I've hired a professional audio consultant and am still getting rejections.
Okay, so I know that standards are getting tighter and what passed for quality work two months ago will not pass today.
Thinking that my work is being checked by a bunny pro with an audio degree and years of experience in audio production, I thought it would be good to hire a professional sound engineer with an audio degree and years of experience in audio production to review all of my audio settings, noise floor, and search my audio samples for any issues that need to be addressed.
It was expensive, but I figured that I would be producing better quality work and therefore earning more money.
So my very first submission after getting my audio tune up gets rejected by QC.
"
*Hi - your recording has a sibilance issue. You can hear the issue clearl=
y
> at 00:02 and 00:03. We invite you to review the webinar we hosted on how =
to
> control sibilance and hiss here: https://goo.gl/nlaCvU
> <https://goo.gl/nlaCvU> We also invite you to view our glossary where
> you=E2=80=99ll find a short description of this issue: https://goo.gl/5tH=
XzA
> <https://goo.gl/5tHXzA>. You'll also find additional information to help
> you achieve professional results. Kind regards, The VoiceBunny QC team*
>
> Only high-quality and flawless work will be forwarded to our clients. We
> do appreciate your understanding.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Mr. Bunny"
Now, I don't have a grudge, or hold any resentment, but I would like to know more about how to go about fixing a problem that an audio professional that is known and trusted in the industry with an unquestioned reputation has already fixed for me.
I'm not angry or upset with anyone, I'm legitimately asking for real answers.
How can I be named one of the Top Bunny Pros of the Year just a few weeks ago and then be worried that I'm going to be kicked off the service for quality issues today? Especially after receiving professional help to correct any problems I might have.
All I want to do is provide the very best audio that I can.
My space is extensively sound proofed with professional grade materials and every square inch of space is covered in deep plush carpet or high grade professional quality acoustic foam.
I use a Sennheiser MKH416 microphone with a pop filter.
I've hired a professional audio tech to help me with any detectable sound issues.
What else can I do to avoid these rejections?
I'm confused as to what my next step should be.
Thanks very much for your time and assistance. Being a Bunny Pro has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in my life behind the microphone.
:-)
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Hi Ripley,
First off big fan and was very inspired by your video w Bill which prompted me to join VB.
Figured I'd chime in here since I'm still waiting patiently on some feedback on my recent submissions while I'm suspended from the site. Interesting perspective here and gives me a little sigh of relief to know that I'm not totally wracking my brain either trying to figure out proper levels to submit for work.
I'm thoroughly confused with all of VB's latest policies as of recent. I was accepted back in the summer and didn't get invited to any jobs for almost four months. It's confusing to me that VB pro talent are allowed to put up poor quality audio as their samples as well. I was told to listen to other comparable artists and check their samples to gauge what's expected. If VB is expecting higher quality standards of production surely they can present a clearer outline of instructions that aren't geared at solely aiming to attract clients. I find the process of outlining speedies, contests, and bookings to be extremely confusing unless its read from the perspective of the clients looking to submit for talent. Having said all this I do understand the constant changing of the industry standards and its inspiring to me to work harder and I'm still hopeful and appreciative of the feedback I've gotten from the company and hoping to work again soon.
Love to hear other peoples concerns and feedback as well.
-Ted
Okay, so now it's time for part two of the saga.
I went back to my audio engineer/tech guy and said I was having this rejection issue and upon further examination we discovered that he had sent me the wrong file somehow.
So we adjusted my settings again to different parameters and now I just need to wait for a new project to come in so we can see what Mr Bunny has to say about the new settings.
Hi Ripley!
Thank you for sharing your case. The file indeed sounds quite sibilant and with a boost in the high frequencies. I'd like to check the new adjusted quality that you have! Can you please record a short snippet for us? You can record whatever you prefer, the script is not important. I'd like to check how the settings have changed.
Now, to reply to Ted, I'd like to mention that at the moment we're processing a cleanse of the samples we have in the system. We have accumulated around 41,000 samples throughout this 5 years and a similar cleanse has never been made. As our standards have change dramatically, you can see many samples that are very very old from when we didn't even have an application process! For this reason, some of these samples can be, indeed, not up to our current standards and please know we're taking measures for that.
I'm going to get to your recording in a couple of minutes so I'd appreciate your patience here!
Hey Angela,
Today is a very strange day for me.
First I find out that I have been cut from VoiceBunny's talent roster, and then a couple of hours later receive my congratulations package from VoiceBunny for being named a top pro.
I'm having my engineer make a few more adjustments to my EQ today and will post a sample as soon as I am happy with what we have. I'm guessing maybe within 24-36 hours.
And now suddenly I'm back on the grid.
Thanks to whoever made that happen, I am most grateful!
Okay, so I spent hours with my audio guy today who swears that he has resolved the issues in my audio.
Here is the backup contest entry I just submitted with the new EQ settings my audio guru has set for me and my recording space.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kbp3830xlyiou2w/VBB%20DMS%20Lead%20Generation%20Video.wav?dl=0
Give it listen and let me know if there are further adjustments needed. My audio guy is committed to making sure that he and your QC team are on the same wavelength.
Wow, Ripley!
This sound so much better! I was comparing it to some of your old samples, and this is such a major upgrade! Congratulations. I'm really proud of how far you've gotten with your quality.
I noticed 3 tiny things that I'm sure can be fixed in the bat of an eye!
1. There's a bit of over compression. I suggest you lower the output gain of the compressor you're using. It's not distorting or anything, but it does sound a bit too tight which doesn't give enough headroom for our clients to make their own processing. You can also see if you can lower the threshold so only the highest peaks are taken by the compressor.
2. There's some room echo still. I believe you can reduce this by changing the positioning of the mic in the space you're recording in or seeing if there's a surface around you that could be adding a bit more reflections.
3. The sibilance is still a bit bothering me. If you're voice is like mine, your 's' should be around 6K - 8K so I suggest you lower the gain of this frequency a bit with a de-esser.
Nothing critical, really. I can tell you've done an awesome job growing and improving and what makes me the happiest is that you're so open and responsive to our feedback. This can be just me, but I really feel that we are making a great team here and our comments are getting to you exactly as we want them to! Of course yours too and your feedback is always useful to us.
Give kudos to your audio guy as I really feel we're getting very close to the perfect sound!
Bat of an eye is not the idiom I wanted to use lol! I meant blink of an eye! Bilingualism perks! Oops D:
Hey Angela,
Thanks so much for the technical feedback!!!
It's such a big help to know the specifics that need to be changed.
I had already been speaking with my sound guy regarding my room echo, and I have ordered some new sound treatment material that should be here within the next few days.
After the new materials are installed in my studio, I will send a new sample to my audio guy so that he can adjust my sound, accounting for the differences made by the new material, and make the changes you mentioned.
(And ... just so you know... both bat and blink are in common usage for that idiom in American english, so you're good either way.)
Thanks again for the great feedback!
I'll get to work right away.
:-)
Thank you very much, Ripley!
I look forward to the recordings.
Also, thanks for the correction in regards to the idiom. I get somewhat confused with them sometimes hehehehe