Voice Over Recording Tip: Don't Just Normalize

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If you are Normalizing your voice over auditions and jobs you are missing a crucial step. Use this secret to make your voice over performance stand out.
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Best of Success!
William Williams

[@MacKenziePoet]

This is the first time I've ever had it explained to me in clear terms.

[@adnanista8498]

He teaches you first, then he gives the advise. This is how has to be done, thank you Sir.

[@garbygarb31]

Here's some advice. It's spelled advice.

[@adnanista8498]

@@garbygarb31 Thank you

[@danielmarques5768]

After watching a LOT of audio techniques videos, i have to say: this has to be one of the greatest digital audio techniques videos all over KZbin.

[@taperpowell558]

I've been producing audio for broadcast for over thirty years, and this tutorial shows you exactly the right way to do it. It's all the stuff I tell new trainees or students in radio production classes. Record a decent level, edit your mistakes, compress (but not too much -- listen, undo and try again if you have overdone it), normalize to -3dB. If you're handed noisy tracks that you must use (voices recorded remotely or from other studios) first apply noise reduction and EQ if necessary, then compression, limiting, normalization. When mixing with music, I still process the voice track first just as described in this video. When producing for others, I still do all these steps unless they tell me not to because they want to do it themselves. This guy's a genius!! Not because he does it 'my' way, but because he's telling you the way it works best. I found it out by trial and error. Do yourself a favor, listen to this video again and learn in 8 minutes what it took me years of experience to discover. You can hit the ground running already that much further down the road.

[@AlisoCreekVoiceOver]

taperpowell Thanks for your kind remarks and affirmation of these techniques. The trickiest part in the voiceover audio world is you might be supplying audio to a client that has no idea how to process the audio for inclusion in their video (how many youtube videos have you seen where the sound is almost inaudible). So I do master the audio for most clients unless they specifically ask me not to process the sound. Oh, and I've been in audio for thirty years. It took me that long to be able to condense my thoughts into 8 minutes. Best of Success to you.

[@doubledark2]

another "overnight" success story :) (brilliant video by the way)

[@minecrafter0505]

Is it important to first remove noise and then do compression, limiting and normalizing?

[@JacobMcGregor]

@@minecrafter0505 check put Booth Junkie's video on noise gate. That'll help remove the unwanted room tone or buzziness

[@healthbuddysupportbyhealth9084]

Do you need hindi voice over?

[@LeprechauninmyBoxorz]

Came for the audio tips. Stayed for the class. Bravo.

[@BoutenkoFilms]

In a sea of bullshit and bad advice, you’re an island of audio engineering hope and I found you! You’re like the Larry Jordan of the audio world. 😂 Thank you for all that you do. I am currently binge watching every video on your channel and liking everything I see. 🕺

[@victorfilm_]

This is by far the most throughly explained video on limiting and normalizing I’ve ever seen in my10+ years of audio experience. Well done, William!

[@djreplay9765]

After many years of independent study, different plug-ins and a few devices, I finally understand limiting and normalization. Simple, powerful and effective. Thank you.

[@yamikai04]

I'm just starting out as a voice actor and just taking the 8 minutes to watch this made my production jump well over 200%. Thank you and i'm definitely subscribing to all you have to say.

[@paulbrown9802]

I know how to do this, but still watched it and am seriously impressed! You explained how to do it without over complicating it and sounding condescending. Everyone starting out in audio recording should watch this before being let loose on a DAW 👍🏻

[@mariocomeq1961]

Congratulatins, a very naice and clear explanations. I'll try to watch your video for compressipn. So it was clea: 1. first apply limiter 2. Apply normalize.

[@soldier_of_love]

Omg this guy is the best in the game. He actually sounds better than most people who gives vo advice. I'm truly finally impressed. Many blessings!

[@kbrnsr]

Truly amazing, I was searching for how to normalize audio in Audacity when I stumbled onto this video. It explains so much with just the use of two terms, limiting and normalizing

[@davidhendrickson591]

I have learned more with a handful of your videos than I did over a year long internship with a burnout soundguy. Thank you.

