Voice Over Recording Session Warm-ups

Getting ready for a voice over recording session involves vocal exercises and making sure that your voice is ready. The process is quite similar to what music recording artists go through. If you’re just getting started with voice over recording and you’re entering the recording studio for the first time, chances are that you’ll be a bit clueless about what needs to happen first.  🙂 

Dedicating a few minutes to warming up your voice before getting started will give you (and your producers) complete satisfaction with the outcome and it will also enable you to get the job done faster. So, instead of rushing into the recording studio and being hasty about it, spend some time on the preliminary preparation. You can thank us later!

The Secrets of Professional Voice Recording

The secret of professional voice over recording is hidden in a combination of exercises that target different parts of your body. No, voice recording isn’t just about your neck and throat. Various other muscle groups are involved, which is why you need a thorough warmup.

On top of doing whole-body exercises (yoga is great!), you’ll also need a good idea about what to do and what to avoid in the hours prior to entering the voice recording studio.

Professionals know that avoiding some beverages and foods a few hours before entering the studio will prevent dehydration that could cause hoarseness and other voice issues. Don’t drink caffeine or alcoholic beverages before recording and you should most definitely refrain from smoking. Milk, carbonated beverages and other sugary drinks aren’t recommended, either. Stick to good, old water and you’ll have the perfect voice for a professional recording session.

Control Your Breathing

When doing professional voice recording, you have to be in full control of your breathing. Don’t rush through the phrases and don’t take a breath in the middle of the sentence. You can experiment with different breathing techniques depending on the type of text you’ll have to read. Don’t worry about taking too long, the engineer and producers also want you to do a good job. Please don’t feel pressured!

One of the most popular breathing exercises will take you less than 10 minutes to do: Stand straight and put a hand on your stomach. Take a slow breath through your nose, feel how your abdomen and chest are expanding. Hold your breath for five seconds. Slowly exhale through your slightly open lips until your lungs are empty. Hold it for five seconds and breathe in again.

It’s surprising how many people don’t know how to simply breathe!

Exercise Your Tongue

When was the last time you did a tongue twister? No, we’re not joking, a tongue twister can actually help for better digital sound recording. Warming up your voice with tongue twisters will improve your pronunciation and enunciation. There are many tongue twisters featuring different letters that you can try before your recording session.

Do each tongue twister several times. Start slow and attempt to say it faster as you go. Repeating the phrases will exercise your tongue and mouth, making it easier to say the more difficult phrases correctly. Do them in the car, in the shower, in the waiting room and wherever you won’t feel too crazy!

Read the Script in Advance

Exercising with the actual script will make you feel calmer and comfortable before entering the voice over recording studio. Go through the parts of the text that make you feel nervous until you feel more confident in your grasp of the challenging text.

Change your voice several times to identify the best tone. Keep in mind that professional voice over artists usually use a quieter voice to warm up. Their aim is to train their mouth and tongue without straining the vocal cords.

Finally, before starting the real recording session, you may want to practice the text using the actual microphone. By doing so, you’ll familiarize yourself with the studio atmosphere, mic technique and do a better job.

Listen to the Outcome

Listen to what’s been recorded after your first try. When you listen, it becomes much easier to identify mistakes and do a better job the second time. Be open to suggestions from the engineer and directors.

Examine all aspects of the voice recording – the sound quality, pronunciation and intonation. If you’ve never done it before, chances are that you’ll find your voice quite weird when listening to it. Don’t worry about it – if there’s anything wrong with your voice, the studio technician will let you know.

Making a professional voice recording is all about choosing the right studio for the job. Working with professionals will help you get the finest quality, even if you’re a newbie in the field. The engineers and music producers in the voice recording studio should be professionals with years of experience. This way, they can give you useful suggestions and help you make the most of the opportunity. Finally, to get inspired, you should consider listening to some of the biggest male and female voice talents. Learning from their experience will take your recording sessions to the next level!

Good luck and let us know how it goes 🙂