[LAU] Looking for voice recording suggestions

[Lorenzo Sutton]

To all the precious advice other people already provided I'll add from 
experience recording with (especially) amateur kids but also adults:

- Watch for people generating unwanted noise especially:
	- paper (if they are holding sheets vs. having them on a stand)
	- clothes accessories such as necklaces, earrings, etc.
	- people sniffling or even worst coughing and clearing their throat 
(this one particularly relevant for people *not* recording but in the 
same room who think they are unheard if they are far from the mic...)
	- people moving and therefore sound of shoes, people touching furniture 
esp. chairs and tables
	- people fiddling with noisy stuff like keys (true story!)
	- people whispering, giggling, etc. (again ones not recording who think 
they are unheard)
	- external people coming in unexpected, knocking, etc. If needed put a 
sign on the door or let people know

- Environmental noise:
	- Close all windows, seal the environment as much as possible to avoid 
traffic noise, building noise etc. If I understand correctly this will 
not be a sound-proof studio so a truck / bus / heavy vehicle passing by 
could be very audible
	- Air conditioner hum and similar. Although it might not be feasible to 
switch them off, if they are in the room try to find a position / angle 
which picks their noise as little as possible

Finally, I would recommend (if you have the time), do at least 2-3 takes 
regardless of your moment impression, even 4-5 of critical passages. 
These might prove very useful in post to correct things you might not 
notice when concentrating on getting them to record, in some cases they 
can be a precious source for a single word or phrase to change, etc.

Also, if interaction between the people is not needed you might consider 
recording each person separately (other people not in the room), this 
helps concentrate, win shyness and statistically minimize noise :)

Good luck.
Lorenzo.

On 14/12/2018 23:54, hollundertee at gmx.net wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> I'm currently taking part in a game jam and I'll have to do a whole lot
> of voice recordings tomorrow.
> I have barely any experience with that.
> 
> I do have a laptop, USB audio interface, mic, stand and a bunch of
> questions.
> 
> 1) Room: Besides corridors and such I have access to a roughly 2x10 m
> room or a bigger room, I guess 10x20 m. I guess go for the bigger one?
> They are both rather empty, safe for tables and chairs.
> 
> 2) Recording software? Ardour, something simpler?
> 
> 3) Post processing, normalization of some sort. I'll have at least four
> total amateur voice actors and all in all hundreds of lines.
> 
> 4) What did I forget?
> 
> Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
> 
> Best regards,
> Philipp
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