Unfiltered Thoughts

2022.05.30 – 0515 – Treating Your Studio: At The Very Least Do ThisIf sound-treatment is challenging for you to try to at least do three things:·        Have a sound-wave absorber on your table – as you will be sitting here in front of the mic and the recording device, your voice is likely to bounce off the hard surface and back into the mic, changing its effect. A towel or a large gaming mouse pad will help deaden the acoustic.·        Isolate the back of the microphone – you will be facing and speaking into the mic, but much of your sound will go past it, perhaps to a wall or window the other side and then bounce back towards the mic. A portable sound booth or an isolation shield may help to a certain extent. You may be able to create a home-made version using a clothes airer and a heavy towel or duvet, or propping up a soft cat-bed behind the mic. ·        Isolate the wall behind your back – yeah, don’t forget this area: sound that goes past the mic, hits a wall and returns may very well then hit the wall behind you and come back for a third try at the mic-head. Not having this space covered may create an echoey effect in the room, so treat it too. I have a portable clothes rail on wheels, over which I can drape a heavy duvet. I pull it behind me just before I record. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.29 – 0514 – The Difference Between Sound ‘Proofing’ and Sound ‘Treating’
There is a difference between ‘sound-proofing’ and ‘sound-treating’. The former is stopping the unwanted sound getting in and can be a big an expensive job, whereas sound treating is quicker, cheaper and easier and involves working with the sounds inside the room. Ideally, they will both be done, but if you can’t then certainly do the latter: ‘treating’ the inside of the space, reducing sounds within it from bouncing around, so they are absorbed rather than creating a thin ‘echo’ effect with sound waves bouncing off hard surfaces and re-entering the mic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.28 – 0513 – All About AcousticsWhat is in your studio space is important for your voice because if your sound bounces around too much, it will appear to be ‘thin’ and ‘hollow’ rather than warm and natural. Then consider how the room itself sounds: the acoustics.·        The size of the room – usually a smaller room is going to be easier to be less echo-ey and easier to ‘sound-treat’ than a larger one, a lower ceiling preferable to a higher one. But too small a room and it will get hot, claustrophobic for any length of time – all affecting your stress levels and so, your voice – and the shorter distance from your mouth to a hard surface (off which your voice can bounce) is smaller, and so will affect the recording.·        The layout of the room – flat and straight-angled walls, floors and ceilings will make it easy for sound to bounce off them in a uniform way (‘sound reflection’), which is not what you want.·        What is on the walls and floors – hard surfaces lead to more ‘wave bouncing’, so avoid plain plastered walls (although hard walls from a brick of concrete are better than popular drywall for stopping external noises getting in), wooden floors and windows. Add mass to the walls to reduce noise and vibrations getting in. Seal gaps around windows. Cover surfaces with soft (and ideally heavy) fabrics carpets and curtains (sofas and furniture covered with fabric work as absorbers). Break up naked wall surfaces with anything from pictures and shelves, furniture, curtains or sound-absorbing panels. Pay particular attention to corners where two walls or two walls and a ceiling connects. Cork, rubber, and foam insulation are common methods of soundproofing that can be found at your local hardware store. You can use foam rollers (typically used for stretching and rolling out sore muscles) or yoga blocks to fill the corners. The more irregular angles, shapes, and rugged surfaces in your room, the greater the chance it will better diffuse your voice into the mic. And the more sound-absorbent material is in the room (within reason), the greater the chance of reduce the echo effect in the space. There’s a good reason why many people record in their walk-in wardrobe: a small space with lots of clothes…[1]
[1] There’s more techy stuff on sound waves and acoustics here: https://improvepodcast.com/podcasting-room-acoustics-how-your-room-impacts-your-audio-quality/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.27 – 0512 – How The Studio Space Affects Your Voice THE STUDIORecording locationThe studio space will affect your voice because too much other noise may be a distraction, you may be lost in the mix, or the acoustics of the room will simply alter how your voice sounds.  Outside of a professional recording studio, the podcaster will ideally choose a recording location that has the least amount of background noise or the one which will be easiest to soundproof. So, review any potential location from the perspective of the least amount of noise:·        Outside noises getting in – such as neighbours, traffic, animals (birds), weather (wind & rain), plumbing. ·        Internal sound sources – computer fans, air conditioning, pipework, or any other noisy equipment. Consider turning them off while you record, or having your mic as far from them as possible. Stopping outside noises interfering with your recording is a matter of sound-proofing the room that you are using as your studio. The aim is to stop virtually all external noises being heard inside. It can be a big and expensive job with the possibility of suspended ceilings or floating floors and padded with sound-deadening foam and air-space. There are plenty of companies that will sell you acoustically treated isolation booths that you can construct in your existing room – a ‘room within a room’ if you like - (https://www.acousticabins.com/ https://www.kubevocalbooth.com/ https://whisperroom.com/ ) or of course you can build one yourself.  But for a basic alternative:·        Have a home studio in the quietest part of your home, probably upstairs and at the back of the house to reduce road noise, ·        Consider recording at the quietest part of the day - perhaps on Sunday morning at 7 when the neighbours are quietest, rather than in the morning rush hour when the road outside may get busier. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.26 – 0511 – What’s Stuff About The Studio Got To Do With My Voice?What’s all this got to do with my voice?Knowing more about studios, mics and the electronic processing of your voice will simply help you sound better. For example, knowing the best mic for your voice, how far to sit from it, how to hold it and what side to speak into. Knowing this, as well as the rest of the studio paraphernalia will help you become more relaxed in the booth and as we have already seen, that will help you produce a more relaxed and resonant tone, and turn in a better performance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.25 – 0510 – Your Voice In The StudioThis Part of the book is divided into three chapters. First, we will look at the different equipment in the studio. Don’t worry we won’t be getting too technical and talk about the transmission chain, but there are a few bits of kit in a home or pro studio that you need to know about and about how to use it right to make the best of your voice. For example, there’s no point doing breathing exercises and great resonance if you don’t know which side of a mic to speak into (yep, it happens), or have ‘headphone howl-round’.  The second chapter looks at your performance in the studio, with techniques such as ‘reading ahead’; and ‘cold reading’ – when you have to sight-read a script just handed to you. We’ll take another look at confidence and what kind of preparation can help in that, and also about feedback given to you by other people… and feedback you give to yourself. Chapter three in this Part then moves on to the production of a spot or a show: the process of being directed and how those ‘behind the glass’ will help you give your very best vocal performance. After all, if you know in advance what they want then you are more likely to be able to provide it – fast and to a high standard.  This chapter also looks at different kinds of reads: for example, how a book narration differs from a ‘voice of god’ announcement’ at an event and what some of the different skills are.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.24 – 0509 – Vocal VarietyVarietyIf your inflection patterns are too consistent, then you're sounding bored rather than interesting. Depending on the material, sometimes your delivery should be fast, sometimes slower. Sometimes you should be excited, sometimes calm. Sometimes your voice should carry a smile, sometimes you should sound dead serious. By constantly varying your pattern (without sounding like a pastiche) you increase the possibility of being perceived as human rather than automaton… and therefore someone that the listener can connect with.
