0543 – Mike’s Mic Problem: A Case Study

2022.06.27 – 0543 – Mike’s Mic Problem: A Case Study

Mike was referred for voice help by his studio engineer – a rather unusual route to consultation. The engineer’s problem was that where he placed the microphone, it would always pick up Mike’s breaths, and he determined that it was Mike at fault and not the studio equipment. And he was right!

There could have been several reasons for the audible intake of breaths.

Maybe Mike was breathing through his nose rather than his mouth, and because of the reduced air intake that way, his breath ended up sounding more like a sniff.

Maybe he was ‘vocalising the breath’ alongside a ‘lip smack’ – a duo of problems that often go together when a presenter audibly ‘sucks in’ air through a partly-closed (and often an elevated tongue), rather than letting it ‘drop in’.

Actually, it turned out that Mike was breathing from his chest rather than his diaphragm, causing ‘constriction tension’ in the neck. Better breathing and relaxation techniques were prescribed.

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