Running a Voice Over Session: Part II
Running a voice over session takes preparation. This guide carries on from our first post, “How to run a successful session”. In that article we covered preparation and booking. Here are some further tips on how to run a smooth session once the talent walks through the door.
Setting Up the Voice Over Talent
It is extremely important to set up the talent so that they feel comfortable and happy. A relaxed performer gives you better takes in less time. Here are the steps we follow at our studio to make sure the talent is set up in the best way possible.
- Make sure there is plenty of space in the vocal booth so the talent feels comfortable rather than claustrophobic.
- Check that the temperature of the vocal booth is ideal for the talent. Adjust it with the air conditioning if needed.
- Choose a microphone that suits the voice of the performer. Every good studio has a range of microphones that suit different situations and voices.
- Set the microphone to the right height so that the talent does not have to strain their neck or bend excessively.
- Set up a music stand for the script notes. Better still, load the notes onto an iPad so the talent can scroll easily and you eliminate paper noise.
- Test the communication between the control room and the vocal booth. The talent needs to hear you clearly, and they also need to hear the client.
- Get a signal from the microphone and leave plenty of headroom.
- Confirm that the talent can hear themselves properly through the headphones. If there is latency, try a smaller buffer size in your DAW, for example 128 samples. Also, if your DAW has a low latency mode or an equivalent setting, turn it on.
Fixing Latency Problems
Latency is the most common technical problem in a voice-over session, because performers instantly notice any delay in their headphones. In addition to the buffer settings above, here is a great tutorial video about how to fix latency issues.
Running a voice over session well comes down to two things: a comfortable talent and a monitoring path with no latency. Book a session with us.
