New Room - New challenges -
Hi - Been a pro for nearly 2 years and have switched studio rooms recently and trying to adjust my levels properly. I'm in a fairly insulated room (room is about 10" by 10" with about 15 12x12 sound panels in the center and some narrow pannels in the corner and on the back of the wall but I do have a pretty large window that's probably where some of that reverb you may here is coming from.
I'm also now working with a Shure SM7 going through a wheatsone mixer and have the levels on my mixer just at under 10 on the mixer. I normalized to -3db and have a slight bit of high pass freq at 120 hz inside the 1 band pro tools plug in and 80hz on a 7 band plug in (VB recommended I use this 80hz one a year ago and I have always had it on all my files that I've sent out)
Any help would be great to get this sound down better. Maybe a foam shield panel around the mic? Maybe the SM7 is not good for VO in general?
Here's the audio:
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I’m not a bunny team member- just another “bunny-pro) but here’s my 2 cents
Do you have sound absorbing panels up? There is a lot of reverb in the tones of your speaking voice, and a bit of hiss but you’ve patched over in several places with a room tone that is MUCH lower. This causes the audio to sound very choppy. I would try making a pillow fort around your mic first for a low budget test. See if the sound comes out better - and make sure your room tone that you are patching with matches the room tone of the audio you are editing :). Or its possible you used some noise reduction that brought down those levels. Not sure! Have you tried turning the gain down a little bit on the interface, to see if maybe you could just pick up less background noise in general? Or maybe skip the high pass frequency? How does your raw audio sound?
Otherwise great speaking voice, tone and delivery!
Thanks Aleesha for your feedback.
I built up my foam fort a bit on this one and did a new record.
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Would also appreciate if a VB QC member from the team would take a listen as well as I'd like to have this properly approved for future work I'll be submitting. But Aleesha please feel free to give feedback.
Here's the raw file - no plug in - no normalization - I am trying to figure out if there may be some slight processing going through my mixer but this about as naked of a sound I can get right now.
https://we.tl/t-NmRWkrF17e
Here's the Normalized - VB prescribed -3.0db normalization - no other plug in or high pass filter - obviously you can hear the normalization raises the levels like crazy. Wondering what I can do to decrease that as its obscene amount of noise.
https://we.tl/t-GNTLP0CisS
Sorry it's crickets from the Bunny team- but I will say that this sounds much better! The normalized isn’t as bad as you think. Maybe try turning your gain down just a bit to pick up less room tone, and positioning yourself a bit closer to the mic instead? How close are you to this mic? Maybe since its a different mic you need to play around with different spacing?
I’ve also encountered a few other people that the extra noise was coming from the interface- or cables. And one last thing to try is I know that in the past if my phone or computer are too close to the mic it can cause some extra noise.
Hi, no more crickets from us, sorry for the delay.
It is great to see fellow Bunny Pros helping each other, that's what we want from you guys, this space is for you to grow together.
I must say, I stand by Aleesha's recommendations, actually, as I was listening to your normalized version I was just thinking about that.
Please go give Aleesha's suggestions a go, I'm sure you'll end up with much better results.
Hi Aleesha
Thanks for getting back to me.
So I've tried my best to cancel out any processing and or noise that could come from in studio. This take the mic is 0.0db - I did one where I went down to -2.0 db and it just sounded a little crushed after normalizing so I'm trying this one.
I'm very close to the mic - the sm7 doesn't lend itself to picking up a whole lot which may be one of the issues at hand here. I realize I was using a condenser mic before now and I have this dynamic which is a big difference. I still have that mic and may give it a shot but waiting on some new cables before I try hooking up phantom power.
But at this point its my only option if a job does come up. I'd like to be able to work with this for now.
So here we have a normalized -3.0db and vocal mic at 0.0db level with small high pass filter at 80hz freq. Otherwise you'd just go crazy with the rolling bass this mic gives! It would sound much worse w out it.
https://we.tl/t-zePtjuMVWd
Update - Wed Nov 13th 2019
Returned to my previous microphone - a condensor rhode broadcaster which I've used in nearly 75% of my bookings on voice bunny. Recorded at 0db on main mixer and normalized to -3db - small high pass filter at 80hz (which I've also used on all of those records sent out w VB)
And still in the new room and trying to experiment properly with all foam and dampening pads.
