Your day at a glance
A studio day is eight hours, breaks and lunch included. That’s a lot less finished audio than you might think.
Established, practised, prepared and professional.
A gentler pace on the first day is completely normal.
The best performer is a relaxed performer. Don’t race the clock. We’ve planned the day around you.
What your producer does
Your producer is there to keep the day moving and to keep you sounding like you. They listen for misreads, clicks, pace and consistency, help with pronunciation, and catch what you can’t hear while you’re performing.
Your job is to perform. Ours is to listen. If you stumble, don’t stop and apologise. Pause, go back to the start of the sentence and carry on. We’ll find the best take.
Prep the script
Our producers will have prepared the manuscript and will be in the room with you. You’ll still have a much better day if you’ve done these first.
Read it aloud
All of it, before the day. Reading aloud shows you where a sentence runs out of breath, where it trips and where it wants to go. A cold read in the booth is where misreads happen.
Check the tricky words
Names, places, technical terms, foreign words. Make a list of anything you’re unsure of and bring it. Ask the author if you can. We’re on hand to help with pronunciation on the day.
Mark it up
Highlight passages by character, one colour each. Mark pauses, emphasis and emotional shifts. Note the voice you chose for each character, so you can find them again on day two.
Choose voices you can sustain
Subtle beats cartoonish. A small change in pitch, pace or attitude is easier to keep up over several hours, and easier on your throat.
Agree the awkward bits
Footnotes, numbers, abbreviations, web addresses, chapter headings. Settle how they’ll be read with your producer before you start.
Bring a quiet script
Paper rustle shows up on a microphone. We provide an iPad to read from, or bring your own tablet with your script already marked up (sound off). If you prefer paper, print single-sided and handle with care.
Look after your voice
- Drink water in the days before. Little and often. Hydration takes days, not minutes.
- Sleep. A tired voice sounds tired, and a tired brain misreads.
- Warm up. Humming, lip trills and tongue twisters for a few minutes before you start.
- Read a few pages aloud the night before. Easy volume, no straining.
- Take breaks. Every 30 to 60 minutes is common. Ask for one whenever you want one.
- Tell us if your voice is tiring. Stopping early beats pushing through.
Food and drink
A few things that tend to help, and a few that tend to get in the way.
Friends of the voice
- Room-temperature waterSip regularly through the day. Very cold drinks can tighten things up.
- A light meal about an hour beforeAn empty stomach leads to rumbles and clicks.
- Warm, caffeine-free herbal teaGentle and soothing between takes.
- Plenty of sleep and a calm morningThe cheapest voice treatment going.
Usually best skipped
- CaffeineA diuretic, so it can leave you dry.
- Dairy and sugarCan leave your mouth and throat feeling claggy, and make mouth clicks louder.
- Alcohol the night beforeDehydrating, and your voice knows.
- A big, heavy or spicy lunchKeep it light so the afternoon stays easy.
Treat that list as a guide, not a rule. If a milky coffee is what gets you in the zone, have the milky coffee. A relaxed narrator with a latte beats a tense one with a glass of water. We can work with a bit of claggy. We can’t work with stress.
On the day
- Your script, on a tablet (ours or yours) or printed quietly, with your tricky-words list
- A water bottle, and anything you want to eat during the day
- Soft, quiet clothes: no jangly jewellery, no rustly jackets
- Your phone on silent, or off
- Time to arrive, settle and have a look around before the first take
Questions before the day? Email info@bristolvoiceoverstudio.com or call 0117 242 0136. We’re at The Old Malthouse, Little Ann Street, Bristol BS2 9EB.