The Goldilocks Zone 

One of the key factors in achieving a good raw audio recording is to get the microphone the optimum distance from the sound source (your mouth in this case). Too close or too far will detrimentally affect your recording. The distance has to be just right.

This article assumes that you have purchased a decent microphone for recording your voice and you have a suitable room for recording in. See our other articles on this subject.

Too Far

Sitting the microphone on a table a metre away from you is just not going to work. This is probably okay for recording a meeting, but it is not good enough if you are aiming for a quality result. Even 25cm will be too far. Voice over microphones are designed to be used in fairly close proximity. Positioning the microphone too far away will result in a thin weak sound that will probably be quite noisy when processed.

Too Close

Having the microphone too close to your mouth is just as bad. If you have it nearly touching your lips or less than 5cm, it will result in a distorted boomy sound prone to popping. This assumes you are talking at a normal speaking volume. There will be occasions when this will work, for example, if you are talking really quietly, however, for general speaking this will probably be too close. You may notice the word probably... Well it is not an exact science, the results will vary depending on the microphone and your voice.

Other Considerations

Popping

This is where a blast of air from your mouth causes a popping sound in the recording. Having the right distance between you and the microphone can help prevent this, however, you may also consider using a pop shield if this becomes a regular issue for you. Alternatively, you can try altering your position so that you are off-axis to the microphone. Put simply, on axis is where you are directly facing the microphone, off-axis is where you turn your head slightly so that you are not directly facing it. This can help prevent popping.

Gaps are okay

You don't need to worry about too many gaps. If you break the flow of the recording it can usually be fixed later when editing. It is better to have gaps that need removing than rushing or running out of breath mid-paragraph.

Breaths are okay

Breaths are more pronounced on a recording due to the proximity of the microphone. Typically you will need to remove breaths or have an audio editor remove them later as they can be distracting. To aid in editing, try to make a clear gap between the narration and the breath. Snatching breaths to try and keep the pace of the narration can make them more difficult to remove later.

The Room

Although this article is about microphone placement, we do have to mention room acoustics too as it is an important factor in achieving a good sound. Getting both these right will contribute to a quality recording. I recommend that you also read our article Where is the best place to record your voice at home?