The time comes at last for me to upload my recording/performance of Pickman's Model by H.P. Lovecraft. Not a bad first attempt for making a sort of radio/drama or audio drama with sound effects and music. Could be better but could be infinitely worse too.
Just some background information on how this was done. First, I realized most of the way through that I have tendency to get a lot closer to the microphone than I need to. Rule of thumb is typically to keep about six inches away from the diaphragm of the mic to avoid over-reliance on proximity effect which can produce a deeper resonance than what you would normally have. I notice that as I was reading I was unconsciously leaning in as I was reading. Oh well, practice makes perfect I guess. Worst case scenario I'll tape a pencil or something to my mic stand to keep me at a fixed position. Still, sound quality came out pretty good all things considered.
Next, the recording process itself. When recording voice over, most performers (especially for commercial demos and the like) will do multiple takes of a line in order to pick the one they like best. This is often done by having multiple tracks in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and then splicing together the takes that sound the best.
I didn't do that.
Instead, what I did was record a paragraph, listen to it, and then re-record what I didn't like and tried to get a better read on it. So, for a final product that clocked in around 40 minutes or so, I spent approximately 2 hours or so recording and re-recording. There are probably some line-reads I could have done better, there always are, but the final result is significantly better than my first take. Originally, I recorded the entire thing in one take and then tried to go back and re-record while doing a listen-through to make sure I didn't flub any lines or add words that weren't in the actual transcript. I found it worked a lot better to simply edit as I went and to do re-takes as I went rather than trying to do it all after the fact. Part of this is also because it also helped keep me in the flow of the performance. Another issue that can happen is when recording, you have to be as close to be in the same position relative to the microphone throughout the performance. Even a slight shift in position of your mouth or even being just a little further away from the mic or closer to the mic can have a noticeable difference in audio quality. So, I could have something I recorded a few days ago that I need to go in and edit, but if I can't find the exact position and even volume that I was speaking at during the original, the edit is going to sound jarring when inserted back into the recording. It completely breaks the experience and it sounds awful. In a treated and consistent studio environment, this probably wouldn't be an issue, but I'm literally sitting in my bed with a boom arm microphone stand attached to my night-stand with my gear hooked up to it. So, doing everything all at once is ideal, though not always possible due to the sleep schedule of other people in my house.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy the recording. As I mentioned in my last update, I will be doing a review of the Netflix abomination adaptation of this story in the coming future. In the mean time, be sure to take a listen and leave a comment on YouTube and let me know what you think.
Take care!
-Mr. P.
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