Let me know how this sounds.
https://we.tl/t-g6nj2aVwSz
Hi Ted, thanks for submitting a new file.
I was just listening to it, and the first thing that pops out is that it should be a mono file, this one is a stereo.
Also, I'm still picking some hiss on your recording. The mic you're using is not ideal for this kind of work, I would strongly suggest getting something more appropriate for the job. Nonetheless, if you want to use that one, you should be very careful about that hiss, because is very noticeable and might be distracting for the clients.
Also, check the environment where you're at, make sure the electricity cables are not overlapping with the sound cables, because that could also explain the hiss on your recordings.
Good job with the high pass filter, that one is on point!
Let me know what you think
Thanks for the feedback.
Here's a wav mono - sorry about that.
One is the Rode Broadcaster and the other is Rode NT2 mi and another one an Audio Tech 2020
https://we.tl/t-V8ZKqEJyWL
Trying not to have too many electrical cables nearby.
Any mic recommendations you have within $350 range that would help out with these conditions I'm in?
Hi Ted, thank you for your new submissions.
So mic wise, I think you'd be better either with the Audio Technica or NT2.
Now, there's still some hiss on your recording, my next suggestion for you is to lower the gain used in the preamp. Maybe you're using more than needed and that's why you're having the hiss situation.
Any chance you can try that for us?
Here's the AT2020 gained down to -5db level.
Thanks for taking the time listening to these. Hopefully I'm making some progress here:
https://we.tl/t-rVQsdTZ4Mg
Glad we can help!
I think it's better now!
My next question is, are you using processing on your recording? and if so, what are you using?
So I decided to share your last recording to the person who's checking all the samples, and he told me that tho it's a great recording, he'd ask you for a revision, he's finding it too nasal.
Can you feel that too?
Looking into the processing used specifically (I'm at a radio station so there is some processing) trying to see if I can take that out of my vocals for VB records. But I only normalize to -3db and then sometimes the high pass at 80hz which does round out that nasal or bassy feel.
I've heard that critique before on my voice on the "nasal" issue.
My voice has a tendency to go in that range - Possible to have the person listen to my most recent samples I've booked on VB to check with your QC source to see if they still hear it on those?
Should I back off the mic? I feel if I do that the full body of my vocal loses a lot and there seems to be too faint of a vocal level.
Open to all suggestions.
Hey Ted!
Johnny told me about this post and I decided to join the conversation. Glad to see you and Aleesha so active in our community, helping each other out!
So, I too come from a broadcasting background, which for the most part has served me very well, but has also left me with some vices I've had to come to terms with and overcome, thanks to VoiceBunny.
Now, from what I read you're still using the Wheatstone and the AT2020 as per your last sample? Is that the setup you use at the radio station or home? Are there any other combinations of equipment you use?
What I can pick up in concurrence with the previous comments are the slight hiss/static which is minor, but definitely audible and most certainly an easy fix and, the nasal quality audible in your voice.
Firstly, the static/hiss. This is most likely self-noise from the console/mic/interface combo you employ at any time. I read before that you're recording with the gain set a 0 dB then normalizing the audio to -3 dB to comply with our standards. I have to vote for this as the culprit for the hiss, let me explain.
When recording vocals for any sort of use, the ideal setting would be one where the raw recording is captured peaking at around -12 dB to -6 dB. This allows us as self-produced talents to apply some processing like light EQ, maybe (just maybe) a slight degree of compression should the genre call for it or client explicitly requests that it be applied, but mostly, it allows us to use normalization or manual leveling of our speech, with the final step of normalization to -3 dBFS Peak Level (or Normalization with a 3 dB Headroom as some DAWs/Engineers call it.)
Selecting such a low gain setting on our interface/preamp/console also allows for the original waveform to be captured with less self-noise from our recording equipment, less ambient noise/reflections due to a decreased capsule sensitivity and for less harmonic distortion to be printed at the time of recording, because depending on the electronics and design of our gear, this is a sonic quality that will be inherent to the recording and no amount of processing could ever eliminate it. Think about an electric guitar: overdrive or distortion is just a controlled form of gain overload in the circuitry that distorts the original signal. Some preamps, mic capsules and other off-board gear can achieve the same effect on our vocals depending on the gain setting, their type of components (i.e. tubes vs. FET circuitry), etc. This is a deep and fascinating subject, but it all has to do with the amount of power flowing to and from the capture devices.
