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Voice Over & Vocal Recording

Looking for the ultimate recording quality for  your vocal? Contact us today!

Voice Over

All our high-profile corporate clients have been delighted with our voice over work. We record, edit and master your sound to ensure your voice over dialogue is presented at its very best. When communicating directly with your clients or employees, it’s essential to present crystal clear audio to relay the correct message. We can assist you in selecting a professional voice over artist to suit your project.

Great Atmosphere

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It was a great experience recording at Crash Symphony , Adam was very helpful and reliable, I felt very comfortable because the atmosphere was good. Professional studio and people !

- Luca Mattellotti

Voice Over

Voice over work is often overlooked but it is the most sought after work that we do. Voice over is used everywhere. People often take it for granted. Think about how often you hear a recorded voice talking to you on a day-to-day basis: Movies, radio and TV ads, instructional media and much more. Voice over is literally used everywhere. Using the recorded voice is one of the most impacting ways to communicate. This is why we have a focus in this area of the recording industry. We understand all the scenarios that voice over is required and we understand that all these areas of voice over do not necessarily sound the same. They often require subtle differences that make all the difference to the listener and how well the message is communicated. Differences like: do we leave the breaths in? How much do we compress the voice? Does the voice need to be deep and authoritative, or, sweet and understanding? There are more technical aspects to recording the spoken voice. For example, the skill of knowing what microphone to pair up with what voice. The positioning of the microphone on a persons voice. There are literally so many nuisances to recording a good voice over that to truly make the voice over sound right is an art form. It takes team effort, also. We have engineers who know how to work with the client and the talent to achieve the right result, within budget, and in the necessary time frame.
Our voice over clientele extend all over the globe. Often companies from other countries will link up with us via our remote recording service to record voice over work for them. This is because they know and trust our work. Companies like Twentieth Century Fox, LA, and Warner Bros, to Virgin Money and the the large banks. We provide services to these clients at any time of the day and night, and at short notice. The area of recording voice over for the global community is a fast growing market and we are proud to be leading the way, utilising new technology to provide these services world wide.

Vocal for Music and other Media

Voice Over is a prominent component of the work that we do at Crash Symphony Productions, but a lot is also recording the voice for music. This may be a pop song, classical music or other areas where the voice is required. Music requires a whole different approach to recording the voice. The singing vocal has a different range of dynamic. The recording engineer needs to take into account the rest of the mix (what else is being combined with the voice), and the array of microphones that are used for singing can sometimes be different to what is required for voice over work.
We have done a lot of musical work at Crash Symphony Productions over the past 10 years. Small examples of each CSP producer/engineers work can be heard here.

Voice Over Example Audio files:

Voice Over Example – Nick Flynn:

Voice Over Example – ADF Royal Australian Navy Video Unit:

Voice Over Example – Pat Mesiti – Millionaire Mindset Club – Motivation and Mindset Expert and Speaker:

Expert Sound Engineers

Working with us means working with the best sound engineers in Sydney

The art of being an excellent sound engineer is not as prominent now that video has become the focus of our world. However, a top quality sound engineer can augment the quality of a production dramatically. When we record a vocal for music or a voice over for an ad we have the ability to enhance every aspect of that recording. The modern tools available to the twenty-first century sound engineer are truly remarkable. Staying on top of the rapid progress is very much a full time job. Let's take a quick look at what work is involved in producing an excellent vocal recording for a typical voice over job.

Our sound engineer will setup the session prior to the talent arriving. In the most extreme cases, often film ADR sessions, the project and microphones will need to be prepared first. Our clients, from film productions companies, are often located in another country like the USA, the UK, or somewhere in Europe. They will send the sound engineer the program material. This will be the video files with SMPTE timecode, the cue sheet, and all specifications required by our sound engineer to capture a similar sound to what was recorded on set. 

Once these program elements are received our sound engineer in Sydney will go into Pro Tools and mark out all the cue points on the timeline of the film. Each entry point will have ADR beeps that will help the talent execute their lines in Synch with the film. In ADR the talent's job will be to lip synch in time with their delivery on set. By setting up the project prior to the talent arriving our sound engineer ensures that the session flows smoothly for the talent. 

Often these "remote sessions" (where the directors and producers are overseas) are facilitated by software that helps us communicate with the overseas studios. Programs like Zoom and Source-Connect allow sound engineers in both locations to be actively involved in the session. The sound engineer overseas can literally press the recording button in one country and our software will obey the command here in Sydney. The directors and producers can watch the video content on their screen whilst listening to the audio being recorded by our sound engineers in Sydney. It's real-time. It's the modern way. It's remarkable!

In this example, an ADR recording session, the sound engineer would also need to setup two microphones. One would be a lapel mic, similar to what might have been used on set, and the other a shotgun microphone. These two microphones are setup by our sound engineer in Sydney in front of a screen. This is to allow the talent to clearly view the film as they are performing. An iPad is also positioned in close proximity to the microphones. This will have all the cue points and lines that the talent will be reading during the ADR recording session. 

During the session the sound engineer will be facilitating the smooth capture of cue lines. They make sure that all the takes of each line are saved for future recall and re-listening, and can even cut recorded takes together to create a composite "best take". 

Once the ADR session is complete the post-production work on the re-recorded lines begins. The amount of work that goes into the audio post-production is beyond the scope of this example. However, we can give a few examples of the kind of technology our sound engineer might decide to use on the recorded cue lines. There is software to reduce lip and mouth noises. Harsh sibilant frequency can be curtailed. The synch of the spoken lines can be further tightened by intelligent algorithms that look at the original "on set" spoken audio and literally stretch, cut, and compress lines recorded in our Sydney recording studio and make them even tighter. The list of tasks, options, and enhancements that our sound engineer can apply to a voice recording is enormous. 

 

James Englund

James Englund

Founder

Stewart Havill

Stewart Havill

Engineer/Producer

Borbala (Bobo)

Borbala (Bobo)

Session singer and Admin