2022.07.04 – 0550 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Echos Echo It’s not quite the same echo as you get when talking in a tunnel or cave, where your sound comes back a split second later, but it’s the same principle: the sound of a voice is reflected off rather than absorbed by the environment in which you are making the recording. This ‘colours’ the voice and makes it sound thin – great if you want to paint a picture of being in a huge empty warehouse but less good if you are not. In fact, that’s a good p...
Jul 03, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 550
2022.07.03 – 0549 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Recording Distortion Distortion (or: ‘clipping’, ‘overmodding’) When the equipment is set at too high a level for the incoming audio, the resulting recording is distorted. It is ‘overflowing’ with the sound it is being asked to process. On a level or meter, the needle will barely move from the far-right hand side or lights will be fully-lit in the red. Set the level lower (give it some more ‘headroom’) so the levels can move more comfortably. Keep an eye...
Jul 02, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 549
2022.07.02 – 0548 – Mic Muck-Ups Solved!: Clicks Clicks Seemingly inexplicable clicks and bumps on a recording can often be traced to handling noise from the microphone. In a studio put the mic on mount and simply don’t touch it. Hand-held mics should be gripped firmly but not tightly and fingers should be kept still, as any movement can often be picked up as handling noise. So if you have a ring on your microphone hand, remove it, as mics are particularly susceptible to the small scraping sound...
Jul 01, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 548
2022.07.01 – 0547 – Listen Out For These Common Microphone Muck-Ups AUDIO TROUBLESHOOTING Basic studio sound problems Forgetting to put the mic on or turn it on – even pros very occasionally omit to attach a lapel mic to themselves or start talking before they have faded their mic up. [1] Forgetting to take it off or turn it off – or walking away from a set and forgetting that people can still hear you, or leaving a mic ‘live’ in the studio and your words still being heard by a production team, ...
Jun 30, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 547
2022.06.30 – 0546 – Noise-Gates and Ducking Noise gating controls the loudness at which a sound will be picked up or recorded. If it’s too low a level, it simply will not be allowed to pass through the ‘gate’, which stops background noise such as traffic sounds from being heard. It’s what’s used in Automatic Level Control systems that we looked at earlier. Ducking controls the volume of one sound compared to another, so say a your mic channel takes precedence over that of a guest or music. Ducki...
Jun 29, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 546
2022.06.29 – 0545 – Equalisation, Compressors and De-Essers Equalization – or EQ – is a form of audio processing which allows you (or rather the studio engineer) adjust the volume level of a frequency (or range of frequencies) within a sound. As everyone’s voice is different, this can to a certain extent, cure a sound of its imperfections. Compressors control the loudness of the signal by dampening the ‘peaks’ such as ‘puh’ and ‘tuh’ sounds in words, laughs, and particular ambient sounds. Compre...
Jun 28, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 545
2022.06.28 – 0544 – Studio Tech That Could Make Your Voice Sound Great Audio Processing There are technical ways (such as EQ and compression) of adjusting the voice that is being (or has been) recorded to enhance it further to give it greater presence, depth and tonal quality. This is something you have done only after you have provided the tech the best possible original signal : having good acoustics and levels for example. Using processers will only enhance good audio, they won’t cure crap so...
Jun 27, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 544
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 ...
Jun 26, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 543
2022.06.26 – 0542 – Your Mic Levels Mixed With Music Your levels with music We looked at the use of music beds before, but the important thing to remember here is the balance of levels between the music and your voice. Many beginners tend to have background music too high because they aren’t sure of their voices and their overall confidence, and so use the bed to cover them a bit. It’s a bit of a safety net. This is a mistake and should be avoided. Invariably, your voice must be the dominant sou...
Jun 25, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 542
2022.06.25 – 0541 – Your Mic Levels With Headphones Your levels with headphones If you notice a lower level in your headphones, you might begin to speak more loudly to compensate, and suddenly you’re in a situation of talking at the listener, rather than telling them a story, or chatting with them in a conversational way, and lessening the ability to communicate with them. Incidentally, the best way to tell your sound levels are set correctly is to always use headphones, and to have them turned ...
Jun 24, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 541
2022.06.24 – 0540 – Mics At Noisy Events VOICE BOX Mics at a Noisy Event If you are simply shouting over other noises (perhaps to convey the excitement of the event [1] ) then: · you may not be using the right type of microphone · you probably need to be wearing headphones so you can isolate the sound that the mic is picking up (rather than what you are hearing at that location), and determine the balance between ‘situational sound’ and your voice. Once you know this you may be able to: o reduce...
