Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2023.09.27 - 1000 - The End

Thanks for the loan of your ears, for one-thousand consecutive daily episodes.

All of my contacts are here: https://linktr.ee/Peter_Stewart

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2023.09.26 – 0999 – The Diction-ary of Voice – V and W

**V

Verbal tic – the repeated use of words or phrases such as “like” or “y’know what I mean?”

Velum – the soft palate at the back of the roof of the mouth. The back of your tongue touches the velum when pronouncing letters such as ‘k’.

Vocal elements – the various ways (such as inflection, pause, pace and phrasing) that one can make the spoken word more engaging he techniques for making a voice interesting and effective

Vocal fold – located in the larynx, a multi-layered fold of tissue that vibrates to produce sound when air passes over them

Vocal loading – the amount of impact of the stresses and strains on the vocal folds from talking or singing. The loading can be affected by the amount, volume or the tone of the sound, and also by the speaker’s levels of stress or tension

Voice actor – different from a ‘voice over’, who tends to be an ‘anonymous voice’, an actor will appear in audio dramas, audio books, computer games and so on, where they are reading the lines to be spoken by a character in a specific situation

Voice guide – a director in a recording situation who will read a script, perhaps line-by-line, for the ‘voice talent’ to repeat ‘parrot fashion’, and mimic the cadence. Usually used when the actor is inexperienced in script reading, but has a great voice or high-profile name that is wanted for publicity reasons. A voice guide may also be the temporary voice-over track, recorded so video editors can choose shots and time their cuts to which the ‘professional’ voice talent can talk to later

Voice of God (or ‘VoG’) - loud and large, stentorious and dramatic reads, reminiscent of 1950s (American) radio announcers, and often heard at sports and showbiz events

Voice over – the reading of a scrip, or narration over a video

Voice quality – one’s personal vocal attributes and characteristics

Volume - the loudness of a voice

Vowel - speech sounds of a, e, i, o, and u

**W

Watermark – or more accurately, an audio watermark. This is a snippet of sound (such as a tone or ‘beep’) used to protect your recording, sample or audition. The sound briefly overlaps with your voice at points during the recording say veery few seconds, or over the brand name. This protects your audio from being misused for example, without payment

Whisper phonation – the proper term for when you are whispering

Windpipe – the trachea.

Windscreen – the covering over or in front of a microphone to eliminate unwanted noises such as that made by plosives

Wowing – the changing in pitch of a sound causing distortion

Wrap - the end of a recording

Wrap — a recorded news or other content feature, of interview clips linked (or ‘wrapped up’) by a presenter or reporter  

**X

XLR - a type of cable connector, very common on microphones. 

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2023.09.25 – 0998 – The Diction-ary of Voice – T

**T

Tag (or ‘slogan’) – the branding phrase at the end of a commercial

Take (as in ‘go for a take’) – a recording. Also see ‘pickup’

Take a level (or ‘take a bit for level’) – the instruction given by an audio engineer to a presenter to ask them to say some words so the volume on a mic channel can be checked

Talk back – the push-to-talk microphone in a gallery/production area, via which a director / producer will talk to you while in the studio.

Tape - recorded audio, almost never on tape

Tempo - the rate of speech

Thin – a voice which is weak, with a lack of air, energy and resonance. It may be trained to become stronger and fuller with exercises in the areas of posture, relaxation and breath control

Thoracic cavity - the area enclosed by the chest

Throw – a passing link made from one presenter to another, “And now with the latest weather here’s Susie Celsius”

Throwaway (as in ‘a throwaway line/word’) – when a speaker gives little or no emphasis on a word or phrase, reducing its significance

Tonal quality – the overall timb re, resonance of a voice

Trachea – commonly called the ‘windpipe’, along which flows air from mouth to lungs

Track – a layer of recorded audio (or an empty ‘lane’ where recorded audio will sit), which can be adjusted independently of other layers before being mixed (or merged) together in a final mix

Transients - very short sounds, such as the beginning of a drum hit

TX – used to mean ‘transmission’

**U

Unidirectional microphone – one that only picks up sound from a single direction

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2023.09.24 – 0997 – The Diction-ary of Voice – S

**S

Scratch Track - a temporary recording that is a ‘place-holder’ for the final voice-over. Not ‘broadcast quality’ it is used to help producers feel the pacing and style of a project before a final voice over is added

Self op (‘self op studio’) – when the presenter controls their own technical equipment, they are ‘self operating’

Session – the single block of time (say, an hour or a day) spent recording with the voice actor, who is often paid ‘per session’

SFX – short for ‘sound effects’

Shock Mount - a microphone mount that tries to minimize handling noise by using shock absorption

Sibilance – excessive ‘s’ sounds (fricatives) while speaking which are prone to becoming unpleasantly loud in audio recording

Sing-song delivery - when a speaker’s voice rises and falls in cadence in a predictable ‘nursery rhyme’ type fashion

Soft-sell commercial – a script that is read with low volume, low emphasis and in a natural, low-key style

S.O.T – ‘sound on tape’, what’s been recorded

Sound-alikes – these voice actors are similar to celebrity impersonators, but whereas impersonators usually perform exaggerated and comic impressions of the star, sound-alikes create the vocal tones and mannerisms (style, cadence and inflection) for short retakes or dubs in movies, tv and radio, and commercials. This saves the cost and time implications of getting the original star in the studio to re-record just a few words.

