Sample for Review
After upgrading my studio & equipment, plus hiring a sound engineer, I'm hoping that my sample meets QC standards. Thank you for reviewing.
http://C:\Users\Craig\Dropbox\Doctors to India - Voice Bunny Sample.wav
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Hi Bambi!
Thank you for sharing, however, the link isn't working as it's a folder inside your computer (it com'es from your C: instead of www.dropbox.com). Can you get the shareable link from Dropbox so we can check it out?
Thank you and sorry for the inconveniences!
Oh good grief! I'm so sorry for inconveniencing you too! I think this link will work!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5oa0f1aucvsuere/Doctors%20to%20India%20-%20Voice%20Bunny%20Sample.wav?dl=0
Hi Bambi!
Thanks for sharing. I am listening to the file and I can sense the following problems.
1. Excessive gain/over compression. The recording sounds way too tide and I believe it's increasing the noise floor a lot. Please remove the compressor or lower the gain of your preamp some dBs.
2. Extreme sibilance and brightness. If you're using a filter, you may be boosting the wrong frequencies as your voice sounds very sibilant. Please bypass the filter and try to record a bit off axis from the mic's capsule to reduce the high frequency boost.
3. Hiss noise. More likely this is caused by a section of your equipment that is a bit lower quality and is increasing the noise floor quite too much. The other option is that the acoustic treatment of your room. I would recommend you to check both areas to see where it could be coming from.
Out of curiosity, can you please share which equipment you're using to record?
Hi Angela,
My equipment is a Focusrite Scarlet Solo, and an Audio-Technica AT2035. I use Audacity as my recording software. As I increase my revenue with voice over work, I do intend to upgrade, as I am aware that this is fairly basic equipment.
I will contact my sound engineer, George Whittam and share your comments, as he created the chain I am currently using, and perhaps it needs a few tweaks? The acoustics in my sound booth are very good, so perhaps it is my equipment?
Thank you again for your time, and stay tuned....I will be back :) Bambi
Hi Bambi!
I hear loud constant noise in the background. You can hear it clearly in between the words like at 0:04, 0:11 and so on, what can it be?
Additionally, I feel the read sounds a bit unnatural at some points. By how you edited the file, the rhythm and cadence doesn't sound natural. For ex. at 0:08, it's almost like a full stop, but you are in the middle of the sentence ("to give back"). Same at 0:16, 0:22 and so on. So, even with today's technology that allows us to do magnificent editing, some aspects like performance, tone and intonation must be achieved in the recording stage. At this point, some parts may give the impression that your recording is not a real voice, but it's computer generated. One of the main reasons why our clients reject work.
So, for now we need to lower the noise of your recording chain. If you want you can share with us a 30 seconds take of your room tone. That'll help us identify where the noise is coming from.
And, I invite you to try a more natural and conversational tone having in mind what I pointed out above. Look at the text and determine where does the script calls for pauses, intonation and rhythm to achieve a magnificent read.
Let me know what you think!
Best,
Juan.
Hi Juan,
Thank you for taking the time to review my sample and for your comments. I definitely can work on the delivery to achieve a more natural and conversational tone.
This "noise" is the more immediate issue and very perplexing. I am getting a noise floor reading of -69db, which I thought was acceptable for VB. I have included my sample to get your thoughts.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/134u66stm4xvqs1/Noise%20Floor%20Sample.wav?dl=0
Thanks again,
Bambi
Submitting another sample for review with very different mastering. Thank you!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/65dt3cv2e8qvl46/Bambi%20Augustin%20-%20Assisted%20Living%20Sample.wav?dl=0
Hi Bambi!
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner here. I had a personal calamity which required immediate care and I was OOO for a couple of days. Let me give you my thoughts on the takes now!
In regards to the last take you shared, there's still a lot hiss. I believe you're adding too much gain which is increasing the noise floor a lot. Please reduce the gain from your interface and, if you want, you can then increase the volume on your DAW via normalization.
I can also pick up a filtering like a noise reduction. Are you using a noise reduction plugin? You can pick up the degrading during the breaths and blank spaces.
Hi Angela,
Thank you for getting back to me and I hope all is now well on the home front!
I do use a noise reduction plugin, just as a matter of routine, but perhaps it is unnecessary. My noise floor is typically -70db before normalization. Also, I will play around with the gain settings, (they are usually around 3) and see if that makes any difference in my noise floor, but I had been told to do the opposite instruction previously, as they had said that increasing the normalization would exaggerate other problems more than increasing the gain, so I'm not sure what to do. I will play with it both ways and see what I notice.
Thanks again, and I'll send new samples soon.
Bambi