microphones

Proximity Effect

December 11, 2019 by Joe

VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro: Proximity Effect

Well that was a long hiatus. Thanks a lot, Thanksgiving! Alright, today I want to get into mic technique.

What’s mic technique?

It’s how you use your mic to get the right sound you want and how to avoid sounds you don’t want. It’s actually related to performance in the sense that your voice, the mic, and even your recording space can be viewed as instruments or tools. How you “play” each of these contributes to your performance for better or for worse. The technique we’re talking about today is what is called the proximity effect.

Proximity effect:

The proximity effect is what happens when you get very close to your mic. You want to do this when you want to sound intimate or warm, kind of like someone confiding something to you and they get close enough to whisper. But we don’t whisper because that’s actually bad for your voice; instead, we just speak quietly. We also do this when we want to make our voice sound larger than it is, like a big monster or some grand wizard behind a curtain.

What does it sound like?

Well, let me do a little demonstration! “At Greenfield hospital we know how important family is WHEN YOU ARE THRUST INTO BATTLE WITH FEROCIOUS RAGE!”

So unless you’re trying to communicate these sentiments or characters, I HIGHLY recommend you back off your mic—at least 6-8 inches or about the distance between your extended pinky and thumb like so. Otherwise, you may sound a little scarier or more unprofessional than you might intend.

For example, if I were doing an eLearning narration on security in the workplace it would likely sound too intimate to the listener if I used the proximity effect: “Remember to keep your personal and company belongings in a safe and secure location.” But by backing off a few inches that same line sounds much cleaner and formal: “Remember to keep your personal and company belongings in a safe and secure location.”

Final tip:

Finally, one thing to remember is that mics are not all the same: some produce a greater proximity effect while others produce little to none. Most of the time you won’t use this technique, but it’s important to know what it is, whether you need it, and whether you have the right mic for it.

If you’d like to leave the technique mastering to the masters then hire a freelance millennial voice actor like yours truly. Email any time: joe@joepassaro.com. 🙂

USB Mics versus XLR Mics

October 9, 2019 by Joe

Alright, welcome back to VO Tips for the Non-VO Pro!

Last time we discussed condenser versus dynamic mics, and I thought it wise to continue the next logical topic: USB versus XLR. Aaaand what am I talking about?

What they are:

USB mics plug directly into your computer, tablet, etc. through a USB port. XLR mics require an XLR cable and something called an audio interface, which I’ll cover in a separate video. But essentially both of these do the exact same thing. They convert soundwaves into digital signals (1s and 0s) which your computer can then read and display as a 2D waveform. USB mics, however, are generally lower quality and more limited in their use.

Why USB mics are limited:

For example, last week we talked about condenser versus dynamic mics. Say I normally use a condenser mic like this but needed more external isolation and wanted to use a dynamic mic. I could simply swap them out easy-peasy. You’d have to adjust many settings on your computer if you wanted to swap out a USB mic because you swapped out the audio interface as well. Also any preamps and added signal processing tools, which I’ll discuss later, but essentially things to make the mic and therefore my voice sound much nicer, cleaner, louder—better—cannot be added to a USB mic.

Some great USB options:

There are some very powerful plugins that can do a lot to enhance mic signals, and USB mics ARE getting increasingly better in their quality. The Rode NT-USB is my personal favorite. Many voice actors unashamedly take pride in their Apogee MiC (M I C) USB mics, and then there are others like the Audio Technica 2020. The Blue Yeti is the ubiquitous mic for anyone looking to start their podcast and in general produces an OK sound. It’s likely good enough for you to start out. However, if the goal is to make better sounding audio, you’ll eventually want to upgrade to a dedicated audio interface and XLR mic.

And again, if you have a poor recording space—no sound isolation or acoustic treatment—a dynamic mic would be your best bet.

As always if this is too much to wrap your head around or you’d prefer a conversational, millennial voice talent to tackle the nuances of a good mic for you, then feel free to email me direct: joe@joepassaro.com

Condenser Versus Dynamic Mics

October 2, 2019 by Joe

VO Tips on Mics: Condenser versus Dynamic

And we’re back with another VO Tips on mics: condenser versus dynamic! You’ve probably noticed I’m wearing the same shirt—because I decided to do two videos back to back. Get over it!

Anyway, I promised to make short videos and so they shall be! We’re gonna start with the topic you probably need to know about first: microphones.

The Importance of mics:

Yes, everyone starts with mics, and people will likely poopoo this beginning topic. Most amateurs fret too much about their mic and not enough on acoustics or actual performance. But I don’t care. Because you’re not actors. You don’t need to start with understanding the motivation of your character or digging into your soul to bring truth to your performance. YOU just need to record your voice quickly and effectively.

Condenser Mics:

You could write a whole book on microphones, so I’m going to focus this video simply on explaining the difference between condenser and dynamic mics in a way that the lay person understands. In short, condenser mics are high quality and meant for very detailed audio recording, like in studios. This sensitivity also means they pick up everything—so you better be in a sound-proof, acoustically treated space like this. The major exception to this generalization are super-cardioid condenser mics, like this one here which has a very tight pickup pattern. It blocks out a lot of side and rear noise, and people use them for on location recording—think of any film sets. The guy with the boom arm looking like he’s feeding ferocious actors and trying to keep a safe distance is using a shotgun mic.

Dynamic Mics:

The other type of mic is called a dynamic microphone, which is what radio stations use and what performers use on stage. These are great because they only pick up sound very nearby. This is why you have to talk more closely to them and also why you don’t hear the crowd in live performances. They’re also very rugged, meaning you can perform a wonderfully cliché mic-drop and not necessarily hurt the mic.

What Do I recommend?

So, what do you need for your audio? I’d recommend a dynamic mic if you don’t have a very soundproof or acoustically treated space. Or a super-cardioid mic like I have here—which I’ve used to record a small role in a video game in a Fiat 500 while on vacation in Italy—it was certainly not as sexy as a Fiat commercial would have been. There was a lot of sweat though since it was about 90 degrees…outside the car.

I’ll have more VO Tips on mics on the future, but if this just overwhelms you and you’d rather have a professional voice talent take care of it, feel free to email: joe@joepassaro.com

Joe Passaro

Voice Actor