My Mic is Too Sensitive!

T

techana

New member
Hello guys,

I have Rode NT1A condenser mic and use it to do voiceover for my online videos. The mic is too sensitive and picks unpleasant sounds from my mouth and throat, such as mouth clicks and swallowing. I spend too much time every time editing out these unpleasant sounds!

Any suggestion on how to stop the mic from picking these sounds? Will a dynamic mic be less sensitive and hence picks less unpleasant sounds?

Thank you
 
The NT1A is a sensitive mike, but getting a less sensitive mike won't necessarily fix the problem.

There are a few things you can do which will help:

1 Get a bit further away from the mike
2 Talk louder
3 Use a pop screen
4 Put a gate on your track.
 
I agree with Gecko - the balance of wanted to unwanted sound stays the same, even if the level is lower. Apart from the things he suggests you could also try raiding the mic to just above your forehead and point it down to your mouth so your nose acts as a barrier to some of the noises. You possibly also need to consider the fact that not all of us have good Voiceover voices, and those clicks, tics and gulps are what everyone hears when you speak, but you never hear yourself, so what you hear you think is a fault, when it's just you? To a degree you can train your voice - a voice coach often works on tacking these, teaching you how to open your throat, nasal passages and control the swallow reflex.
 
Thank you gecko. Could you please elaborate more on 4, put a gate on your track?

Good suggestion rob! Currently, I have the mic on a desktop stand and will defiantly try raiding it up and direct it down to my mouth.
 
techana said:
Thank you gecko. Could you please elaborate more on 4, put a gate on your track?

Good suggestion rob! Currently, I have the mic on a desktop stand and will defiantly try raiding it up and direct it down to my mouth.
Click to expand...

Speaking into the side of the mic(about 45 deg off center) can also work. You might try Ricola or some mouth rinse for dry mouth to reduce mouth sounds also.
 
techana said:
Could you please elaborate more on 4, put a gate on your track?
Click to expand...

Once you have recorded your track, you should be able to insert a noise gate on the track and set the sensitivity to let your voice pass through, but not the quieter and unwanted noises. This only works if they are actually quieter!
 
Like [MENTION=196554]Gtoboy[/MENTION] said, angling the mic a bit can help.

I assume you do have a good pop screen/filter in front of the mic. Use that to force you keep from closing in on the mic.

iZotope's RX package has both plugins and a standalone editor that can be pretty good at cleaning up a lot of those kinds of noises. It is not cheap, but if you're trying to get a professional sound, and are spending a lot of time cleaning up stuff (and haven't decided to take up something else), you probably need to look into it (IMO).
 
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