Rejected Audition Feedback
Hi! I auditioned and did not make the cut, but would love to get some feedback here to hopefully perfect my studio and VO skills. Thanks!
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Hi! I auditioned and did not make the cut, but would love to get some feedback here to hopefully perfect my studio and VO skills. Thanks!
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Hi, Josh!
Thank you very much for your interest in improving your quality and for joining this space, we appreciate it!
Your sample presents some processing and evidence of room echo, plosives (and some 'huffing' noise) present in the low end. Would you be kind enough to upload a completely raw sample in the same format so that we can start working on a strategy to help you solve whatever audio issues your recording setup/environment might have right now?
It would also be very helpful if you could provide a thorough description of your gear, DAW, plugins of choice (used to produce the rejected work) and pictures of your recording space, so that we can figure out how to better mitigate the room echo currently affecting your recordings.
Hope to hear from you soon, mate!
– Héctor Adolfo Ituarte (Bunny Studio QC Agent)
Hi! I appreciate your feedback very much!
Raw sample with no processing at all is uploaded here.
Photos of my recording space can be found here.
Gear used:
- EV RE320
- Cloud Lifter CL-1
- Mackie ProFX 8
-Adobe Audition
For the original rejected recording, I did not yet have the Cloud Lifter. I had to basically max out the gain on the mixer to get a solid level on the recording, which I believe introduced some of that noise. The Cloud Lifter has done it's job and boosted the mic signal nicely, allowing me to back down about 50% on the gain.
The pop filter and minimal wall treatment are also additions since the original recording. I'm working on more treatment for the room, as well as a boom arm and shock mount for the mic. I also plan to put down a rug. Unfortunately, this is the only space I have available for recordings. I'm also a DJ, so this is my equipment storage room as well. Any tips on isolation between my back and the equipment would be very helpful.
To boost the sound on the original recording, I normalized the file and ran the dynamics processor preset "Loudness Maximizer" on the file. I also applied a noise gate.
I'm excited to hear your feedback on how I can move towards creating the most professional-sounding recordings possible! Thank you!
-Josh
Hey, Josh!
Well, this is all super illuminating, thank you for such a detailed account!
The main problem to address taking from this raw sample is that of your acoustic treatment. First-order reverberations (fast, slapback kinda echoes) are very present in your recording and they stem from the lack of proper acoustic materials to take care of that energy bouncing quickly back and forth from the hard surfaces surrounding your mic. While the RE320 is a killer mic for VO and one that has a high level of background noise rejection, it's still able to pick up those sound waves that translate into audible echo. The wisest thing to do would be to invest in as much acoustic treatment as possible and to try and 'reshape' your room. I'd advise you to treat the walls and keep those bass traps, then to position the mic in that same corner. Don't forget to apply treatment to the top of your room too and to listen for frequency imbalances that may result from the height selection to position such treatment, as a very tight ceiling can cause a boxy sound usually caused by very tight clearances.
I'd recommend trying to improve your sound through home materials like heavy blankets, rugs, or anything that you can hang off the walls (leaving some space between them) and then give professional sound-proofing materials a chance. A cheap alternative that works better than prefab absorption panels is to buy a couple of memory foam mattress pads of at least 3 inches in thickness. They are super easy to cut, shape, and position around the mics sensitivity lobes and around your whisper room, and usually render better results than the value options for foams that one can buy on Amazon and such marketplaces.
In any case, remember that towels, blankets, heavy clothes, curtains, towels, and many materials available in the average home can yield great results when properly positioned around your recording space, so spending money can be avoided at first.
As for processing, I'd like to hold off on options but will make suggestions once we can tame them reverberations and get you sounding as dry as possible.
One final note is that I'm able to hear some electric whine in your recording. This may come from the pres on your Mackie, most likely. However, it is possible to eliminate it through processing, so I'll also hold back on recommending you to purchase some other VO-specific piece of gear such as a more suitable interface for the time being.
I'll be on the lookout for your progress with the acoustic treatment and always willing to lend a hand if needed, so don't be a stranger =)
Cheers!
Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond, especially in such great detail. I'll continue to work on the room and come back with an update. Thanks again!
