Ensuring that voiceover and ADR sessions run smoothly is down to a variety of factors. As the engineer, many of these are within your control. In this article we take a look at six tips to help your sessions run as smoothly as possible.

Create A Comfortable Environment

Creating the most comfortable environment possible for actors and voiceover artists is paramount. Nobody is going to perform at their best if the space they’re working in is uncomfortable so there are a few things you can do to help with this. Temperature is a big one. Studios, and voiceover booths in particular, can become very hot so try to maintain a good working temperature for the session by setting the air con beforehand. If the noise of it is audible when recording, you may need to selectively switch it on and off between takes.

The lighting is also an important factor in getting the best out of the artist. Adjustable lighting is a good idea as it allows you to tailor it to cater for individual preferences. Also, always keep spare light bulbs to hand so you can replace them as and when they fail.

Lastly, always make sure a glass of water is available for both clients and artists in the studio. They shouldn’t need to ask for this and it should be provided right from the start of the session. This is particularly important to anyone who is actually behind the mic.

Make Communication Easy

Producers and artists should be able to communicate with one another easily. This isn’t too much of an issue when they’re both present in the studio but it can become a little more challenging when running remote sessions where the artist, client or both may be in other locations. In these situations, consider using a video link, or at the very least make sure that your audio routing is configured so that everyone can talk to one another. Sometimes this means using virtual audio routing applications to connect everything together. Set this up way before you need to actually use it, test it all and create a template so you can recall the settings whenever you need to.

Be Prepared To Mediate When Disagreements Occur

As well as the obvious technical aspects of actually making the recordings, your job as the engineer is to ensure the smooth running of the session and the fulfilment of the clients creative vision. There will, on occasions, be some disagreements between client and artist regarding the best way to go about something. I’ve seen this happen in voiceover sessions when the client has suggested a change to a script and the voiceover artist has expressed concern that it’s either grammatically incorrect or doesn’t read well. If one party remains unconvinced by the other’s suggestion, it may be down to you to mediate. One way to do this is to suggest trying both variations. That way, everyone feels that they’ve at least had their input. The best version can always be chosen from the takes afterwards.

Be Selective About Making Suggestions

The extent to which you can make suggestions regarding creative decisions in the session will depend on the people you’re working with and how well you know them. As a general rule though, especially when working with clients you haven’t worked with previously, be very selective about the input you give. Not everyone wants or is receptive to much input from the engineer so take time to figure out how they like to work and whether or not they want any ideas from you. If you irritate them with constant suggestions, they may not come back to you again.

Conversely, if you sense that a client is new to working in a studio environment or is uncertain about parts of the process, you can provide guidance and reassurance to make them feel more at ease.

Record Everything

When actors are running through ADR or voiceover scripts, some of the best deliveries can occur when they don’t feel under the pressure of it actually being a record take. This can mean that great performances get lost because sometimes they can’t replicate it as effectively when actually going for a take. A simple way around this is to record all practice runs as well as the actual takes. That way, if magic happens, you’ve got it.

Screw Up Paper Scripts!

These days a lot of scripts never actually get printed but appear on iPads or other types of screen. This can be convenient in some ways but inconvenient in others. For example, new or updated scripts can be sent to a device quicker than they can be printed but when small amends or annotations need to be made to a script, sometimes paper and a pencil is just easier.

When using paper scripts, the sound of the paper being shuffled can be audible, especially when a line spans more than one page. Avoiding this with careful formatting is best but sometimes artists move the script around anyway, pre-emptively turning a page when finishing the previous line. One tip which can help to reduce the audibility of page turns is to screw the script up beforehand! This might sound like a strange idea but screwing up and then straightening out a sheet of paper actually reduces its handling noise. The corrugation of crumpled paper increases its rigidity, thereby making it less noisy.

Other Suggestions

I’ve covered what I consider to be some of the most important factors to help ensure a voiceover or ADR session runs smoothly. There are plenty of others such as keeping spare headphones, microphones and cables. Also, on longer sessions which run to several hours, schedule regular breaks to reduce fatigue and help everyone maintain focus.

We’d love to hear your suggestions. Are there any key points we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments!