Understanding Sound and How to Improve Your Voice Recording

Recording your voice can be daunting, especially if you're not familiar with the technical aspects of sound. In this guide, we'll cover the basics of sound and provide some tips on how to improve your speaking voice for podcasting.

How Sound Works

Sound is created when vibrations travel through a medium, such as air, and are detected by the ear. These vibrations create pressure waves that move through the air and are picked up by the ear, which converts them into electrical signals that are sent to the brain.

In order to capture sound for recording, you'll need a microphone. Microphones work by converting sound waves into electrical signals that can be processed and recorded.

Improving Your Voice for Podcasting

Clear, concise communication is key when it comes to podcasting. Here are some tips for improving your speaking voice:

Practice Proper Breathing Techniques

Taking deep breaths from your diaphragm (the muscle located just below your ribcage) can help you control the volume and tone of your voice. It can also help you avoid sounding breathless or tired while recording.

Warm Up Your Voice

Just like any other muscle, your vocal cords need to be warmed up before use. Simple exercises like humming or singing scales can help you prepare your voice for recording.

Speak Slowly and Clearly

Speaking too quickly can make it difficult for your listeners to understand what you're saying. Take your time and enunciate each word clearly to ensure that your message is conveyed effectively.

Use Appropriate Inflection

Adding emphasis to certain words or phrases can help convey the meaning behind your words. Experiment with different levels of inflection to find the right tone for your podcast.

Gear Suggestions for Starting Podcasters

Getting started with podcasting doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment. Here are some basic gear suggestions:

What's next? A long road ahead for sure! Take a tour on these amazing professional setups at Amazon.com!

Frequently asked questions

Why would I record myself?

People have many reasons to record themselves. You might want to practice for an exam, maybe you are a singer, or just a person that wants to have a laugh. Sometimes students need to record a class, sometimes you just want to test your microphone

Why does my voice sound different when I hear a recording of myself?

When you speak, air comes out of your mouth and the larger part of it will travel against the walls of the room you are in, and the sound will bounce back to you. But there is a small part of the air from your mouth that will travel through your cheeks and land quickly into your ears. Just a few milliseconds later, the sound bouncing from the walls also reach your ears.

This combination of two sources of sound is perceived very differently than sound from a speaker, when you listen to a recording. So this difference is why when you listen to your own voice in a recording it sounds so different than your real life voice

You can try a simple excersice to hear yourself as if you are listening your voice on a recorder, without having to record yourself. Sit about 2 meters (or 6 feet) away from a wall, and use 2 books, one on each side of your face, pushing the side of the books onto your cheeks. Now speak loudly facing at the wall. The voice you will hear, will be coming from a single source. This will sound like your recorded voice being played, because the books will dampen the air that wants to travel over your face to your ears. Now count from 10 to 1, while slowly removing the books, and you will hear yourself again as usual.

How much does it cost to use Recme.io?

This is a front-side only webpage. This means nothing is being sent to our servers, so we are not spending any money by having this app available for public use. You can record yourself all you want, all the data is stored locally in your device

How can I improve my voice and speech?

First of all, practice. You can use the books trick to mimick a recorded voice and find one that suits your taste.

Second, voice is the first instrument humans discovered, but it is one of the hardest to master, because there is no tunning knob to make it sound on key. So here are a few tips:

  • Relax all your face muscles, any tension will make your voice sound "dirty".
  • Fill in your lungs and try to keep them filled with air, do not continue speaking until you are out of breath. Breathe in quickly and shortly after 4 or 5 words. But don't hiperventilate!
  • As you go speaking, keep a steady contraction of your abdominal muscles. This will help you keep a constant flow of air, and it is very useful for reaching high pitched notes.
  • Loosen up! It will surprise you how much affects your voice to be too focused on your perfomance. Focus on your breathing and on your face being relaxed. Be aware of the air going from the very base of your lungs and out of your mouth. It should feel like a comfortable, open passage, for the air to just flow out.
  • Take singing lessons. Nobody is born knowing everything. Even if you are not going to be a singer in a band, or even present yourself as a singer, taking singing lessons will help you gain confidence when talking and expressing yourself.
  • Stay healthy! When you sing, your body is your instrument. You can change the strings of a guitar, but you cannot fix a damaged vocal cord. Stay within your range of comfort, do not push your voice more than it can take.
  • Warm up. Go search on YouTube some warming up excersices. As it happens with any muscle, your vocal cords need to "get ready" before being asked to vibrate over 500, or even 1000 times per second!
  • Last, but not least, have tons of fun!