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It may seem simple, but this one trick will help you become much better in the booth. You'll find that your reads improve quickly!
Simple solutions are often the best solutions.
So today I want to talk to you about headphones. Should you use headphones in the booth or not?
Should you use headphones in the booth or not? I get this question quite often from students who are just coming into the voiceover. There's a multitude of answers for that one. A lot of times it can distract you so that you'll end up listening to what you sound like in your headphones, rather than concentrating on the performance or the storyline in the script. So unless you've got many years of experience in the booth being directed with headphones on, I wouldn't recommend having headphones on in the booth.
Now there are some exceptions, when I first moved into my condo years back, there was a lot of construction that was happening around me. So when I went into my booth, I actually had to have my headphones on to see if there was any residual noise that was coming up through the booth. I did put my headphones on to make sure that there weren't any big trucks passing by or a Jackhammer happening that I would have to stop the recording temporarily. That was one of the reasons why I wore my headphones.
Now the other school of thought is that you can keep one ear on and one ear off. And a lot of people really like that because it doesn't distract them enough with having both headphones in their ears and they can hear what's going on, possibly the noise that could be coming in through the booth, as well as being more natural and conversational without being affected by the headphones. And then there are people who simply just don't use headphones, the only case where that will affect perhaps in a, in a negative way, is that when you are live directed, a lot of times you're going to have to have those headphones on because you need to hear the people in your ears that are directing it.
I actually do a combination of it, but because I had so many years, actually it was a good, full two years of listening for extraneous noises of building going on outside of my complex. I got used to blocking my headphones so I can use my headphones if I really, really just want a natural performance sometimes I'll, I'll flip one ear off.
Very rarely will I take them off, but it's, I think when you first get started, it's a good idea to do your own series of tests to see what you sound like with your headphones on, with one of your ears on, and one ear off. Now, mind you, when I had my headphones on, in the booth, when I had lots of construction going on, I did not have my editing station anywhere within sight in my booth, it was actually outside of my booth. So I couldn't watch the levels or the meter. So I needed to be able to hear it in my headphones. So, if you have the capability of seeing your recording, as you are in the booth and you can see your levels, then I would absolutely say you don't need those headphones because you will be able to see if there are any extraneous noises.
Now, if you are wearing headphones, make sure to wear closed-back headphones so that none of the sound of your own voice in your ears bleeds back into your microphone.
Thanks so much for watching CNN.
Thanks for reading!
Keep on rocking your business like a #VOBOSS
About Anne:
Anne Ganguzza is a professional voice actor and award-winning director and producer who works with students to develop their voiceover and business skills - including voice over Coaching and Genre-based Demo Production. She specializes in conversational Commercial & Narration styles, including Corporate, eLearning, Technology, and On-Hold Messaging. Located in Orange County, California, Anne offers private coaching and mentoring services to students via ipDTL and Zoom.