Our voiceover expert Rich Van Slyke weighs in this week in Programming To Win with his eight tricks to make you sound better on the air. Many of these are simple, easy tips such as your placement in relation to the microphone and headphone volume.
By Rich Van Slyke
Rich Van Slyke
You can’t change your voice, but you can make it sound better. Most of us hear a voice we like, and we try to sound like that voice. But that is a mistake. The truth is, people would rather hear your normal voice as you speak everyday, than your voice as you try to make it sound like somebody else. If you are comfortable talking, we are comfortable listening.
Have you ever been tuned a radio station, and the signal becomes fuzzy? And even thought you are enjoying the content, you change the station because it’s just too hard to listen to a bad signal? That’s why we should aim for the best possible sound.
Here are 8 simple ways to sound better when you are talking into a microphone:
1. Move it back 1 inch. You know how when you get really close to a camera, it distorts your face, the fishbowl effect? Microphones do the same thing. It’s called the proximity effect. When you get really close a mic, it changes the sound. You voice gets a little muddy with too much low end. So to avoid it, move back from the mic. Just one inch back from the mic, and you will sound better.
2. Talk softly. The human voice sounds better, when we talk soft. Not less enthusiasm. Less volume. Most of us talk soft on a normal day. We raise our voice when there’s a lot of background noise. Or when we are angry. But most people produce a more pleasant tone when the talk at a lower volume. This also creates a more intimate sound. If I like you, I talk soft. When you are on the radio talking softer, you sound like you are only talking to me, instead of talking to a whole crowd.
3. Crank Your Headphones. This relates to number 2. When your headphones are really loud, you will talk softer. You can’t help it. Beginners think of radio as a DJ addressing a group of people, like a guy with a megaphone talking to a crowd. But radio pros know, it’s a one to one communication. Like one person sitting right next to another person in a car. Especially with so many people listening on headphones these days. Most radio listening is done in the car. Alone. With the radio up loud. I might be very excited and telling you all about a great concert, but if I’ve got the headphones up loud, I am less likely to shout. And that sounds better in your ears.
4. Roll off the low end. This is a trick recording engineers and producers know about the human voice. Cut the bass to make the voice sound crystal clear. Many radio personalities want their voice to sound deep. So they turn up the bass. But this doesn’t make your voice deeper, it just sounds muffled. When we cut, or roll off the lower frequencies, we sound crisp and clear. And that is a better sound. Lose the bass, win the race, to sounding clean and crisp.
5. Boost Your 8k. This one is more for production geeks, but it’s important. Boosting 8k means raising the volume of frequencies around 8000 kilohertz. You can find this on your computer, in your audio editing software. Go the EQ section, find 8k, and boost it by 3 or 4 db. Your voice will sound crisp and will pop like a rock star. Very HD.
6. Check Distortion On Every Device. Does you mic plug directly into the board? Or does it go through a mic pre-amp. Or maybe a mic processor? Double check to be sure you are not distorting any device between you and the board. It’s as easy as checking the meters. Red is bad. Stay out of the red. If that meter is hitting the red, lower the gain to correct it.
7. Eliminate Throat Tension. You know that strain in your arms when you lift something heavy? Your muscles tighten and clench. You should not feel that tension in your throat when you are talking into a mic. If you do, it means you are doing something unnatural, you are pushing too hard. Your voice sounds much better when you have no tension in your throat. The problem is, that just like when we are exercising, it feels good to have tension in your throat. It feels like you are working it, pumpin’ hard. Instead, you sound strained. Guys who do car spots feel lots of tension in their throats. But when we talk to someone we love, and are feeling happy and relaxed, we have no tension at all. This is the best sound on the radio.
8. Work That Mic. The obvious move is to pull back when you get loud. When you move back from the mic, you can shout without distorting the signal. But it also changes the sound, and adds room ambience. Spend some time experimenting. Sometimes it’s better to lower the input volume and stay on the mic. Sometimes all you need to do is move to the side. The big thing is to understand how the sound changes as you move. I’ve even recorded myself saying things like: “one foot away from the mic, 3 feet away, 6 feet away” and then gone back to listen.
Rich Van Slyke is the voice of WBIG Washington, WCSX Detroit, KXTG Portland, KISS San Antonio, WGRD Grand Rapids, WRIT Milwaukee, 1037 The DAM in Kansas City, KDFO Bakersfield, WZEW Mobile, WKQZ Saginaw, WKZQ Myrtle Beach, KZOZ San Luis Obispo, KQWB Fargo, KTUX Shreveport, KZND Anchorage, WIXO Peoria, KCBL Fresno, WSFM Wilmington, KKPL Fort Collins, WRZK Tri-Cities, XFM Nairobi, and the new Production Vault Classic Rock. www.richvanslyke.com 770.962.4788 richvs@bellsouth.net
