Tuesday VO Studio Tech Tip: The Pause That Refreshes

Though I frequently focus upon ways of gaining efficiency in the home voiceover recording space, it’s not the whole story. Our process involves technology, but we still need to support creativity within that framework. After locating an optimum studio location and treating it appropriately (the “E-R-P” I spoke about last week), there remains the challenge of facing down the microphone and bringing a story to life. It’s easy for flashing screens, bouncing waveforms, and blinking lights to pull at our attention.

I feel at my most creative when focused, and having fewer immediate distractions always seems to pay solid benefits. For many projects and most auditions, I just need a script and microphone and little else. Certainly, that approach has a bit of personal aesthetic bias, but it helps to focus my efforts. I want to be solidly engaged with each particular task, which can be as simple as placing the recording software out of my direct line of site. But, I also have come to greatly appreciate the ability to step away to regroup.

Being able to step out of the booth to an editing desk is a bit of luxury, but finding some way to separate behind-the-microphone efforts from the analytical review allows me to land more solidly in each task.

There’s also a sly trick with respect to rekindling creativity. In the old days, we had to literally rewind the tape before we could record again. This is one of those instances where the “bug” is actually a feature. Shuttling back meant a short break. We could reset mentally. These days, the utter immediacy of our recording tools allows diving into a second, third, or even a tenth take without actually deciding to do anything different.

The practice of stepping away may feel inefficient, but it can add the space and time needed to find more clarity with respect to our performance.

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