[@genieur8188]

Hello William, Thanks for the amazing video on boosting your Audio. I am a communication engineer and familiar with the dB scale. I have to say that I have never ever heard such a simple and easy to understand analogy of this. Thanks for your effort you put into this.

[@SisterIndica]

You are such a good teacher.

[@pixelzen007]

The difference between an amateur and a professional! Hats off!

[@royqordors7886]

i am a future broadcast major , show host , and recording artist . videos like yours help me sound more like those that i aspire to be like .. in my opinion you are one of youtube’s best instructors. Thank you .. and please keep talking 🤟🏾✨

[@xgetbackupx]

I have been working on my first audiobook and toward the end. I've learned so much what I could done differently and will save this advice. Thanks for putting the knowledge out there.

[@starspangledkiwi7224]

5:40 that... that right there is the detail I have needed this entire time! You have single handedly improved my audio significantly. My voice overs just got so much better!

[@heyrobyn]

yeah that helped me too!!

[@Winstreak1]

Been making KZbin videos for 18 months. Finally found a video that explains what I should be doing with my Audio and the why and how! Loved it, thank you!

[@nancyofallonvo]

What a gifted teacher you are sir. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom in such an unrushed and kind manner. You are head and tails above the rest of the others.

[@jaycab2073]

Out of the many recording tutorials on KZbin, you can tell if their audio "tutorial" would be useful or not based on the QUALITY of their own voice recording with in the tutorial. This by far is one of the best sounding videos i have heard so far regarding audio help tutorials. Think about it. Why would you believe someone who is stating "this is the best way to record" when their audio sound like rubbish? I have heard and seen many tutorial videos where the quality is bad which made me question the information given. It really makes me want to say the phrase: "Practice what you Preach" to those poorly recorded "tutorials." Lol Overall, I believe this video is valuable information to improve audio records! Great Job!

[@AlisoCreekVoiceOver]

For the video, I record the audio with a separate mic and then limit it and normalize it, then synch it back to the video track in my video editor. I only use the video camera's audio as a guide track for synching.

[@vyper900]

I'm just getting into VO, and this video is great. Even in 2023 this is highly useful.

[@BLARSpot]

It's honestly frustrating that this is at the very least 5x better of an explanation than from any audio engineer Ive heard TRY to explain it. Thank you!

[@APorTodas]

William Williams, this is gold. Thank you very much.

[@Shodan159]

Your explanation and analogies made normalisation and limiting very easy to understand!

[@trojanette8345]

Are you Bill Williams. I recognized the voice the minute I heard it from another room. I received my own voice over training from you back in the '90's. Good to see you (from a distance). I live far away from CA these days. Remember you quite well. Have mentioned you / your studios / and your wonderful training every chance I get. SMILE.

[@kinglordehud]

Good one

[@OCUBOX]

RECORD with the CORRECT LEVEL, so you don't have to do this, which brings up the noise-floor in the audio. It also degrades the recording when you normalise...I always limit to -3 etc, because I make sure to record at a precise level.

[@TwiztedHumor]

I love how you use voice over, in a video about voice over.

[@alancbruce]

Thank you for your video, I recently wrote a book and a lot of people told me I should make an audible version. After a little research to discover which microphone I should use. (I only went for a cheap version due to a low budget) I then Downloaded Audible, plus the ASX analyser. I have watched many of your video's and then use them to practice producing and improving how I read. I loved the illustration of the trees; it enabled me to understand the process. Thank you.

[@jahsupertv]

Thank you so much for this explanatory video! It’s far by far the best in theory. Thank you !!

[@torugonza]

I use for my voice the compressor from Audácity or Wave Hammer from Sound Forge

[@RozkminaRozwojowa]

How great is that guy!!! Thanks!!

[@beautybyralu]

The sound in this video is AWESOME!!!

[@jean-francoissimard6591]

Very creative and captivating way of explaining the digital audio headroom, limting and normalizing. I was glued to the tube. :-)

[@nekomaster1000]

Absolutely brilliant! Exactly what I've been needing, thank you!

[@AntonPnkrtv]

Very underrated video! Kudos for that.

[@TheNHCM]

I have been looking for this for a long time. Video was straight to the point. Thanks!