Sneak - to slowly fade up or out

Speech personality – one’s individual speaking-style

Spilling over – a distortion caused by too loud a noise

Split-track – audio with different content in the left and right channels, to allows for independent control of levels during production, for example, two guests. Audio must be ‘mixed down’ before it can be broadcast

Stand by – the verbal ‘get ready’ direction given just before a programme or recording starts

Straight-read commercial – a script presented without flourish or over-emphasis

Stroboscopy - an advanced way to view the vocal folds. This usually involves a scope that goes through your mouth to properly identify and define vocal problems

Supercardioid - a microphone pick-up pattern that is most sensitive to sounds in front of the microphone, even more so than a cardioid

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2023.09.23 – 0996 – The Diction-ary of Voice – R – Part 2

Riding the gain (or ‘riding the mic’ or ‘riding the levels’) – the constant adjustment of the input levels as the sound unexpectedly (and often unprofessionally) varies in volume dramatically

Room Tone - the ‘indoor ambience’ or background noise in a room, which should be as close to silent as possible

ROT (‘rot’ or ‘R.O.T’) – a recording of what went out on air: Recording Of/Off Transmission

Royalty Free Music – music that can be used (with varying restrictions) after paying a one-off fee

RP – Received Pronunciation (‘The Queen’s English’, ‘BBC pronunciation’, ‘Standard English’) and English accent without ‘perceived’ regional accent, usually of the type heard in south east England

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2023.09.22 – 0995 – The Diction-ary of Voice – R – Part 1

**R

Rate – the speed of someone speaking or reading

Rate – the amount paid to a voice-over for a day, hour or script

Raw audio - unprocessed recorded audio

Read (or ‘take’) – a recording of a script (or the ‘copy’)

Reaper – a DAW

Red-line the meters – to push the audio volume level to the maximum

Render – saving and/or converting your audio so others can access it

Residuals – payment over and above the initial payment, based on the number of times a commercial is run

Resonance – a full-bodied voice (not necessarily a deeper voice), achieved through the sound of one’s voice vibrating in different parts of the body such as the mouth, throat, nose (sinus) and chest areas – collectively known as ‘resonating chambers’

Resonant cavities – the parts of the body which enhance sound and in which resonance develops.

Ribbon microphone – the mic type which picks up sound by the use of thin (ribbon-like) metallic elements, suspended between magnets. These vibrate when sound is detected, and converts it into electrical energy

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2023.09.21 – 0994 – The Diction-ary of Voice – P

Polyp - usually unilateral (one vocal fold) mass that grows off the surface. Can be hemorrhagic (filled with blood) or not, and’s usually due to voice misuse or overuse. 

Pop – when a plosive sound is too close to the mic and causes distortion

Pop guard (or ‘pop screen’, ‘pop shield’, ‘pop stopper’) - a fabric, foam or metal shield between the mic and the mouth to help disperse ‘breath blasts’ from plosives and so reduce the likelihood of distorted sound being recorded  

Post - the point at which a voice appears, or the start of a sound or part of a sound, for example, a specific drum beat in a ‘bed’: “make sure you hit the post”, that is, stop talking a beat before the drum comes in

Post (‘post-production) - the final step in a recording process, including the editing, mixing. “It’s OK, we’ll fix that in post”

Predictive eye – the name given to the process of scanning ahead as you read to give prewarning of what's coming up

Pre-produce - to mix or record a piece or interview in advance of a live show, perhaps for technical or timing reasons

Producer - the producer can have more than one role (much like a director), but usually the one who hires the voice actor and other staff, and liaise with clients and agencies

Production master – a final, ready audiobook

Production studio – where programmes are recorded rather than go out live

Production value – the ‘effort’ (including duration, complexity, and post-production) put into the making of an audio or video show. One lasting an hour with several guests, archive footage, and theme tunes would have ‘high production values’. A single presenter ‘read’ lasting just a few minutes is likely to have a ‘low production value’

Pronunciation - a general term for the way a word is spoken (see: ‘enunciation’, ‘diction’)

ProTools - the accepted professional standard for a DAW

PSA - Public Service Announcement such as a government or charity appeal

PTC – Piece To Camera: style of a video presenter, looking directly at ‘the viewer’

Punch – an energetic reading style

Punch and roll - a form of ‘continuous editing’, where you scroll back and record from a convenient break, and then start re-recording where the mistake was made

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2023.09.20 – 0993 – The Diction-ary of Voice – P - Part 2

Pharynx – the area between the larynx and the nasal cavities

Phonation – the process of making sounds into words, which articulation turns into recognisable speech

Phonemes – the different smaller sounds which when combined form a word

Phrasing – delivering groups of words within a sentence to enhance meaning

Pickup – when you go back to re-record a small section of content, such as a sentence, because of a slip, trip or mispronunciation. A ‘take’ is a longer piece of content. Whereas a Take may be annotated 1, 2, 3 a Pickup will be marked A, B, C, so you may have “Take 21, Pickup C”, which helps the producer keep track of the ‘best bits’.