Jun 23, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 540
2022.06.23 – 0539 – The Magic Balance Between Mic Position, Projection and Recording Levels You can increase the basic loudness of your voice by turning up the gain [1] on your mic, but this will make you sound thin and weak, partly because more room noise is also being picked up by the mic, for which you have increased the sensitivity. In other words, your voice will be louder, but it won’t have more energy, projection or robustness. We’re talking sheer naked ‘volume’. Audio processing makes su...
Jun 22, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 539
2022.06.22 – 0538 – Maddening Over-Modding On occasion it may be impossible to anticipate external noise and so be unable to use any of the techniques described above, and therefore over-modding may be the (almost) inevitable result. For example: at a sports event when a goal is scored (or at a presidential event when a political point is scored) and “ the crowd goes wild ”; at a carnival or parade when a marching band passes by; on a street with the unexpected siren of an emergency vehicle and ...
Jun 21, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 538
2022.06.21 – 0537 – How To Fix A Recorded Level That’s Too High… Or Low If your mic level is too low Your ‘live’ level can be boosted, not just with the main microphone channel but also the booster ‘gain’ setting’. But this may also increase the background noise from the studio that’s picked up, that is the general ambience of the room, as well as making the mic more sensitive to your own mouth noises. If audio has been recorded at too low a level, it’s pretty easy to raise it higher without a c...
Jun 20, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 537
2022.06.20 – 0536 – Automatic Level Control Automatic Level Control versus Manual In a home recording studio, your mixing desk or the recording set-up on a video call may have an ‘automatic level control’ that you can ‘set and forget’. They keep signals below distortion point, and when they fall too low they cut in and boost the signal upwards. But adjusting the recording levels manually gives you more control and creative freedom. You can use your professional judgement to choose settings to pe...
Jun 19, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 536
2022.06.19 – 0535 – Why A Studio Engineer Wants To Know About Your Breakfast When asked for “ a bit for level ”, it is surprisingly difficult to think of what to say! It sounds obvious but many people simply say “testing, testing … 1,2,3,4,5” or “Mary had a little lamb” or a producer may use the classic line “tell me what you had for breakfast”. But all of those are too short and don’t encourage you to speak in the same way as you will do when you are ‘live’. Your volume may differ, as too may y...
Jun 18, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 535
2022.06.18 – 0534 – “A Bit For Level, Please” “A bit for level” Part of working out your correct mic position before you start recording or go live, will involve of course, you speaking in to the mic so your voice can be heard by you (wearing headphones) and by any engineer you might have (in a control room), and correct recording levels can be set. This is to check: The microphone, its channel and signal are working – a microphone such as lapel clip-on mic may have an on/off switch on it, or it...
Jun 17, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 534
2022.06.17 – 0533 – Don’t Interfere With the Sound Engineer A quick word to be kind to your sound engineer. This is the person in a voiceover or dubbing studio who is likely to be doing the technical side of things such as setting up your microphone, monitoring levels, doing the actual recording and playing back those recordings to a client. Another role will be turning on your talkback (the intercom system between the director and you in the studio) so you can hear (or not) the conversations ab...
Jun 16, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 533
2022.06.16 – 0532 – Why You Need To Love Your LUFS Sound levels are gauged with decibels and ‘LKFS’ and LUFS’ [1] and on studio displays which light up vertically, or with needles that wiggle, but essentially your ‘moment-by-moment’ level should pretty much always be in a yellow-to-green area, with very occasional short peaks into a red. Or if you have a level marked up, around -10dB, or ‘peaking to PPM 6’ [2] , When recording for a podcast your host will most likely want Apple’s required level ...
Jun 15, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 532
2022.06.15 – 0531 – Loudness Standards In a network or voice-over studio, a sound engineer will adjust your volume settings so the volume of voice is balanced with a similar level of those of other sources, be they of other guests or music. (In smaller studios or for podcasting and so on, you will of course have to do this yourself.) A consistent level is necessary so the listener isn’t forced to keep increasing the volume themselves. It’s called ‘normalisation’. Imagine how annoying it would be...
Jun 14, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 531
2022.06.14 – 0530 – How Recording Levels Affect Your Voice So, you have optimised your recording space as far as you are able, and learnt about mic technique – knowledge of each will help you ‘get a better broadcast, podcast or voice-over voice’. So let’s move on to the actual recording of your sound, with a look at ‘loudness’. But we’re not so much looking at your own ‘projection’ or volume – which we looked at in some depth previously – but at what level that is recorded at. In this next secti...