Hi there! I just submitted my request for reconsideration, but wasn't sure if you needed to hear another piece of audio here to allow me to be reconsidered. Let me know!
Hi Josh,
Sending our team another audio before submitting your reconsideration is a good practice, but is not absolutely necessary.
Remember that reconsideration could take up to 30days after your request, and the system will issue a new application project for you.
We wish you all the best with this new application, we'd love to see you as part of our team :D
Thanks Johnathan!
My latest unedited test audio is here!
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks very much!
Hi, Josh!
Good to hear from you again, thanks for the sample! I gotta say, however, this audio has a sound signature consistent with compression (or other dynamics processing) and some audible hiss, in addition to room echo.
Can you walk me through any updates in your setup/post-processing chain?
Cheers!
Hi sir! Thanks again for the continued feedback.
I am actually back in the professional production studio at the iHeart Media branch I work at. The room is fully treated from top to bottom.
There is a voice processor and a compeller in the chain. I did not realize that the gain levels were so hot on both processing units, so maybe taking those down a bit would help with the hiss.
I did not apply any other post-processing through Audition.
Here is a photo of the current processor settings: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qzDACyPzysho7Kv79
I did not set these up, but am happy to hear any feedback on which settings to adjust to optimize audio quality.
As far as the room echo, I'm not sure what the fix would be. All four walls, as well as the ceiling are treated with absorption panels.
Hey, Josh!
First things first, massive kudos for having access to such a setup! That's amazing! I gotta say though, that one of Bunny's requirements is that Pros record in their own studio (as basic as it may be) for two main reasons: to maintain the quality constant (and not have something of better quality from recording in 'place a' as opposed to 'place b'); and the other, is somewhat related: we wouldn't want anyone to be 'locked out' of their production setup, as it happened earlier this year when many pros were unable to use or access their studios/booths and had to simply take a leave from recording while they got a comparable setup together.
Nowadays, a good sound, bare-bones setup can be attained for less than $500 and will serve you well for many years to come.
Now a third consideration is that while that studio is insulated and treated, some resonance and reverb is still present. This may be due to the geometry of said space, the mic placement, or what have you. If you'd kindly share some pics I'd be happy to try and come with an educated answer on why reverberations are still making it into your recordings.
Apart from geometry and/or mic placement, those pieces of gear may also be playing a part in the issues we're trying to fix. And here comes a difficulty: if you can't find a way to bypass them or eliminate them from the vocal chain, they will always play a part in the coloration, saturation, and overall sound signature that you can get from the setup. Is it good? It's great! But it's not up to our spec because we tend to be a bit more picky about room echo and processing, due to our client's requirements. Most projects need super dry, simple, clean as possible audio. Coming from a radio/TV background myself, I know that most of the setups used are great gear-wise, but delivering audio in a 'book reading' quality is not high on the engineers' concerns when setting up booths and such since no one really cares of a bit of echo in spots or short recordings, but for Bunny, it can be and is a determining factor with many of our clients, who require a very 'neutral' sound signature from our audios so that they can manipulate them to their hearts' content.
It seems that the link is broken or expired, but if possible, I will surely try to advise you on how to set up that gear or your own in the most favorable way =)
Cheers!
Hey there! I want to start off by saying thank you for always having such thorough and positive feedback. You guys demand a high level of quality of your VO artists, and you're so willing to help with advice and direction to get us closer to the level of quality you're looking for. That is very much appreciated and does not go unnoticed.
I completely understand where you're coming from about using the studio at the station, and it makes perfect sense as to why you'd like for your VO artists to use their home studio to maintain the consistency that you're looking for. Due to some personal matters, I fell away from continuing to perfect my home studio build, but I'm finally able to continue that project. As I complete more of that, I will definitely send another sample audio your way so you can let me know your thoughts!
I also get where you're coming from about having the cleanest and most dry audio possible for your clients. Radio studios are set up for a different sound signature both in the on-air and production studios. I had considered a vocal processor for my home setup, but would you advise against that? I am used to voicing and fully producing spots for clients at the station as well as for my VO side gigs, but are Bunny clients usually looking for just straight-up dry reads to then have someone else produce? That's totally understandable if so, just curious!
Thanks again for the continued advice and information.