[@SuperRomanHoliday]

That was brilliant! Most videos like this bore on for ages, being repetitive and pointlessly long and assuming moronic viewers but this was just right. Great job!!

[@gurmeetsliet]

What a video I have begun my morning with ..... Today is my day......

[@MillerTimeVoiceOver]

I love your explanation, William. Keep up the great work! -Angelo

[@kaiseranowar]

I have been doing this mistake for a year. Now I know what to do. Thank you very much sir

[@stealthstar4]

I love you! I just love how you talk to us. Like we are fresh born fetuses. Unlike those other KZbinrs, when they explain it to you like it's a cure for foot cancer.

[@czdaniel1]

_Fetii_

[@createdbyalisonmckay]

Fantastic video, John. Clear as crystal! I shall now watch your other videos.

[@mean-alchemist]

You are a legend SIR But we want more videos. ☺️

[@jeremytucker8853]

I didn't understand much but your voice is so perfect that I listened to the whole damn thing.

[@kimsmuga-otto3823]

Okay, the cutting down the tree analogy hurt a bit, but everything else was fantastic. He explained it in a way that made sense on the first listening and had some great specifics toward the end. Thanks a lot

[@AlisoCreekVoiceOver]

Kim, I didn't cut down the tree. I merely chopped the top off. Now it will be much safer from lightning (analogous to clipping audio distortion). Thanks for viewing! William

[@tomszafranski]

Best explanation I've heard AND seen.

[@chrisbartlett9589]

You're an exellent teacher. Your use of analogies is first-rate. Thank you.

[@ricardofloresarellano4953]

This is gold information, planning to start a podcast and this seems perfect for editing the episodes, than random guy of the internet

[@johncarterbrown991]

I found this very instructive indeed. With one, or just a few loud spikes, I normally just highlight them and reduce them that way. I've never used 'normalise' but will now try this technique.

[@GeorgeTheTech]

I am surprised I never saw this video before, so thanks to KZbin for recommending it! Really nice job teaching this subject, William. I use Normalizing as part of the post-processing routine I set up for voice actors. It's just one of many steps used to polish up the audio before it heads off to the casting person or client!

[@zebra400z]

George The Tech ...what setting do you use for limiter? And do you also normalize at -3db!

[@californiadreamcast2512]

I don't know how I've overlooked running the limiter. Thank you! 👍

[@laurakretzer2447]

Best description i have found so far.

[@End_Domestic_Violence]

Sterling stuff! Shall watch more!

[@VarunVargheseMuriyanat]

This is what I call, legendary

[@KylesDigitalLab]

Thanks. I was normalizing my voice, but I stopped and I think the quality has improved.

[@danielsahagun4367]

Sir: You made my Day. Thanks for your video-lessons

[@gosteronlinecourses]

Excellent tutorial - thanks Aliso for posting. Your audio sounds awesome and is exactly what I'm trying to achieve!

[@legendteller4893]

Amazing information! Super grateful I ran into this. Thanks for the work.

[@reverendococo]

Thank you. Awesome teaching skills

[@imafox1019]

Omg. I can’t listen to you in bed. Your voice is so calming I’m falling asleep! Can I hire you to read me bedtime stories! Thank you awesome advice!

[@TheCuttyBrown]

Did he do it??

[@skaboosh]

If you have a peak that's unusual on a separate section then that section will generally be lower than the others because the unusual peak governs the overall volume when normalising

[@pbandjcast1600]

Thank you, I will use your tips for my podcast!

[@JeremydePrisco]

Really enjoy your approach. Will be sharing this with some of my clients/students.

[@abassimusic]

This is what a tutorial is supposed to be like. Thank you Sir!

[@eduardoavila646]

Finally! Someone who knows what is talking about! Awesome vid!

[@davidanttony]

Thank you William - VERY clear instruction - we got the basics easily in one listen - thank you

[@august8905]

Very well done and helpful video. Thank you.

[@rbroach68]

This information is the reason I subscribed to your channel! I look forward to seeing/hearing other information from you.

[@bruce8209]

thank you! Very clear explained and very useful! And a nice vid too!

[@jamesstothard1714]

You deserve so many more subscribers great voice and video!

