Importance of Clean Audio for Voice Overs
My job as an American voice over actor is two fold. First, it is to deliver the performance my clients need. The second job, is to deliver raw voice over audio files to my clients that are as clean as possible to start. This gives producers and studios the dynamic range and headroom to process them as they like. I only process audio slightly for some long-term corporate and eLearning clients that told me they do not process on their own. You can read about my processing for eLearning voice overs here. Otherwise, I leave the compression, EQ, etc. to the engineers to make it fit their own sound design.
Below we have raw voice over samples of my voice recorded simultaneously saying the same paragraph using a Rode NT1 and then a Rode NTG3. Both mics are six inches from me, and both are going straight into my Solid State Logic SSL2 Interface with the 4K EQ and Harmonics switch disengaged. There is no processing at all on the first version.
Clean Signal, Clear Acoustics
In this raw voice over sample I modulate my voice between different levels of loudness and pitch so that you can hear the clear acoustics of my voiceover studio. It’s not just about having raw voiceover samples with a clean signal chain, and a quiet room, but also about having a room without far reflections. Another consideration is early reflection points, which unfortunately are a big problem in booths and small recording spaces. My recording area is quite large and well treated with bass traps and acoustic panels by GIK Acoustics based here in Atlanta. I even put carpet down on my desk and extra dense sound blankets from Vocal Booths to Go over my synths and other studio gear to limit early reflections when I record voice overs.
Voice Over Sample with Slight Noise Reduction and HPF
The second version of the voice over sample below is the same audio as the first raw voice over sample with an 80 Hz High Pass Filter at 12 dB per octave engaged. The third version is the same recording again but with the 80 Hz HPF and a slight amount of Noise Reduction from iZotope RX Elements. That way you can hear what the sound is like with limited processing, with even more dynamic range! Enjoy these new Raw Voice Over Samples.