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Guidelines for Proper Voiceover Recordings

You're ready to do a professional recording after you've found a talent and have made a script. Doing a recording might seem daunting however there are some computer softwares that will provide you the tools you need to craft the whole project on your own even without the help of a videographer or a production team.

However, you need to prepare extensively for your recording. Preparation is key to make your whole project seamless. Below are some tips you can use in preparation for recording a quality piece.

1. Check all your equipment. Booking the voiceover talent for the project and then wasting several hours testing equipment will cost you. Jay Rose, the author of the book "Producing Great Sound for Digital Video" suggests that you make sure you get the right kind of equipment and test it well before production day. Even testing it a few hours before production time can reduce unforeseen delays.

2. Make sure the room does not create echoes. The only way you'll know if the room is creating an 'echoing' effect is when you turn on the microphone and shut all the doors and windows. Do some test recordings with all of your equipment to reduce the risk of the echo effect.

3. Make use of a background music. A Narration should feel and sound like as if the narrator is having an intimate conversation with the audience. There should not be any 'white noise' to produce this effect. If you find that you're recording a lot of 'white noise' and can do nothing about it, I suggest you use a background music to somehow mask those noises.

4. Find the best position in the room for the recording. There are no rules about where to position the microphone, so feel free to move the mic setup into different areas of the room to get the right sound. You don't want to record when the sounds seem hollow or filtered in any way. Move around to find the best fit.

5. Don't stress on ambient noises. A lot of things produce ambient noises and most them are out of our control. Ambient noises, e.g. outside traffic and chatter, don't always go through your microphone. However, consider having a high-pass filter on your mic for a cleaner recording when these noises are gravely affecting your project.

6. Turn off fans and blowers. This will be an issue if you're recording in a cramped room. Turn off computers, air conditioners and other devices with fans as these affect the air turbulence of a room. It does not mean you can't use them, just turn them off when the mics are on.

You should also be able to monitor the recording throughout the production cycle using a pair of headphones. Take advantage of playback functions in a different room to make sure that everything is going smoothly; this will reduce the need to do another 'take' and can also help you address any problems with the audio quality right away.

Author Terry Daniel is a Professional Voice Over Actor from Minneapolis, Minnesota and Has Been Providing the Voice Talent for Hundreds of Companies and Agencies Since 1991.