Strained voice during recording sessions (also request for general feedback).

  • Thread starter Thread starter BoukenJima
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BoukenJima

New member
Greetings,
I stumbled upon this board looking to solve a problem and I'm hoping this is the right place to ask. A few months ago I started a YouTube channel with spoken reviews and since I am new to recording my own voice I noticed that this still gives me trouble.


Mostly long recording sessions put a fairly heavy strain on my voice and after a while it's hard to keep up any kind of strength or clarity, which is something I already find difficult in general. I know for one review someone said to me that I constantly sound as if my voice is about to break off and maybe that's at least partly right.
Is there anything I can do about this? I already drink a lot of water during recording but that's about everything I can come up with to make it easier. Are there any beginner's tips, maybe a specific posture or pronunciation that relives my voice?

Also I was wondering if anyone could give me some general feedback on the audio in my reviews (or if you want to criticize the content, go right ahead). Is the recording clear enough? Should I try out a different microphone position or anything?

Here are two of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBJOgs6R0so
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI-dMvD7xAI

I guess for disclosure, the "equipment" I use is simply:
- a Go Mic from Samson
- Audacity to record
- Sony Vegas Pro to edit and render


Apologies if this is the wrong board for this thread. "Singing and Vocals" seemed to be about music only so I wasn't sure.
 
When I was a telesurveyer in high school we weren't allowed to be on the phone more than 4 hours or we would lose our voice and get no hours.
 
Sounds pretty good to me. I'd just suggest taking deeper, full breaths when speaking. This might ease up any tension in your throat that will be caused by you trying to project your voice loudly. I can tell your voice is getting tired in the second link you posted. If you jump around from the 2 min mark to around 7-9 mins you are noticeably quieter.

But yeah, if you're new at doing this, your voice will get stronger the more you do. Just keep making your vids and stop when your voice gets tired. It will build up eventually and you'll be able to do longer commentaries. I like your review style! Pretty funny.
 
I've heard singers talk about an "open throat". If you start talking you might feel how your throat tends to tighten up. This can cause strain. (when you try to sing high notes you can really feel it.) Singers practice relaxing the throat to make it feel more open so the air is not being squeezed so hard. Also try looking on Youtube for tutorials on how to avoid voice fatigue. There are also some drinks or throat drops that singers use. You might try looking that up on Google.
Rod Norman
Engineer
 
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