Have you heard of punch & roll?
PUNCH and ROLL:a recording technique where you can quickly fix mistakes during a recording session by essentially “punching in” to re-record a section while seamlessly rolling forward from the point of the error.
This is used a lot in audiobooks because you want the pickup line to flow with the sentence prior. It can help to cut down on editing time at the end of your record.
Below you’ll find instructions on how to “punch and roll” with the main VO DAWs: Adobe Audition, Audacity, Reaper and Pro Tools.
ADOBE AUDITION
STEP 1: CONTROL + RECORD BUTTON
When you click the control button and the red record button, a dropdown menu will appear with these options: Instant Record Mode, Punch and Roll Mode, Time Record Mode (and a couple others under that).
STEP 2: Choose PUNCH and ROLL MODE
The red record button will now look like this.
STEP 3: Move the PLAYHEAD (the red line with the blue arrow at the top) to the BEGINNING of the line you messed up.
STEP 4: Push the RECORD button (or your shortcut)
It will play a few seconds of your previously recorded voiceover, then begin recording your replacement voiceover.
AUDACITY
Instructions courtesy of Larry Hudson (sign up for his Adobe Audition or Audacity Class HERE).
Punch and Roll gives the performer a 5 second pre-roll by default before it starts recording (the length can be altered in Preferences > Recording > Punch and Roll Recording > Pre-roll).
The pre-roll allows the performer to hear the lines and speak with them on the pre-roll to get into the same style so they can continue performing the script without hearing a big difference from what was previously recorded.
NOTE: Even though it is called “Punch and Roll” what is actually doing is “rolling” and “punching” in to record. Also, oddly you will not find a plug-in named punch and roll in your plug-ins list but it is there.
Audacity’s use of Punch and Roll is limited in that you can only record from the end of your track. If you place your playhead some other place on the track it will give you the pre-roll from there and will delete everything to the right on your track.
STEP 1: Place your Playhead at the end of the track.
STEP 2: Go to the menu bar and click Transport > Recording > Punch and Roll Record (or use the keyboard shortcut Shift + D).
