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When Recording, Do You Sit Or Stand?

Hey there!

I’ve been asked this question now 5 times recently – at a meetup, at another meetup, on the phone and online.

Then, I got an email that asked: do I sit or stand when recording audiobooks?

I’m always interested when the universe starts asking me from various vectors.

Listen carefully.

I sit.

Always.

At my home studio, at Penguin Random House or Outloud or other studios, wherever I can. If you think it makes a difference in your voice, you’re hearing things.

And you can stop right now if you’re going to send me indignant emails telling me how wrong I am.

It might make a difference if you’re a singer, and you’re demanding a whole lot more power than you’d normally speak with.

And if you go to a studio, and the mic is set up already at standing level, you don’t have to ask to have it moved.

(You won’t encounter that at an audiobook recording studio.)

But do yourself a favor.

If you feel like it, feel free to have a seat. Relax. Do great work.

Hope this helps.

David

4 Responses to When Recording, Do You Sit Or Stand?

  1. David Werntz July 8, 2013 at 9:17 am #

    I’m surprised. I always see those “making of” shorts for Disney animation and you see the people in a sound booth, standing, gesticulating, and talking into the mic. Sitting sounds more comfortable to me though

    • David H. Lawrence XVII July 8, 2013 at 2:05 pm #

      The original question was about audiobooks, not narration. You stand for narration (plus – with B-roll cameras rolling, actors do a lot more gesturing than they might normally do).

      David

  2. Steve Krumlauf December 30, 2014 at 8:37 am #

    David,

    Good answer!

    I’m glad you qualified the project, i.e., that your response was linked to audiobook narration. Given the normal length of such projects and the recording time involved, sitting makes absolute sense.

    Whether sitting or standing makes a difference in the quality of the voice produced is, as you suggested, another topic for debate.

    However, that said, for my money, for the best diaphragmatic breathing and the best posture possible, not to mention the freedom of hand, arm and body movement, (which enhances relaxation), for most all other recorded projects, singing or speaking, standing is always my preferred position.

    Thanks for your take!

  3. Kenny Dunkwu December 21, 2017 at 7:28 am #

    Hi my name is Kenny Dunkwu a British born professional voice over artist. it’s an interesting topic in terms of the position to adopt when voice recording. My approach is related to the genre of voice over work I am doing, if its more acting voice over eg gaming, animation, character voice over then I stand. However, if the work is more long form narration, e-learning, audiobooks etc, it makes perfect sense to sit down and ensure that the proximity to the microphone is sorted/posture etc is correct order and there we have it.

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