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ericdke/podcasters-voice-tips.md

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Simple tips for podcast voice recording
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podcasters-voice-tips.md
  • Beware of the compressor, a double-edged sword. Only use it with discretion, and don't follow the parameters or indications, use your ears and believe in what they tell you. Don't use it to try and tame pops and rumbles anyway, its real goal is to reduce the discrepancy between the low levels and the high levels of your recording.
  • Use the high-pass (sometimes called low-cut) of your mic, it will remove the pops and rumbles better than any other tool.
  • If your mic doesn't have a high-pass, or if it sounds harsh, do it yourself with an EQ in Garageband or whatever you're using. Use a 45° slope that cuts under 80HZ (on average).
  • Position of the mic: avoid direct voice impulse towards the capsule, find an angle that allows your voice to 'roll over' it but without inducing any 'hollow' feeling.
  • If your 's' are a bit harsh, a first step is generally to try and make a concave shape around 7KHZ, but be careful because it can make the voice sound dull if you dig too much or too broadly there.
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ericdke commented Mar 12, 2014

  • The compressor is a double-edged sword because if you don't know what you're doing, you will enhance the problems of your take, and that's not what you want to do. :) The idea is simple: the compressor will put down the high levels and put up the low levels. It means that if your low levels contain any rumble or pop they will sound worse and bigger with a compressor...
  • You should definitely EQ your voice before using a compressor, if you need to use one. That way the compressor will work on a clean recording and there will be no pop to accidentally trigger an unfortunate response from the compressor.
  • It's better to apply many gentle tweaks in general, instead of a few big ones. Work by layers.

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ericdke commented Mar 12, 2014

And remember:

  • If it sounds good, it's good, no matter what the parameters and numbers tell you.
  • If it sounds bad, it's bad, no matter what the parameters and numbers tell you.

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ericdke commented Mar 16, 2014

This is now a blog post here (updated): http://ericd.re-app.net/2014/03/12/simple-tips-for-new-podcasters/

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