What’s the best workflow for re-recording parts of a voiceover?

I use Audacity to record myself reading a text. Sometimes I make mistakes and want to re-record specific passages. I’ve tried a few approaches:

  • At first, I did it in one shot. If I made a mistake, I simply re-read the passage. Then, once I was ready with the whole text, I would go back and identify the parts that I wanted to remove, I would split them into a clip and delete them. The nice thing about this is that you don’t lose your flow. However, identifying the exact place is quite cumbersome; I would need to identify the location, which entails a lot of re-listening until I’m sure I’m at the right place.
  • I tried adding markers: at first, I would make a loud noise to produce a higher wave, so that I can visually find the place I needed to cut. I also tried adding labels, but switching between the text and the keyboard is also somewhat distracting.
  • Currently, I record each passage to a separate clip. That way, if I screw up, I stop the current clip, delete it and record a new one, but all the other “good” clips are there. It’s not ideal, but I find it somewhat better.

Is there an established technique for this?

The first one, or a variation. When you know you made a fluff, pause the announcing (not the recording), ring a bell, blow a whistle, or just leave a long gap, look back in the script to the next even sentence or paragraph and read from there.

Koz

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The clickers for animal training are great for marking your place in a recording.

They are quick, easy, and don’t give you sore hands from clapping.

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Thank you for your answer!

Thanks! I will try a clicker! :slight_smile:

Have you tried assigning a single key to drop markers (“Add Label at Playback Position” and bind it to a single key)? You mentioned that switching between the text and the keyboard is distracting, but maybe if it was a one press key that you could hit “blindly” it’d be easier

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Thank you, this is a good idea as well, I will try that.

Punch and roll … https://youtu.be/ziOLP3rGSoc

Hey @Trebor, indeed what you suggest seems to be the best solution! Thank you very much!