[@elmirekidd1731]

Thank you so much! This video tutorial is beautiful. I love your voice and the information is phenomenal. I needed this! Thanks again!

[@FontSound]

Your voice is so calming

[@bryangreen1609]

pretty good tut, with advice that carries over to many programs regardless what you use.

[@MoreRollsVideo]

Best voice over tutorial video I’ve ever seen! Thank you!

[@MichaelZwahlen]

YOU! are doing the best!

[@CAshivachandra]

Thats where the experience matters. Thanks a lot. Splendid explanation. Really useful.

[@RogerDayMarketing]

At last. An audio training video I can actually understand! Thanks so much. Wish I'd seen this video first.

[@dotienoo]

Beautiful tips, thank you very much

[@ReisFamilyWebsite]

This was the most useful audio lesson I have had yet.

[@abassimusic]

Unbelievable teaching skills. One of the most useful video about audio. Thank you!!!

[@debtminer4976]

Love your voice. . Your explanation is excellent too. Great work..subbed.

[@TheAdventureTravelers]

That was such a simple way to explain it. I think you must have been a 1st grade teacher which is about the level I learn the best!!! Thank you!

[@turkerozturk6889]

Thanks. I've learned good information.

[@OtterLakeFlutes]

This will be perfect when I have a recording booth set up. I'll have to play with this and see if I can do it the way I'm currently cheating, though, recording with mic sensetivity insanely low to not pickup my unprofessional environment. I don't have an insulated studio with foam paneling, and so I was elated to figure out I could to the following to not have that cheap room drywall reverb sound and background crud. I leave my mic sensitivity on my mixer WAY low so it only picks up sound mainly really close to the mic. It can't hear my voice bouncing off my walls or A/C kick on or a dog scratch its ear. Then I normalize, getting a hiss penalty, but the hiss is so easily removed by isolating a bit of it in Noise Reduction and using that sample to remove all hiss. The only problem left, seems (besides some EQ or compression maybe) just what this man teaches... every time I normalize it has a slightly different effect because the peaks are a little different. I'll have to see if I can limit such low audio close to the noise floor, or if I'll have to normalize, limit, then normalize again. Stupid I know but I've never heard such studio-sounding audio I'm making in a regular crappy room full of books and unwanted drywall reverb, with air conditioning and whimpering dogs all out of the picture because the mic sensitivity is simply so low it doesn't hear any of that crap, and normalize and noise reduction makes it sound like a pro...except it would be better if I could incorporate what he does here in this amateur cheat I'm doing. I have a feeling if I limit so low close to the floor before normalizing the first time it's going to raise the noise floor hiss too much...we'll see...thanks though -- this will be perfect when I make a proper booth!!

[@AlisoCreekVoiceOver]

@Jeff Burris Thanks for your detailed comment. There are several points I need to correct though. First, turning down the mic gain doesn't reduce the problem of ambient room noise. Noise is always considered as a RATIO: the signal to noise ratio. The signal is your mellifluous voice. The noise is every other sound the mic generates or picks up. You can turn the gain down to minimize the room noise but you are also minimizing the recording of you voice. Sooner or later you have to turn he recording up to a nominal level so it can be heard, When you do this your voice--and the recorded noise-- are both turned up equally. In addition with low mic gain the self-noise of the noise floor also gets turned up. And compression, like I am recommending ALSO raises the noise as it compresses the peaks. You can improve the recording by speaking closer to the mic (but this can get "muddy" if you get to close). Unfortunately, the recommended cure by me and other recording experts is... to treat the recording space. Find the quietest place to record and treat the walls and floor to reduce room echo. An inexpensive way to this is with moving blankets. They're inexpensive: a 6' by 7' blanket is about $15. So I suggest you record at good levels, just under peaking (-12dB). That will give you the quietest recording. alisocreek.net/vo-blog/control-voice-over-home-studio-echoes/

[@OtterLakeFlutes]

