Tip #6: 5 ways to keep mouth noises under control
As voice actors, we all know the struggle of having to deal with unwanted mouth clips and noises. We finally achieved that perfect take that was on point, but our tongue and lips just decided to get in the way and ruin the take.
Well, we have compiled here some of the tricks that have helped us!
- Drink water while recording. This one may be obvious, but it’s super important to keep it mind. When you’re not properly hydrated, your saliva will thicken up and start producing unwanted noises. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water during a recording session especially if it will be long. Being hydrated beforehand is important, too, but sometimes it won’t be enough when you hit the booth and your mouth can get pretty dry when talking for long periods of time. Pay attention to your body and drink water whenever you notice that your mouth or throat are feeling dry.
- Keep your lips hydrated. Some of the noises come from extra saliva produced from the dryness of your mouth. Using lip balm or oil such as extra virgin olive oil to coat your lips will help to smooth the surface and reduce a lot of the extra noises.
- Eat green apples. Another great trick that’s been around for a long time is to eat green apples before recording. You don’t have to eat a whole apple, just eat a few slices or a couple of bites and you’ll be fine. Green apples clean extra saliva while keeping your mouth hydrated so it’s an amazing trick. You can also change this for apple juice if you don’t have green apples with you.
- Listen to your recordings and pay attention to which vocals or consonants produce the most mouth noises. Practice makes perfect, and there will be moments where you will be able to work your mouth movements to reduce mouth noises in certain places. In order to do that, it’s important for you to listen to yourself several times and distinguish which consonants are the ones that give you the most trouble and try different movements similar to where there are fewer or no noises at all.
- Try positioning yourself at different distances and angles from your microphone. Sometimes mouth noises may get an unwanted boost based on where you are located versus your mic’s capsule as well as the polar pattern you’re using. Try getting further from the mic or even pointing it differently (more towards the upper part of your voice, for example) to see if you notice any difference in mouth noises without damaging the overall quality of the sound you want for the take. You may also want to try a different polar pattern to direct the sound more where you want it, which can help you as well.
Last but not least, remember that mouth noises will never be 100% eliminated. These tips may help you reduce the overall loudness of them, but you still may have to edit the ones that damage your recording the most. This editing process may sound long and tedious, but practice makes perfect and the more edits you do, the faster you’ll get at cutting and fading.
Hope this helps! Remember that these are just recommendations so they may or may not work for everybody. If you have some other practices to control mouth noises, you're welcome to share them in the comments below.
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Hi Angela,
Really appreciate the tips here on mouth noises! I do have a glass of water with me while recording at all time, but I notice I still get the saliva being produced. Will try the green apple trick for sure!
Thank you again for all you do!
John
Anytime, John!
If you have other tips you try out, let us know! We'd love to read them and try them out ourselves.
Thanks, Angela. I have great challenges in regard to mouth noise. When I try to edit/remove them, I got a response that my audio was poorly edited. I'll try repositioning my mic.
Anytime, Renee!
Editing them all is not the best solution sometimes as you may be cutting some letters or even words when you do. Mouth noises are quite challenging to control for sure!
When I record vocals, I always keep 1 or 2 green apples and a glass of water (at room temp) by my side. When I notice that my mouth is really stubborn, I take a 2 o 3 minute break, have a bite of the green apple and drink some water. Most of the time, it does the trick for the most complicated noises and I edit the ones that one impact the quality of my recording.
You can also try recording off-axis! This usually helps a lot to reduce sibilance and some mouth noises.
Hopefullty this helps! Let us know if you try this or other tricks out!
I have had terrible mouth click issues in the past. I fixed them though! (mostly). First, hydration is key, I try to drink at least 24 oz of water a day and usually drink more prior to and on work days.
The real key for me was the green apple trick, however that was impractical (stocking apples and having pieces go bad too fast) so in lieu of green apples I take 3 or 4 oz of water and pour a cap of apple cider vinigar into it. I swish that around in my mouth and spit it out. it is a bit much to get used to but so worth it for me becuse it works wonders!!
Hope this helps someone.
Hi Mitchell, great idea about the apple cider vinegar in the water!
jb