1.7.2 Microphones and recording techniques

This section is for readers interested in the recording aspect of dubbing. Some familiarity with sound recording is assumed.

In a traditional dubbing session only one mic is used, usually a large diaphragm cardioid condenser, mounted on a boom above the actor’s head (see below). There are rarely more than two actors at a time at the microphone, with the exception of group sessions (ambiences). The advantage of working this way is its simplicity, valuable when time is in short supply. The dialogue mixer can concentrate on getting an optimal recording from that one mic, and all decisions about what goes to mix are made on the spot.

The distance between the actor’s mouth and the microphone should be about 2 - 2 ½ feet, and high enough not to obstruct view of the projection screen. If the diaphragm is angled toward the chest, the quality of sound will be thicker; angled above the mouth, the microphone will favour sibilants.¹⁰ When the mic is placed too far from the actor, you will risk capturing a greater room presence in the form of slapback reflections; when too close, the recording will sound like voice-over narration. Two to three feet should be a good starting point for most rooms, although if you are working in a small space such as an iso-booth you will not have much choice but to close-mic the speaker.With two actors of different height a compromise must be made - usually in favour of either the more important character, or the weaker voice. If the height difference is too great (a foot or more) ask the shorter of the two to step onto a box. Angling the microphone from above eliminates the need for a pop-filter.An alternative is to aim the mic from below, at about the same angle. This could be done when an actor hunches over excessively, and produces a muffled and unclear sound. Aiming from below will remedy that, though you may have to use a pop filter.Some studios and dialogue mixers may use more than one microphone, or may separate the actors in isolation booths. One reason for using multiple mics may be to give the mixer the option of creating a perspective between a close and a far pickup. This is an older practice, dating from the days before DAWs; now spatial effects are accomplished with plugins. Another use of multiple mics is to reduce the chances of distortion in a show that has a wide dynamic content - for example, a cartoon that requires lots of yelling, screaming, laughing, whispering, breathing, or quick alternations between loud and soft. One mic is set to low gain with conservative compression for the loud bits, the other is set for normal speech.

Iso booths are usually avoided in dubbing. Traditionally, the artistic director sits in the same room as the actors, and it is important for everyone to be comfortable since they will be working together for many hours.¹⁰

ADR : ADR must match the rest of the audio, so similar tools as those used during production are needed. For example, if the production used a lavalier mic and a shotgun, then this is what you should set up and try to match the sound of the guide track.

Foley, SFX, Ambiences : Foley uses one microphone, typically a shotgun. Sound Effects are most often stereo. Ambiences are always recorded in stereo or surround.

Animation : The workflow of recording dialogue for animation is different from dubbing and ADR, where the process is limited to imitating something that already exists. Animation dialogue is original, exaggerated, and hence the actors will often be unpredictable, suddenly dropping to a whisper after a loud yell, or vice-versa. To accommodate for this, ADR recordists will use a mic for each actor, and sometimes even several mics on one actor to make sure they capture everything.

A typical techniques is to place two mics side by side and flip the pad on one of them. Record to separate tracks. That way if an actor surprises you and distorts the first mic, the padded one will usually be fine.¹¹

A note about the recording space: it needs to be rather large and acoustically treated to eliminate reflections. It should not be completely dead since that will be disorienting to the actors, nor too small because the quality of sound will be jeopardized by early reflections.¹²