Returning talent had first audition rejected...I am lost...please help me find myself! (Feedback on rejected audition)
Hello!
Many moons ago I was a somewhat successful VO artist here at Voicebunny. After many years wandering in the pay to play deserts, I have returned!
...and I have been rejected. Prodigal son indeed. (I musta been a real stinker...)
Kidding aside, I submitted an audition last evening and was rejected. This...made me sad. But I'm legitimately wondering if there was something wrong in transfer because I'm not hearing what they are hearing. I was rejected for the following reasons:
- There is a high level of white noise/hiss impacting your recording that is adversely affect the quality of the deliverable. We invite you to review...
- The volume of your audio is undesirably low. Please normalize...
I have it cranked to 11 and I'm not hearing a hiss (yes I'm wearing cans.) .
I'm showing a peaks of -12 db and a sound floor of -71 db. Even if I amplify I'm not hearing a hiss. Here is the file:
I appreciate any and all feedback. I have lost a little sleep over this because now I'm worried my studio isn't up to snuff. That would make me even sadder...
But for reals, if I'm wrong, please guide me. Thank you!
Halp!
Nathan
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Oh yeah...forgot to mention, I am aware of some of the mouth sounds present in the file. I legitimately missed those. Typically I catch them all but apparently last night I was particularly clicky and was out of Granny Smiths...
Thanks again!
Hi Nathan,
No need to loose sleep over this one! We ask everyone to submit their files normalized to -3dB, so in terms of volume that's where your's is falling short. That one is easy to fix, almost any DAW let's you normalize.
In terms of hiss, there is audible hiss in between words (I normalized your file to hear it properly). I'd suggest just lowering the volume of silent parts, about 6-8dB. That way even if the client cranks it, the hiss won't be noticeable. Unfortunately, that's the band aid fix (and may not always work).
The real fix would be to find what's causing that hiss and addressing the issue. This is normally caused by recording equipment, it may be that you're recording with too much gain or your audio interface is not up to scratch. To better assess your case, please share with us what equipment you're using.
-Seb
Thank you so much! I will check this evening to see if I can find what is causing the hiss. It might be my mic cord as it is quite long. (To get the computer out of the recording space). I'll do some test and post results just in case it helps someone else. Thanks again!
Ok, so I did some testing and I think I found the culprit. We have a radon fan that runs on the other side of the house. It literally is at the opposite corner from where I record so I didn't think it would affect my audio. (Spoilers ahead...) It did.
So I unplugged it, and then tried recording in a few different variations. With a shorter cord, longer cord, with the gain dropped, boosted, etc.
Here is what I have come up with:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l84m0rllodi4hut/Potentially%20Fixed%20File.wav?dl=0
Could you take a listen and let me know if I have resolved the issue? Thank you again!
HI Nathan!
The hiss is much better, but it's still audible in the silent areas. Can you try cleaning them as Seb mentioned? You can also cut and fade them to see if leaving dead silence is not that noticeable.
How are you recording in terms of equipment? The mic sounds with a bit too much mid-range.
Hello,
Thank you so much for getting back to me! I will be tooling around the studio tonight so I'll clean it up and re-post.
Currently I'm running a Shure KSM32 into a Focusrite 2i2 which is hooked directly into my iMac. My mic is set up in the corner in a booth that consists of a heavy sound dampening curtain that I pull across the span of the room (about 5 feet) when I record. The entire room is treated, especially inside the booth area. The iMac is on the other side of the room, (about 9 feet away from the curtain.) Essentially the room is a 12X5 foot rectangle.
I use Adobe Audition as my DAW.
Let me know what you think. Thanks again!
Take Care,
Nathan
Thanks for sharing, Nathan.
Do you have the low-cut filter added? If not, I suggest you can use it to cut any excessive low frequencies. This could help with the overall sound of the mic. Also, the hiss could be coming from adding a bit too much gain on your interface. Maybe reducing the gain on your preamp and then normalizing in your DAW could also help with that.
Let's try that to see if it works!
Hello,
Sorry for the delay. Here is the final file...I hope. Please let me know if you have any questions. I can't thank you enough for all your help!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/55cru83srk313u8/Potentially%20Fixed%20File%20Really%20This%20time.wav?dl=0
Take Care,
Nathan
Thanks, Nathan!
This sounds much better and I believe we're good to go. Just make sure you clean the file by editing the breath and mouth noises when present on the silent areas! I believe this recordings really sound much better and will be approved by the team :)
Now that this is done, I see you have 1 submission and 1 rejection in your profile. This could lower your standing with our algorithm and reduce your invitations. Have you seen invitations lately?
Hello,
I have seen some invitations over the past few days. I received one yesterday and 3 the day before. Does this seem normal? I haven't been able to submit to a few due to timing and the few that I coul submit to, I wanted to make sure this was squared away before I tried again. I will be submitting to new invitations as they come.
Thank you again for all your help!
Take Care,
Nathan
Hi Nathan
That's actually perfect! I believe you can start taking care of the invites now with your current quality. Let us know should you have any problems!