Thanks so much, you're absolutely right and I fully acknowledge the silliness of what I'm doing until I treat the space. I was surprised I could get away with what I'm doing, though, and amazed in a pinch. Forgive me if I inadvertently used the term noise floor incorrectly when referring to the electronic hiss(?). You're absolutely right that all gets raised with what I'm doing - but the difference of doing it this way (in the improper space) vs. with mic sensitivity up higher is the room noise doesn't make it into any phase of the recording - I fully understood the theory behind what you're saying, it's just that the unwanted noises in the room are being received lower than the electronic hiss and therefore removable using Noise Reduction versus if I'd recorded them high enough to to hear over the hiss (they'd be virtually irremovable). Thank goodness for now for noise reduction for the amplified hiss, but I will insist this is true and occurring with my Samson C01 economy large diaphragm cartioid condenser, possibly more so than the Neumann I had to sell (perhaps so efficient it won't record my voice properly if it's turned down too low to pick up ambient room noise). Coincidently that's the other humorous point, the cheaper mic is working in the cheaper (albeit improper) room. But in earnest -- no matter how much I amplify what was previously the noise floor of hiss, when I'm recording with the physical mixer's mic sensitivity knob down that low like the silly trick I described above, the undesired room reverb and other sounds are genuinely not detectable as they are at a proper mic level (they're instead below the electronic hiss and undetectable if present at all and are removed upon hiss removal via Noise Reduction, using plain-hiss-sample-isolation and applying its removal to the whole track). I just have a bunch of electronic hiss and no room noise. It is an actual, working trick for someone without a proper space, but I agree silly to do for more than a few days and certainly not for paid content. If I turn the physical mixer's analog mic sensitivity up higher, I start picking up room reverb which I cannot easily remove using Audacity's Noise Reduction (it's too complex and would chop my voice to pieces to try to remove if it worked at all). But when my only undesired noise is electronic hiss (maybe with the room reverb buried so deeply in it, its obscured inside the electronic hiss noise floor) then it's a snap to isolate a couple seconds of it as my Noise Reduction sample and apply it to the whole track. I can post a sample of both scenarios if anyone doesn't believe it's working this way. But if any visitors take the time to read all this in the context of the original post to which this incredibly awesome and generous teacher has thoughfully replied, they will see I am definitely not suggesting this is a desirable practice, nor professional whatsoever -- just way better than not doing it until I get to the store and get some blankets or something, overdue posting something for free (spread thin and caught without a space) which has gotten well-received upon being heard. Oddly, I never noticed being able to do this with the $800 mic and have my voice sound so normal. Just the $80 one. Maybe the Neumann was picking up ambient room noise too well at the level I have the cheap but working Samson. But maybe I never tried as thoroughly. I was in a pinch and needed a semi-professional sounding VO in a crummy bedroom and this is how I achieved it, amazed and thought someone, somewhere, sometime must wind up in the same situation with an amazed smile on their face and not post an in-my-den, on my condenser-sound like so many YT videos (definitely not trying to compare its nuances to a pro VO recording, apples and oranges). I also am sounding way better with the Limiting suggested, because I dramatize and shout a bit and those rare peaks now don't dictate what the Normalize will do so much :) Thanks eternally for that! I'll be doing that next week in the padded room (the good kind) :)

[@Boldness-and-Virtue]

Thank you so very much! I truly appreciate you taking the time to teach! I sincerely needed this! Awesome work! May God bless you! 🙏🏽😊

[@Max-rn3eb]

your voice is amazing, thanks for the tips

[@mikekenny1698]

Your voice is like silk, read me night time stories to help me sleep thanks

[@MyNoctis]

Wonderful, thank you very much

[@Paulinazborowska]

I love the descriptive way you present the knowledge! That way even a total newbie like me will understand! Thank you :-)

[@ThinBlueLaneRVLife]

Great video even 6 years later

[@JasonRigden]

Great video. We need more of this basic audio info.

[@brunaberti-voiceover6283]

Great, thank you so much for this video, it just explained limiter and desired volume levels so well and right to the point.... amazing!

[@SameerTalar]

Nicely explained...best video.

[@justinjr1623]

Very clear explanation, love it. Thank you

[@ADBVoiceActing]

William Williams, the Bob Ross of Voice Over. :oD

[@Amarand]

You said that, so I didn't have to! ;)

[@maburyma8805]

Thanks for this tutorial.