Variety in your voice will help people listen for longer. In real conversation, inflections vary widely from sentence to sentence. In announcing, people will tend to say everything the same way. It is far more captivating to hear someone who presents with:·     Various sentence lengths – so you don’t get into a repetitive rhythm·     A voice which alters in pace and pitch – faster and higher for exciting passages or when relaying content that people know but that helps you get from point A to point C·     A style which intonates correctly rather than is robotic in modulation – so it is natural and understandable, and people aren’t trying to work out what you said and while doing so miss your next great point.·     The occasional presentational … pause. To make people engage, to tease and intrigue. Some trainers say “be unpredictable”. No. That’s just annoying. Look back at those tips above, variety shouldn’t be unpredictable, the variety comes from being natural. All of those points are what we do naturally in conversation, or telling a story to a group of friends, maybe a pause before a punchline.  Whatever the style or the content, you need to deliver the message to the audience in an engaging, memorable way that will make them act: either emotionally or physically.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.23 – 0508 – Your Injection Into The OutputRapport begins with realising that each ‘consumer’, viewer or listener is an individual who in most cases, has invited you into their home, their world, their ears. Consider yourself a guest, an acquaintance or even a friend, who’s been welcomed in because you have a story to tell.  You can easily forget about the audience. Cocooned within the four walls of the studio, you can begin to sound as though you are talking to yourself or to the studio director or producer. Do this and you begin to go through the motions, your concentration is elsewhere and your vocal presentation begins to sound stilted, singsong and insincere. “We’re people, we’re human beings. The days when news was read in a black tie and you’re not supposed to have a personality – those days are gone. You’re putting on the television to see other human beings and see their reactions. If I just stood or sat there po-faced, I think that’d be a very big turn-off for people.I think we need to inject a bit of ourselves in our output, and that’s what people will watch you rather than someone else for.”Simon McCoy, TV news presenter/journalist, “You’re On The Air” podcast November 2020 We spoke about energy before, but it’s not shouting or projection per se. Even a relaxed conversation on a podcast takes concentration, focus and energy. It’s you with a bit more. You alone could sound a bit flat when it came out of the other end of the speaker or headphones, you have to add some showbiz sprinkle on top, so it’s “YouPLUS!”, with the ‘plus’ burning off between your mouth and the listener’s ears.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.22 – 0507 – Personality and RapportPERSONALITY AND RAPPORTGood presenters are ones who establish rapport with their audience. “A lot of people have complimented me for sounding warm and I think that’s important… warm but authoritative at the same time. You can read really bad news without emoting about it but on the other hand not being cold and too factual either and I think I’m very happy when people say that because that’s what I’m aiming for.(I’m) calm, even though you’re not feeling calm but you sound it because you have to be. Not emotive. You have to be good at giving bad news without dramatising it. You have to deliver something impartially but also with warmth. You want it delivered by somebody who’s not going to react to what you’re reading in any kind of emotive way. You don’t want to sound angry about something, even if in your head you are. You don’t want to sound very, very sad when something very sad has happened: because it is a sad thing it doesn’t need the newsreader to load it up with their sadness either. So, you have to be very concerned and warm but also slightly set apart. You’re talking to a friend. (It’s like) some news has happened and you’re driving along and you see someone you haven’t seen for a little bit and you say ‘oh my goodness, you’ll never guess what’s happened’ and it’s that kind of thing… but you don’t dramatize it. Don’t sound as though you’re about to burst into tears if it’s a really sad story, the story speaks for itself.You are a conduit. You have to deliver it calmly but without sounding like an automaton.”Susan Rae, BBC radio 4 newsreader/announcer,“You’re On The Air” podcast December 2020 Such rapport defies satisfactory definition. It is a kind of chemistry that exists between presenters and their audience. A ‘focused energy’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.21 – 0506 – Stop Thinking What You’re DoingFinally - stop thinking about what you’re doingWhen you read a story or a script for the first time, be mindful as to its immediate meaning. What jumps out of the page at you? What’s surprising or shocking? What’s confusing or concerning? Capture the sense of discovery and realisation so you can bring it to your performance later, to make it more naturalistic. Just don’t think about creating that feeling … don’t act it or read it. Just open the tap and let the feelings flow into you and immerse you as you convince and compel in your conversation with your listener, reflecting its meaning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.