Help with high pitch audio quality
Hi guys,
I've been having difficulty doing a good quality recording for higher vocal range with breathy-ness, which is a very Japanese thing. I've got a Neumann TLM 102, wire mesh pop filter, padded walls, focusrite scarlett 2i2, and I'm a total noob, so I have no idea how to improve the quality of the audio recording when it comes to picking up higher pitched voices and breathy-ness. I've done a multitude of different voice recordings, and my lower registered voice recordings definitely come out a lot cleaner, so is there any advice on what I can do to help improve the recording for characters that have higher pitches?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZRj2vibE-RDVr05gtVP_fDgPuW7JBV7o/view?usp=sharing
I also have another question regarding noise floor / noise reduction, but I suppose that it'd be better to post it as a separate post?
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Hello Mei,
Thank you so much for using this space to get some feedback!
In order to begin helping you with your case, could you change the link you shared to public? Currently, it seems to be private and we can not access the file.
Also, please share your questions about noise floor/noise reduction here as well! No worries, we can address both points in this post :)
Kind regards,
Daniel
Hello Daniel,
Thanks for getting back to me so soon!
Okay, I've set it to public now.
Here's the same link again, just in case: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZRj2vibE-RDVr05gtVP_fDgPuW7JBV7o/view?usp=sharing
So the issue I'm having with Bunny QC, is how my work kept getting accepted and rejected at random, despite me delivering what I feel to be pretty much consistent quality on my part. I would assume that this is likely a result of maybe my submission quality being right on the borderline of acceptance by Bunny QC standard.
The issue here is, I'm kinda on this see-saw of 2 bad quality spectrum (I assume). One end being a high noise floor, and the other end being over-processed noise reduction. I see that the submission guidelines tells us that they want us to submit our recordings *unprocessed*, and yet, at the same time, have a noise floor of -60 db. I find that highly difficult to achieve, and have no idea how to further improve my environment anymore than I already have (I've sunk quite a bit of money improving my windows and door professionally, and with almost-fully padded walls), other than to maybe search the market for a 0 noise (that's impossible) AC, or just die from overheating and/or dehydration when doing long recordings with 0 ventilation.
Here's a recording sample of an unprocessed recording vs 2 levels of noise reduction for comparison.
*Note: Do not turn up the volume at start of audio. Amplification of 6 will be applied in a few seconds. (submission guidelines do say to submit around -3db. I've upped it to at around -6db instead {some clients prefer the headroom})
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1joffjsv61hACLJUACzuM8skgLYfH5_67/view?usp=sharing
At my current mic volume recording setting, my noise floor is -54db, which sounds o-kay on paper, until we realize my vocal recording is too low too. After amplification to try and reach submission criteria of audio ceiling of -3db (but -12 to -6 for me), my noise floor goes up to -45db.... that's defffffinitely way high compared to the required -60impossibledb...
Despite the submission guidelines saying to submit it unprocessed, there's absolutely no way I could submit an unprocessed -45db noise floor, could I? So that's where I try my best to learn how to do a good quality noise reduction (I have no education in sound engineering, but I try my best to learn online). Some times my submission gets approved, sometimes I get rejected for "overly processed" reasons. So that's where I'm struggling at the moment.... What could I do in this situation (aaaany improvement suggestions are welcome), and say if I can't improve my raw recording quality, would it be better to submit a file leaning more towards a higher noise floor rather than overly processed noise reduction?
Please ignore any mouth noises for now, since that is not our concern this time round. By the way, I also seem to have some plosive issues despite having a wire mesh pop filter. Near the end, though not mentioned in voice, I have applied 3 different plosive mending processing. The first "testing" is non-processed (I think, I can't remember), the second "test" is run through an S curve graphic EQ, the third "test" is run through a high-pass filter of 120 (as advised by a bunny QC before), and the last "test" ran through extra EQ I think.
Anyone? :(
Hi Mei!
Sorry I took some time to reply, we usually work on community posts during weekdays and I had to go through some other posts before coming back to yours (Sorry!).
Regarding your sample, I think you are right when you mention that the more breathy high register tends to create more reflections and a bit of this "Boxy" feeling, you can always use a bit more padding around the mic to decrease those reflections.
If you are up for it, you could share some pics of your recording space so we can give you some tips! We have seen that fabrics like thick blankets or even towels can help reduce reflections from some surfaces.
Regarding the noise floor comment, most of our agents do not check the noise floor level with a sound meter, it is something that, if it can be clearly heard, is a problem. If not, then it should be fine.
I checked the file you sent that has the unprocessed recording and I can notice that when you amplify the signal there is an audible fan in the background, (most likely your AC?). I was thinking that it has mostly a low-frequency sound, so could you give this a try? Keep the signal amplified but apply a high pass filter at around 150Hz. Since your voice has a high pitch, I don't think this will affect your quality, but might help us filter that fan altogether without even needing noise reduction plugins!.
This could help reduce the amount of processing you do to the voice (since noise reduction plugins can take away audible components from your voice and create audio glitches) while helping you reduce that noise floor at the same time.
That filter might also help with plosives since their most aggressive component is low-frequency, so they could be completely removed with this method :)
Please give that a try and let me know how it goes!
Kind regards,
Daniel
Hi Daniel,
Thank you so very much for the detailed reply! Your analysis and explanation really taught me some things. I'll try what out what you mentioned for the next few deliveries! Hopefully they can be accepted more consistently.
As for my recording set up, here's a 3/4 view of the "booth", and also the look of the rest of the room:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13CoCB-3hCqY7KoyWenFOEL-dVinhjhVP?usp=sharing
As you can see in the photo, I've already padded my "mic booth's" 5 walls (left, right, back, bottom, top) with clothes and acoustic panels inside my wardrobe. Could the issue be that high frequencies bounce off soft surfaces easier, and that I should have a wider air space around to prevent the boxiness feel? Because we definitely don't seem to have any boxiness issue in my lower frequency voices...
Btw, the AC is on and set to quiet, and the standing fan is always turned off. I work on a laptop nearby, and for bunny's quality sake, I even cover my laptop with a quilt, and try to stand pillows around me when recording.
Hi Mei,
Thanks for sharing the pictures with us! I think that the AC is the definitive reason for that noise, you mentioned you use a Quilt when recording, do you use it over your head and over the mic when recording? We also found a really cool video that shows how good towels are at absorbing sound so maybe using one or two towels instead of the quilt could work! Here is the video in case you are curious about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pABvTWSxOes&t=6s
Also, please give the high pass filter a try and let me know how it goes! I think that one can help you a lot to get rid of that fan sound :)
Kind regards,
Daniel