We sometimes receive complaints from talents who are rejected for compression/processing and they, in fact, don't use any plug-ins of the sort, but their equipment can produce a similar effect! Just because of what I've described before. So: the rule of thumb is to get a tame signal that can be properly printed, processed and exported unless we really know and understand how all of our gear behaves and functions.
Onto the nasal quality of a recording... well, for some people it is just their signature sound and that's O.K. too! The market is big enough for all kinds of voices to get all kinds of jobs. Otherwise, the industry would be filled with Don LaFontaines and Don Pardos or Casey Kasems. However, if you really want to reduce the nasal tones in your voice, the fix is nowhere but within you. The first thing I'd do is visit an otorhinolaryngologist, they as a specialist in the fields of ears, nose, and throat could tell you whether your sinuses are something to fix. If this has been your voice forever and you're not really willing to undergo medical treatment to change what may be a signature in your vocal quality, it's all good.
Many talents benefit from vocal coaching (the one singers use too) because it teaches one how to allocate one's voice, meaning that we can be able to use more than our nose and forehead to project sound. They specialize in getting the most out of our vocal cords: giving us technique on how to strain less, to use falsetto and to use diaphragmatic speech as well. Finally, the most simple "fix" for a nasal tone is to angle the mic differently: if you're positioning your mic capsule at or below nose level, turn it around 180 degrees and try to point it away from your nose. It might not do the trick for everyone, but it does work (especially with shotgun/end address mics.)
So, I hope this has brought useful insights to the convo! Please, keep bringing them samples on and we'll always lend a friendly ear to you.
Cheers!
- Héctor Adolfo Ituarte (VoiceBunny QC Agent)
Hi Hector
Thanks for the feedback. Sorry about the delay. Seems I've had anything but time lately to work on any voice projects as the holidays hit closer.
Yup - Was told the Rode Broadcaster would not be ideal and the SM7 was not giving me that full bodied sound that I like so sounds like AT2020 is my best bet. Yes was also going through Wheatstone. I don't know how much and or specifically what sort of processing is going through. But its certainly enough to output professionally for FM radio. I do understand thats not my ideal scenario for VB jobs as I don't have much control of my audio chain but for now its what I need to work with for projects until I get some new gear on my own.
I'll try best to get that raw recording at the -12 to -6db level w/out any compression. And I come from a music background as well so I understand what you mean by the guitar / overdrive example. Makes sense.
Will try some different techniques when recording w the mic. I know since I do a lot of radio I'm close on the mic and I know I need to pull back big time.
Is this still the best place to upload samples for the time being?
Would you say there's a preferred microphone that Voice Bunny pro's tend to use?
-T
Alright, Ted!
Thank you for getting back to us, we understand the holidays can get quite hectic so we appreciate the effort. I'm curious about the Wheatstone setup. Back in my radio days, we used the same consoles and they were awesome, mics were usually BCM series Neumanns and they were driven through a Symetrix 628 with custom programs for each talent: this was the broadcast setup in station, but the recordings department had vastly different gear, with lots of preamp choices to suit the engineer in turn, their taste and the directives set by the top brass. The problem with using such a setup for VoiceBunny (or any recording other than radio spots) is that they will usually drive the mics through some sort of preamp+compressor combo with no option for the talent to bypass any of that. If that's the case in your station, try talking to a tech about how to easily get a clean signal to work with. You can record and edit the resulting waveforms at home in any DAW and we could take it from there. While you're at it, asking the tech about what kind of settings/gear they're using could be very illuminating too!
And yes, this is still the forum for your samples, so keep them coming! As for the preferred mic used by Bunny Pros, it varies wildly: some pros with deep pockets even go for U87s or other high-end mics. I've heard of pros getting great recordings with SM7s, others (like I do) opt for a Sennheiser 416 shotgun, while there's the Røde camp opting for their gear. It really does depend on many factors: how often you travel and do you work on the road? How good is your acoustic space, does it have optimal conditions with close to zero reflections? What kind of preamp/interface are you choosing? Have you actually had the chance to try the mics and see if they suit your voice/style/diction/setup?
As you can imagine, the millions of options available will certainly present a challenge at first, but will also have something to suit your needs, it just takes time, experimenting and sometimes a wad of cash.
Please, upload samples so that we can continue working on your sound, we'll be waiting!
Cheers!