Week 10 - Voice Recording

07.05.2019

Coming together for our weekly meeting, our team talked about our overall progress and we discussed whatever was left for the completion of the vertical slice. I've notified everyone that the roles have just been handled out after an unsuccessful open audition, and I am still waiting for a certain reply from everyone. I've been tasked with providing all the required voice overs by Wednesday 15th, which left me with a week to wrap my whole recording process up and set things in motion.

Frustrated at first with the current circumstances, I was quick enough to solidify the positions of the actors, just so I could start working on my destined role as soon as possible. Thankfully, everyone that was asked replied positively on their participation.

---

10.05.2019

Having decided to split my recording time appropriately, I stopped upon a chain of less important to most important. Therefore, the first characters that I wished to record were all the secondary characters: the Busker, the Puzzle Master, Humphrey, Huxley and the Librarian. I managed to record all of the above-mentioned characters by Thursday, apart from the Librarian, and Friday was all spent recording Teddy.

Within my equipment, with the help of our team leader who happens to work at the Media Store, I managed to get a microphone, headphones, a mic stand, a pop-screen and recording/editing software. For the latest, I used AdobeAudition, since James mentioned it was fairly easy to use and he had previously worked on it, which meant that he could provide me with any needed guidance should I find a dead end.

Once I've got the actors in a quiet studio (32), I followed the same procedure with each one of them, which wrapped around the following:

• I made sure that they were hydrated at all times and especially in the beginning, so that the recording could go smoothly without straining their voices;

• First, we began with a few warm-ups, where they read out the script out loud, in order to get a better hold of the character and "find their voice";

• Then we would start recording, in order to see how their voice matched the software;

• We adjusted the microphone and the pop-filter as needed, just so we could have the most optimal volume and clarity;

• I'd describe the scene for them by the script and with additional notes, which would help them get into character and find the right tone;

• I asked them to weigh in on anything they feel like needs adjustment, or to improvise with the script in a way they see fit;

• In the beginning of each recording, I would clap my hands by the microphone in order to produce a defined point within the audio wave, which would help me cut out the needed bits in the future;

• We'd usually take 3-4 takes of the same sentence within one recording, and if it was longer, we'd divide it in 3-4 recordings;

• If needed, the actors took a small break in order to catch their breath or drink water.

Needless to say, the recording went mostly smoothly, apart from a few cases where it was hard to convey my picture of the script to the actor at hand. In the end, I managed to get the results I had planned, or at least results that were close to the desired. I was not afraid if anything seemed a little bit off, for I could further mix it up and edit it out.

You can find the first take of the recordings here.