Warming up your voice before dubbing
A voice that cracks, goes hoarse after three scenes or trips over the fast lines can be prepared for. You don’t need to be an actor: a five-minute warm-up and two or three habits are enough to last a whole evening and be understood first time.
Why warm up, even just for fun
Dubbing asks of your voice what a sprint asks of your legs: sudden changes in volume, shouting, whispering, rhythms set by the picture. Cold, the vocal cords tire quickly, and you can hear it: the voice turns husky, the high notes vanish, the ends of sentences fade out.
A short warm-up prevents that and pays off straight away: a warmed-up voice is easier to place, articulates better and carries without forcing. It’s also the moment to set up your mic and check the room doesn’t echo, two details that weigh more than talent on the quality of a take.
A five-minute warm-up
Run through these exercises in order, without forcing. If anything scratches or hurts, stop: never force your voice.
- Breathing: standing, one hand on your belly, breathe in through your nose so your belly swells, then breathe out slowly on an “sss”. Three times. Your voice should sit on your breath, not on your throat.
- Yawning: yawn on purpose two or three times, mouth wide open. It relaxes the jaw and opens up the back of the mouth.
- Lip trills: breathe out while making your lips vibrate (the engine noise), first without sound, then on a note that goes up and down. One minute.
- Sirens: on an “oo” or an “mmm”, slide from low to high and back down, gently, like a siren in slow motion. Five or six times.
- Articulation: chew an imaginary piece of gum, exaggerating, then say “ba-da-ga, pa-ta-ka” faster and faster without swallowing any syllables.
Working on diction with the pack’s lines
The best diction exercise is the text you’re actually going to perform. Before you start recording, read the scene’s lines out loud, slowly, separating every syllable. Then a second time at normal speed. The words that trip you up are almost always the same: consonant clusters (“strengths”, “sixths”) and swallowed endings (“we’ve got to go” turning into “we gotta go”).
A few classic tongue twisters wake the tongue up nicely: “She sells seashells by the seashore”, “Red lorry, yellow lorry”, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”. Two or three goes at each, articulating more than you need to. Exaggeration in practice becomes clarity in the take.
One last habit: keep a glass of room-temperature water within reach. No iced drinks or milk before you play; both thicken the voice.
Setting up the mic and the room
A phone or computer mic is enough, as long as it’s placed properly: about fifteen centimetres (six inches) from your mouth, slightly off to the side so your p’s and b’s don’t pop. If you use a headset mic, move it a little away from your mouth rather than right up against it.
The room matters as much as the mic. A bedroom with a bed, curtains and a rug soaks up echo; a tiled kitchen bounces it back. If your take sounds like a bathroom, move closer to a wall covered in clothes or a bookcase, or record facing a thick curtain.
On TryToAct, the voice test on the recording screen shows your mic level live: aim for a clearly visible waveform without the peaks clipping. If your voice is too quiet, move closer rather than turning up the gain, which also amplifies background noise.
Lasting the distance
A dubbing night means dozens of takes. To get to the end without losing your voice: alternate shouty scenes with calm ones, drink regularly, and take a proper break of a few minutes every hour. Shouting comes from the belly, not the throat; if you feel it pulling, whisper the next line instead, which is often funnier anyway.
The next day, if your voice is hoarse, let it rest: talk little, no long whispering (it’s more tiring than your normal voice) and warm drinks. If the hoarseness lasts more than a week, see a doctor.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to warm up for a single scene?
Thirty seconds of sirens and lip trills is enough: your first take will be cleaner and you won’t strain on a cold shout.
My voice is clipping on TryToAct, what should I do?
Move a few centimetres away from the mic and lower the gain on the recording screen. The waveform should stay visible without touching the top.
How do I avoid mouth noises?
Take a sip of water before each take, avoid sugary drinks and place the mic slightly to the side rather than right in front of your mouth.