Hitting My Mark
- Debra Elaine
- Jan 23
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 13
Mastering Audio Quality in Voice Acting: A Journey of Trial and Error
A voiceover friend recently posted her thoughts regarding the phrase 'hitting your mark'. She pointed out that in musical theater, it is usually marked on the stage with colorful tape. That is how an actor knows where to stand when they come out on stage and need to deliver a line in a spotlight, or be able to give a reaction that the audience can see or be in a safe spot on the stage if there is going to be a lot of actors coming on stage, like in a dance number, for example. In addition to it being a starting point, it could also be an end point, for the same reasons.
She also suggested that we could reach down and find metaphorical marks in our lives as well… our base from which we begin something or where we end up, which hopefully is where we planned to end up, although that doesn't always happen. Hence the term, 'missing the mark'. I just looked that up and the origin from that could have it's beginnings in archery, or I also read that it could have religious roots.
Finding my Mark in the Booth
In voiceover, I feel like I've literally, physically, found my mark in the studio. The place where I know my voice sounds best with my mic placement. Which is really helpful for when pickups are needed and my sound needs to match exactly to what had previously been recorded, both in tone, volume and effort. You perhaps wouldn't think that effort makes that much difference in how words are delivered, but in fact, that is one aspect that can really change the way a line is heard on a recording. Because of knowing where my 'mark' is in my booth, I’m usually pretty darn close to recreating the sound/volume based on my mark.
It's funny because even though the flooring is all the same color in my booth, and I don't have a visual cue to know exactly where to place my toes, such as on a line on the floor or something like that, I just know when it feels right to be standing in the optimal spot for my recordings based on my surroundings and the equipment. I am aware of if something is touching me, like on my back from the storage cart I have at the back of the booth, or on my left side if one of the hanging sound blankets is touching my arm, or if my reading glasses touch the mic that is positioned above my head. Or, if the words on the screen are blurry from me standing either too close or too far away.
Staying with What Works
I know that I could reach down deep (metaphorically) and find symbolic 'marks' in my life of times or places where I have started or ended up. Perhaps that could make for an interesting (at least to me!) series of blog posts at some point.
But for now, it's enough to know that regarding my voice acting journey, I have pretty much figured out, at least for now, how to create what is considered to be really good audio quality for what I am currently doing. It's been a lot of trial and error regarding positioning, equipment and my own body language.
I'm not saying that I won't all of a sudden decide to rearrange the 'furniture' in my booth on very short notice... I'm known for doing things like that in every room of my house on a regular basis..
But until that happens, and I have to then re-tweak everything, I know where my mark is and I'm physically hitting it every time I step into my booth.
And that feels pretty good!
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