Audition Rejection
This weekend I auditioned. I was rejected due to my sound. Here's the reason.
"Thank you for your submission; we greatly appreciate your effort. Unfortunately, we won\'t be able to approve your application due to the following issue(s):
-There is \'boxiness\' impacting your recording which makes it sound as if it was recorded in a very small space. Please ensure you record in an acoustically treated environment. If you already have acoustic treatment, it may not be adequate."
I record with Adobe Audition using a Focusrite 2i2 and and an Electro-Voice RE20. My recording space is a bedroom. The walls and ceilings are treated with packing blankets and theatrical fabrics (22oz Encore and 30oz wool serge). The floor is carpeted and also has an area rug. Rob Bee from Gravy For The Brain has assisted me by analyzing my studio tests.
Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. I look forward to your comments.
Best regards.
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Hi Onis!
My name is Aaron, I am a fellow voice actor and I would love to take a peek at your sample and give you my feedback, do you have a link you can share?
And in the meantime- just for fun, here is a sample of one of the recent projects that I made!
I hope all else is well for you.
Looking forward to chatting more about this!
Until then, take care. ✌️
-Aaron M.
Hi Aaron,
Thank you for reaching out. All is well. How are you? As I'm sure you've guessed, I'm new to BS. Here's a Dropbox link.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ny9alm05s8qvd7i/OnisMcHenry.bunny.0509.21.mp3?dl=0
I enjoyed listening to your sample. I look forward to your comments.
Best regards.
That's awesome, Onis!
And I am doing great, thanks for asking.
First of all, great job with your recording, I like your voice and I think you have a lot of potential with Bunny Studio!
In regards to your sound quality-
Overall I found your voice to be highly resonant and subdued, as well as dramatic and weighty. These are all great attributes to already have coming into the audition!
Let me know if you want more info on how I edit vocal audio exactly - I am thinking I will probably make a YouTube video explaining and demonstrating this more specifically if you are interested in that!
I hope this helps you in some way!
It is my belief that there needs to be more unity among voice actors and artists in general, and by helping one another and collaborating in unique new ways we can all benefit from the hard work each of us commits to every day.
Haha ok, I will get off my soapbox now- good luck with everything, feel free to let me know what other questions you might have and I will reply as soon as I can!
Until then, take care!
✌️
-Aaron M.
Wow! Thank you. I really appreciate all you’ve done and your suggestions. What DAW are you using? I would love to learn more about your editing techniques. Before COVID I was always saying I’ve got to jump start my VO career but I never had the extra time. Now I have entirely too much time on my hands. But I’m making effective use of it by learning new skills, auditioning, and connecting with other VOs such as yourself. Are you on LinkedIn?
Thanks, again. Take care.
My pleasure! I am using Reaper DAW. I am also using only stock plugins from that program for my recording process!
I am on LinkedIn, just search for Lunar Fifth Studios!
I will also be sure to post a link for you here as soon as I make a more detailed video about this!
Also, in case you're interested, for a quick breakdown of my exact recording input settings I am using right now, you can also check this out!
(especially recommended for dynamic mics, but works well with condenser mics as well.)
I am glad to hear that you are making the best of a tough situation- that is the right mindset to have in today's competitive VO industry!
Onis, I am looking forward to connecting and growing more together.
Thanks for your kind interactions and proactive energy!!!
Take care- until next time!
🙌
Hello Onis and Aaron!
It is always a pleasure to see conversations like this one. Aaron has been a very active member of our community and is super helpful as you could see! His suggestions are great! I would also like to share with both of you a really cool video one of our QC agents found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pABvTWSxOes&t=4s
It shows how to build cheap and effective sound pannels, and the summary is that towels seem to have great sound absorption capabilities! Just wanted to share this as some extra info, since Aaron covered most of the usual tips :)
Thanks again for the friendly interaction and remember that this space is for you guys!
Kind regards,
Daniel
Daniel, thank you for the YouTube video. Aaron, thank you for the cheat sheet. I've tweaked my studio and re-recorded the audition. Here's a Dropbox link.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9r4z65tb173ka8/OnisMcHenry.retake.wav?dl=0
I'm concerned that the level on this recording may be too low. I can easily increase projection to bring it up, but that destroys the intimate conversational tone. I can also increase gain a bit more, but that seems to raise the noise floor too much.
I'm very intrigued with Aaron's editing technique and workflow. Is it acceptable to remove room noise between phrases like he did?
Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to your comments.
Hi Onis,
Thanks for sharing the new file with us! It definitely sounds boxiness-free at the moment! And the level seems good to me, it is better to keep it there than to increase the gain and maybe shed some light on other issues.
And to answer your question, that is completely acceptable! We actually encourage doing so since it allows to not only remove the noise floor there but also remove possible breaths or background noises that might appear (like a mouse click for example).
Great work and great improvement!
Daniel
This is incredibly helpful. I really appreciate you help. Thank you.
You are welcome Onis, and thanks again Aaron for stepping in here, you rock!
I hope that both of you have a wonderful day!