This section is for your Production Monitor (PM) to read. Print it out and give it to him and give him time to read it.

As the PM, you have a lot of things to do, besides just following along on the printed page. You should take an active role in the recording process.

• If you are working in a studio where the narrator will be reading from a sound booth or in another room, listen through speakers or headphones. You will be much more sensitive to sound changes than if you just listen through the air from a distance.
• If you are in the same room, remember that the mic hears everything, including you. You can't shuffle your papers or move your chair without some risk of it ending up on the recording. Position yourself as far away as possible from the mic. Most mics have pickup pattern which emphasizes sound coming from a particular direction, barely picking up sounds from other directions. Try to be out of the line that picks up the most sound.
• It is important to have a copy of the book in front of you and to follow along with the narrator the entire time. It is very easy for the narrator to misread a line, skip words, drop lines, or skip entire pages. If the narrator doesn't stop right away, then you call it out.
• Keep an eye on the narrator's head. It is common for someone who is getting emotionally involved with the reading, to forget to stay still. If the narrator's head starts bobbing around, the difference in sound levels will be noticeable.
• Make a note of the the narrator's head to mic distance. If the narrator moves back in the chair for example, let him know. A close mic gives a lot of presence, but it rapidly loses the presence as the speaker moves away from it. On the other hand, moving too close will make the sound boomy.
• Listen to the quality of the narrator's voice (speed, enthusiasm, focus, hoarseness, dryness, tiredness), and any thing perceived that the narrator is not aware of (i.e, narrator uses wrong voice for a character). Call attention to any narration errors that change the meaning of the printed text, and also any narration that imposes a personal bias. The narrator's personality should not be part of the recording.
• If the narrator gets very loud (or shouts), the resulting recording may be distorted. Make a note of where this happened and go back later to listen to that section. If there is distortion, you will need a retake.
• Remember, that even if the narrator's volume level does not increase, if he moves closer to the mic, his voice will get louder. If you are monitoring through headphones or speakers, you will hear the difference right away. But if you are just in the room with the narrator, you will not hear any difference until later during playback. In that case, you have to watch carefully for head movement during the narration.
• If you get tired, tell the narrator that you need a break now. The narrator should stop at a convenient point within the next minute or two.