Appreciatively Seeking Feedback, Rejected Application Sample
Hello VoiceBunny Community,
My name is John and I am enthusiastically new to the industry. 🙃
My application to join as voice talent was rejected on technical grounds, and I am eager to understand what my mistake was so that I may correct and learn from it.
Might someone please give my sample a listen and offer insight as to what technical failures I am guilty of?
If so, thank you, and for background, the feedback given to me in my rejection email stated that the recording:
• "be properly edited, unprocessed, and ready-to-use." (I initially recorded at too low a volume, so I increase the gain amplitude in Adobe Audition to not exceed -3dB. Perhaps this was my issue?)
• "must record using professional equipment" (I'm on a pop-filtered AKG C214 with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and using Adobe Audition.)
• "in an acoustically treated space" (My recording space is cocooned with moving blankets and towels)
With gratitude,
John
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Hey John!
Thanks for sharing the files with us.
So, I was listening to the recording and the file has some hiss and room echo. More likely, this is coming from the space, so I suggest you review the acoustic treatment you're giving the space. Maybe you need some additional treatment or to switch the positioning of the microphone so it rejects more of these reflections.Â
Also, the audio sounds quite distorted due to the volume. I suggest you get rid of the compressor and make sure you record at appropriate leves. If you need, you can normalize the file to -3dB but definitely avoid the compression! Compressing is quite tricky and unless you can do it very very well, it's better to avoid it.Â
As per the edits, the editing is quite harsh. There are some clips due to not using appropriate fades so I suggest you try and cut the files using longer fades. To avoid losing parts of a word, you can leave longer sections of silence at the end and start the fade right at the end of the last letter of the word.
Hope this helps! Feel free to share a new file :)
Hi Angela,
Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to give it a listen and provide your professional feedback.
I've digested your coaching and have given it another go and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
New Recording
Old Recording
With gratitude,
John
Hi John
The edits are so much better in the new recording! Really! There are some parts (like at the end) where the edit could use a bit more space, but in general they do sound much cleaner.Â
The hiss and the background noise are still there though. They sound quite different and a bit better. Are you, by any chance, using a noise reduction plugin? If you are, please stay away from it. It's not quite ideal in the future as it filters out many important frequencies and may degrade the audio quality as a whole as well.
I also can detect some distortion due to the gain. If you're not compressing, try toning it down the gain of your pre amplifier as this could be cause. Gain is quite tricky to manage but it's a matter of practice. We hosted a webinar on gain so you may want to take a look at it! It could help :) You can find it here:Â https://help.bunnyinc.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/205988904-Managing-Gain
You're definitely on the right track here!
Thank you, Angela. I'm really disappointed that I'm failing at this.
On edits, how much space should be left at the end of the recording? I recall the VoiceBunny (VB) audition called for 0.5 seconds at the beginning.
I did use Adobe Audition's noise reduction plugin. I will not use it next time.
Regarding gain, I will check out the webinar.
From VB's perspective, what is the optimal dB levels for noise floor, ambient noise, recording, and final submission?
Regardless, I'm extraordinarily grateful for your assistance and time.
Sincerely,
John
Hi John,Â
I agree with Angela, the new recording sounds much better! I do hear a bit of distortion and room reverberation (a bit of slapback echo). Also, some of the 's' sounds are a bit harsh, a de-esser could help in that sense.
In terms of noise floor, we normally ask for -60dB and for the final submissions to be at -3dB peak to prevent mp3's from clipping. These are not strict rules but rather guidelines.Â
You're definitely not far off!
Hope that helps,
-Seb
As Seb said, you're really getting there!
The improvement from the first recording to the second one is awesome. Audio can be quite tricky and can take some time an effort, but you're clearly doing it the right way!
The time at the end actually quite depends a lot on how long was your last sound. When you cut it too abruptly and there are still some remnants of your voice, it can sound quite harsh. Also, you should also use fades when you make any cuts. Make sure your correctly fading out/in the takes right after you make an edit.