Recording Voiceover The Spoken Word in Media

The only book on the market to specifically address its audience, Recording Voiceover is the comprehensive guide for engineers looking to understand the aspects of capturing the spoken word. Discussing all phases of the recording session, Recording Voiceover addresses everything from microphone recommendations for voice recording to pre-production considerations, including setting up the studio, working with and directing the voice talent, and strategies for reducing or eliminating distracting noise elements found in human speech. Recording Voiceover features in-depth, specific recommendations for recording radio and television commercials, corporate communications, documentaries, tracks for gaming and animation, radio drama, interviews and roundtable discussions. A discussion of the voice in film and television is also included. Special attention is paid to the final release format and its impact on recording strategies. Exploration of using telephone interfaces – including both analogue and digital ISDN, as well as recording across the internet – is included.

Introduction A Life in Sound A Bit About This Book The Making of a Superior Voiceover Recording A Short Case Study The Voice in Media Information Theory The Beginning of Digital Audio Historical Precedents Psychoacoustics Reverberation The Disembodied Voice Recording Foreign Languages Room Acoustics A Word on Project Studio Acoustics Studio Design and Acoustics Microphones Fundamentals of the Human Voice Microphone Design Types Polar Response Frequency Response Microphone Experiments Dynamic Microphones Condenser Microphones Digital Microphones USB Microphones The Engineer The Engineer at Work Collaboration – Communication – Responsibility Multitasking Building a Sense of Trust Preparation The Team The Studio A Few Simple Truths Lighting The Script Easel Seated or Standing? Monitoring Video Monitoring Keep it Organized Additional Considerations The Session Documentation and Notes The Co-producer Role Working With the Voice Talent Some Tips and Tricks Documentation (Part II) Studio Weirdness Your Personal Recording Space The Basics The Space Modifying an Existing Space Custom Designing a Studio Prefabricated Voice Booths Hardware Software Delivery – The Remote Session Additional Costs The Matter of Trust Recording for Commercials The Dictatorship of the Clock How Long is Too Long? The Commercial Session Insert Lines and Redos Editing and Intercutting After the Session One Final Word Recording Long-Form Narration The Long-Form Session Documentation Recording to Picture Further Thoughts on Long-Form Narration Recording for Games and Animation Game Voice Recording Recording for Animation Watch Your Levels! An Experiment in Voice Recording Recording Interviews and Roundtable Discussions Interviews Video Interviews Boom and Shotgun Mic Techniques Recording Roundtable Discussions Live Mixing of Roundtable Discussions More Voiceover Opportunities Voice Response Public Announcements Web Content Voice Talent Demos Audio Books The Wacky World of Toys Audio Tours Something Completely Different In Conclusion That’s a Wrap Building the Sense of Trust Your Insurance Policy A Passion for Voice

Tom Blakemore has been an active audio engineer for over thirty years, working in film, television, commercial, and corporate communications as a supervising sound editor and mixer. His film work includes Emmy Award winning documentaries, Academy Award nominees, Directors Guild of America Best Documentary winners, and Audience Award winners at the Toronto, Chicago and Amsterdam Film Festivals. Tom lives in Chicago, where he is an adjunct professor at Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy teaching film sound, and is a member of the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) and the Audio Engineering Society (AES).