Jun 13, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 530
2022.06.13 – 0529 – What To Wear ‘On-Mic’ What you wear ‘on mic’ The microphone is a sensitive piece of equipment which will ‘hear’ everything it can. That means your voice, your breathing, the squeak of a chair, the rustle of clothing or scripts. So when a microphone is open, move and act with care. This also includes not clicking your pen or tapping your feet. ‘Jangling jewellery’ will be heard on a mic, so might a stiff cotton shirt, leather trousers as you cross your legs or shift in your se...
Jun 12, 2022•1 min•Season 2Ep. 529
2022.06.12 – 0528 – On-Mic Breathing Take a breath before opening the mic, so the first thing a listener hears is a word not a gasp. Also beware of lip-smacks when you take subsequent breaths when you are on air at the start of a new story or paragraph. This is the sound that occurs when you take a breath and utter a habitual ‘wet kiss’ sound (or ‘tsk’) as you open your mouth. It can be an unconscious habit and once spotted, very annoying to listeners. It can also be interpreted as a single ‘tut...
Jun 11, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 528
2022.06.11 – 0527 – The Off-Chance of Being Off-Mic It may sound obvious but make sure that you know which part of the microphone to talk into! With some you talk into the top, with others you talk into the side. Added to that, different mics pick up noise from different areas (their ‘pick-up pattern’), so that could be more from the front and back and not much from the sides, or only from the front and so on. So, if you are talking into the wrong part of it, then you will be ‘off mic’ and your ...
Jun 10, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 527
2022.06.10 – 0526 – Speaking On Mic Speaking on mic So you are in the booth and you have your script stand, then you need to work out how you can talk into the microphone, but also be able to read from the script. You have to try and read it ‘through’ the pop-screen or stand, or off to one side slightly, or even up higher than the mic. One thing you shouldn’t do is have the script too far below the mic so you have to look down to read it. Doing this will cause a crease in your neck and constrict...
Jun 09, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 526
2022.06.09 – 0525 – Finding The ‘Sweet Spot’ Having said that, a greater mic-to-mouth distance will give your voice a lighter pitch, with more treble, a thinness to the sound and more of the room acoustics, especially if you turn up the recording level. Conversely, standing away from the mic and raising the voice can make it sound as though you are speaking live on location – useful for giving a lift to studio commentary over outdoor scenes or sound effects. But somewhere in between will be a ‘s...
Jun 08, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 525
2022.06.08 – 0524 – How To Get The ‘Barry White’ Effect VOICE BOX Moving the mic slightly towards or away from you raises other issues to do with what’s called The Proximity effect. This is a phenomenon that leads to an increase in low frequency response, the shorter the distance is between mic and mouth. This can create problems, but at the same time it opens up ways to shape the sound. Close mic work – the pros · Your voice (especially those which are naturally lower to start with) can sound b...
Jun 07, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 524
2022.06.07 – 0523 – Why Six Inches Is A Great Length So, what is “the right mic-to-mouth position”? It’s usually about 6-8 inches’ distance. Indeed, a good rule of thumb is the literal rule of thumb, the distance between the ‘noise creator’ of your mouth and the ‘noise receiver’, the mic, should be around about the same as the span between splayed tip-of-thumb to tip-of-small-finger, or a bit longer than a pen. Wearing headphones (we’ll come to more about headphones later), you will get to reali...
Jun 06, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 523
2022.06.06 – 0522 – Microphone Headsets Some radio presenters as well as podcasters and YouTubers use microphone headsets in which the mic is incorporated into the headphones, similar to the ones you might imagine an air traffic controller wearing. The mics on these are obviously smaller than a desk mic, but shop around and you can find good quality ones. The advantage is that you are never off-mic and you don’t bend your head to speak into mic on a desk stand. Also, it means that you can gestur...
Jun 05, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 522
2022.06.05 – 0521 – Reading Scripts From A Screen In 2020, I started to read radio news bulletins from a screen. Before that, scripts were always printed out and reading them on air often meant that your head was nodded down to look at sheet on the desk in front of you. That of course cause a ‘kink’ in the throat and a subsequent reduction in the quality of presentation. Now, off-screen reading means that my head is naturally held up, allowing a better flow of air, and (hopefully!) better presen...
Jun 04, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 521
