In the VO Studio: Efficiency Never Feels That Way At First – Tuesday Tech Tip

One of the favorite things is when I get to share a new tool with another voice actor. Many of them are already right under our fingertips, such as Special Paste in Twisted Wave or Mix Paste (with multiple clipboards!) in Adobe Audition. They lie dormant in the various menus of our recording apps. When demonstrating how those can be used, jaws drop and and there are happy cries of amazement which make me smile. That sudden gain of efficiency is easily felt.

It doesn’t always go that way, of course. I understand that there are a lot of overwhelming aspects to the technical recording and audio engineering tasks we are asked to do. Comprehending what occurs when we run audio through a Compressor or Limiter is a bit brain bending. Sometimes we discover a way that works once, and we just “set it and forget it” in order to focus on our performance.

That’s not inherently wrong. Just that, from time to time, it means we have to unlearn a less efficient method and force ourselves to use a tool that’s a bit less familiar at first. 

Incremental Iterative Fixes Work Best

It’s one of the reasons that an iterative approach works in our favor. Picking one area to refine and making that work better is less overwhelming than trying to juggle a bunch of unfamiliar procedures. 

Consider the inertia working against any changes. Whether streamlining your editing process, changing to new Effects, or figuring out the best way to flow an incoming audition script into your recording booth, every new technique is going to feel awkward. You have many hours invested in doing things a different way. There’s muscle memory for tasks using keyboard shortcuts and mouse clicks. It’s hard to shake those off and do things differently, making it very tempting to hang onto the “old way” of doing something. 

Just Keep Swimming!

Remember that any change will feel clumsy at first. Even if you are switching to more efficient recording software,  it will likely take longer at first to get the same result. Things don’t work the way they did before. There’s a strong impetus to discard the new way and return to the familiar. 

When we choose to push through that, good things happen. The next time we choose to use the new tools, they will feel a bit more comfortable in our hand. While we are certainly not as efficient as we shall become, there will be a subtle shift in our momentum. That’s a good place to lean in. 

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