Studio Voice Recording: How It Works and What to Know
Voice recording is the foundation of every voiceover. Commercial, narration, audiobook or phone greeting: the final result depends on how clean and accurate the recording is. A badly recorded voice cannot be fully rescued in the mix. In this article we explain how studio voice recording differs from a home recording, how a session works and what you get at the end.
Key takeaways
- Recording in a studio means a clean voice with no echo or outside noise.
- Quality comes down to three things: room acoustics, the microphone and the voice actor's experience.
- A well-prepared script makes the session faster and reduces mistakes.
- A clean raw recording sounds quiet. That is normal: it gets its final sound in the mix.
Why a studio and not at home
In an ordinary room, the voice bounces off walls, ceiling and windows. The microphone picks up those reflections too, so the recording sounds roomy and distant. Add street noise, a fridge or a computer fan. These sounds are hard to remove later: noise reduction tools also damage the voice and make it sound artificial.
A studio room is acoustically treated: reflections are absorbed and outside noise stays out. The result is a close, full and clean voice, exactly what commercials and films need.
What determines recording quality
- Room acoustics: even the most expensive microphone sounds bad in a bad room.
- Microphone and equipment: we record with a Neumann U87, widely considered the industry standard for voiceover. More here: Neumann U87: the gold standard of voiceover.
- Voice actor: a professional keeps a steady distance from the mic, controls breathing and pace, and can read the same line with different intonations. See how to choose a voice actor.
- Direction: during the session the engineer listens to every take and marks mistakes so they can be re-recorded on the spot.
How a voice recording session works
- Script and brief: you send the script and tell us where the recording will be used, what tone it needs and how long it should be. See how to prepare a voiceover script.
- Choosing the voice: you pick a voice actor from our voice bank by listening to samples.
- Recording: the actor reads the script in several takes, with different pace and intonation if needed.
- Editing: we pick the best takes and clean up extra breaths, clicks and pauses.
- Delivery: you receive the finished file in the format you need.
Why a clean recording sounds quiet
In the studio the voice is recorded with headroom so that loud passages do not clip. That is why an unprocessed recording sounds quieter than finished videos. This is not a mistake: loudness, body and balance with music are added in post-production. Details: voiceover post-production and mixing with music.
When you need voice recording
- TV and radio commercials.
- Narration for documentaries, presentations and brand films.
- Audiobooks and e-learning courses.
- Phone greetings and IVR menus.
- Dubbing for films and animation.
Voice recording at Voice.ge
At Voice.ge we record in an acoustically treated studio with a Neumann U87, in Georgian, English, Russian and other languages. After recording we can mix the voice with music and add sound design, so you get a broadcast-ready file. To get a price, request a quote or pick a voice in our voice bank.