Pickup pattern – the three-dimensional area in which a microphone will best detect sound

Pitch - the relative highness or lowness of the register of voice, determined by the frequency of the vibration of sound: the faster the vocal folds vibrate, the higher the pitch that they create.

Placement – where you put your tongue in your mouth to create certain word-sounds

Playback on smalls – playing back a recording on small sub-optimum speakers to replicate how people will hear the produced version, at home or in the car

Plosives - the group of sounds in the English language which cause a small ‘explosion’ of air from the mouth, often at the start and end of words (‘stops’) such as b, d, g, k, p, t. (Put your hand in front of your mouth as you say these letters and feel that rush of air.) Plosives are sometimes called ‘breath blasts’, and travel from a speaker’s mouth directly into a microphone’s diaphragm, causing a moment of deep distortion

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2023.09.19 – 0992 – The Diction-ary of Voice – N and P

**N

Name check – saying your name on air

Narrative non-fiction – a true-story podcast

Narrative voice - the voice you use for the storyteller/author part of the story, rather a character voice

Nasal sounds – speech sounds heard in words with m, n and ng letters: ‘many nice singers’, when the back of the tongue is raised against the roof of the mouth (the soft palate) thereby closing off to sound the resonance chamber of the sinus cavities

Natural – a delivery which in itself is not noticeable

Nodules (‘nodes’) - bilateral (both vocal cords) callouses that form on the vocal folds due to voice misuse or overuse. Usually these are reversible with corrections in vocal technique

NPC – Non-playing character in gameplay

NSV - Non-Scripted Vocals: any kind of vocals which don't actually contain scripted dialogue, for example, pain hits, exertions, breathing and so on.

**O

Omissions – when a speaker leaves out certain sounds in their speech omitted such as “cal-forn-ya’ (California)

Omnidirectional microphone – one with a pick-up pattern that is equally sensitive to all directions

Optimum pitch (or ‘home tone’) – the tone at which someone is most comfortable speaking; their natural pitch

Overmodulation (or ‘over-modding’) - distortion caused by too loud a sound

Over-the-top – a presenting style for emphasis or excitement. Not always done deliberately or appropriately

**P

P2P – ‘pay to play’, online casting sites

Pace – the speed of a read

Pad – extra talking usually ad-libbed to “fill for time” that is, until a pre-determined end-time is reached

Pan pot – the ‘potentiometer’ is an additional dial (rather than a fader) on a sound channel. Turning it to the left or right (‘panning’) will cause more sound to come from (or be recorded to) the left or right channel of a stereo mix

Patter – informal, adlibbed, unscripted talk

Peak - the maximum instantaneous level of a signal or audio waveform

Per hour – the hourly rate based on the length of time you spend at the studio (rather than ‘per finished hour’, when the level of pay is based on the duration of the finished production, which is usually much less especially in audio book production)

Per project - a flat rate for a script, regardless of the time spent recording or producing it

Per session - a flat rate for the time spent in the studio regardless of the number of projects recorded

Per spot - charging a flat rate for each commercial spot, regardless of the time spent recording it

Pfh - per finished hour (see ‘per hour’)

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2023.09.18 – 0991 – The Diction-ary of Voice – M

Marking copy – different markings on a script (underlinings, arrows, circles) to show which words require different voice presentations such as inflection, characterisation or changes to volume or speed, difficult passages, odd pronunciations and character thumbnails

Mask – using sound to cover a bad edits or to smooth a transitions

Mastering - the process of preparing and transferring an edited and mixed audio file from which all copies will be produced

Mic fright – the fear of talking in an audio or video situation

Mic level – the volume of the microphone input channel

Microdynamics - the difference between the loudest moments and the quietest moments over a short timeframe, usually referring to transients

Microphone – the device which picks up sound and turns it into electrical energy so it can be broadcast or recorded

Mix - to combine several audio sources into a single finished piece

Mixed audio – see ‘dry’ audio

Mixer – the equipment that allows various inputs of audio or video to be broadcast or recorded at different times and levels

Modal voice- your usual speaking voice

Monaural (or ‘mono’) - sound on one, single channel, that is, not stereo

Monitor speaker (or ‘loudspeakers’ or simply ‘speakers’) – used to hear studio or playback output

Monotone – when a person talks with little or no variety in their pitch, volume, and speed

Montage - several pieces of audio combined sequentially to create a single sound element

Monthly retainer - an agreement in which the voice-over is paid a set amount each month for ongoing work, based on the average amount of recording minutes or scripts per month

Mouth axis – the direction of your mouth in relation to the microphone: ‘slightly off axis would mean that you are not speaking towards the mic and so you will be heard slightly indistinctly

Music bed (or simply ‘bed’) - music played underneath a voice

Mute button – the manual switch which significantly quietens an audio feed, maybe completely. This is automatically activated on studio loudspeakers when the microphone goes live, to avoid feedback

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