy on any given project is key to getting the voice over to sit just right.
For those less comfortable playing with EQ, a "tilt" might be a good place to start. It's like a Tone knob of old to balance high and low. There are a couple good free ones from Analog Obsessions or Elysia (plugin alliance).
No where, no one has ever laid it out as straight as you did about the ‘big beefy low end’ ; “let go of it, to get paid”! In a world of “where’s the beef and gimme beef”…..VO guys need to accept the fact that “no beef is the beef”! Well presented Mark….
Thank you, Gary! VO is constantly changing and the biggest change I've had to adapt to is no longer thinking about my work product as "a voice" but instead as a "solution".
This is super helpful thanks buddy! I had no idea that this was an important part of the product. It makes sense though, the guy chuck that does demos that rock uses a 416 mostly because he says it really cuts through a mix. I love my resonant frequencies in my voice but I’m learning it may not be best for voice overs. On another topic have you done any how to get started type videos? I’m hoping for some step by step guides for what to do and in what order to get started but most of the info out there is pretty piecemeal.
Thanks! Yes, the most important part of your VO is an intelligible midrange and everything else is gravy. And thank you for asking, but I have not really considered making teaching videos because I'm not a teacher, just someone who more so documents my experiences in a way that hopefully can help and inspire others to experiment with their gear choices. The best advice I can give you to get started is to find a coach who specializes in the kind of VO you are most interested in.
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Thanks Mark! Excellent topic. I regularly hear coaches telling beginners "don't worry about your mic / eq / compression (sound) just focus on performance." And you're right, there is truth there. But when you want to be more than a beginner it has to be both sound and delivery.
Also good opportunity to think about the distinction between true "voice over" and other forms of voice recording like audiobooks, elearnning narration, or podcasts. But even in those genres I'm starting to lean toward the same idea. Less bass can increase intelligibility - not to cut through a music bed, but to compete with environmental sounds in the world around. Very few people listen to anything in a quiet room on a hi-fi system or nice headphones.
NPR producers talk about how they use the high-pass switch on the u87 and glue it in place. That high pass is a gentle slope, but reaches up into the 1k area.
That is an extremely good point. You’re right, people do listen in challenging environments and not only is lots of low end quick to fatigue one’s ears, but it also does hamper intelligibility overall. So yes, it is something for not only commercial guys to take notice of.
"I'm not a voiceover coach..." then lays out some great advice better than many coaches I've dealt with.
I am definitely going to do this and I'm guilty of loving the low end of my voice a bit much. Great tip, Mark, thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent advice, man! Also, sounding great on that 87!
Thank you!
Interesting topic and interesting insight, never really thought about it. I usually have a eq and some light compression in the chain while I’m recording and almost no post production, but I am going to experiment with this and see what happens. I agree with you for things like straight narration, audiobooks, etc. e-learning where there’s no music bed I think most are fine but for something where there’s going to be a music bed that changes the whole Spectrum dynamic.
Thanks Terry! Gone are the days when the "engineer" will shape the sound of your VO in a mix, so knowing how much of the sonic spectrum you can occupy on any given project is key to getting the voice over to sit just right.
For those less comfortable playing with EQ, a "tilt" might be a good place to start. It's like a Tone knob of old to balance high and low. There are a couple good free ones from Analog Obsessions or Elysia (plugin alliance).
Really good tip. It might just take a tiny tilt to make a lot of difference.
No where, no one has ever laid it out as straight as you did about the ‘big beefy low end’ ; “let go of it, to get paid”!
In a world of “where’s the beef and gimme beef”…..VO guys need to accept the fact that “no beef is the beef”! Well presented Mark….
Thank you, Gary! VO is constantly changing and the biggest change I've had to adapt to is no longer thinking about my work product as "a voice" but instead as a "solution".
This is super helpful thanks buddy! I had no idea that this was an important part of the product. It makes sense though, the guy chuck that does demos that rock uses a 416 mostly because he says it really cuts through a mix.
I love my resonant frequencies in my voice but I’m learning it may not be best for voice overs.
On another topic have you done any how to get started type videos? I’m hoping for some step by step guides for what to do and in what order to get started but most of the info out there is pretty piecemeal.
Thanks! Yes, the most important part of your VO is an intelligible midrange and everything else is gravy. And thank you for asking, but I have not really considered making teaching videos because I'm not a teacher, just someone who more so documents my experiences in a way that hopefully can help and inspire others to experiment with their gear choices. The best advice I can give you to get started is to find a coach who specializes in the kind of VO you are most interested in.
As my missus reminds me, about so many things, "There are many factors"
So true.
still using the mt48 and a u87 for vo?
Yes. That's the rig you hear on this video.