Submitting sample for feedback and account reactivation...
I am new to Bunny Studio so forgive me; I'm just getting the hang of this. I was so happy to be accepted as a pro that I immediately started recording and loading samples and obviously moved too fast as I also immediately ended up with a deactivated account. Clearly I will have to move more slowly and get feedback on one sample at a time. To that end, could Amal or somebody with authority take a listen to this and let me know if it makes the cut and if not, why not?
https://soundcloud.com/judy-mcmillan-1/three-happy-wives-senior-n-american-english
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Hi Judy,
Thank you for reaching out and taking advantage of this space.
I just shared your file with one of our QC agents and here's his feedback:
It sounds over-processed, there are some editing issues at the beginning of the first word, also it sounds like she is using a noise gate that is affecting the flow of the read
Do you think you can describe your editing process for me? Maybe that could help spot the issues and work on them so your samples don't get rejected again.
Thank you! OK, so it seems when I've submitted absolutely unedited samples I get feedback about room noise or hiss and/or clicks and mouth noises, which I don't understand since I'm trained in voice and diction and have never once been told, when recording in other people's studios, that mouth noise is an issue, so I wonder if the clicks are coming from some other source.
So for this sample I did use processing, and it seems the key is finding the sweet spot regarding the minimal processing needed to get it just right. I use WavePad and here was my editing process for this sample:
1. Normalize to -3db.
2. Grab room noise sample.
3. Select entire file and use spectral subtraction based on noise sample.
4.Multiband noise reduction for hum/hiss at 25 db.
5. Automatic click and pop filter.
I know this is over processing, but I don't know what part I can leave out. If I provide a completely raw unedited sample, can somebody tell me where I'm going overboard?
I did just rearrange my closet this morning to put my back to the majority of clothes and stuff piled up to keep sound out. I added another blanket to one wall. Maybe that will cut down on the room noise?
Hi Judy,
Thank you for your kind reply.
It seems we could benefit from a RAW recording to see what we have to begin with, and from that point start working on the processing of your audio.
If you think this is possible, please send us a RAW sample recorded on that new treated space and let's start working from there.
Thank you so much, Johnatan! Here is a normalized but otherwise raw file, recorded in what seems to me to be a very very quiet closet. Any help you can offer is deeply appreciated.
https://soundcloud.com/judy-mcmillan-1/raw-normalised-file-rufus-meets-the-world
Hi Judy, thank you very much for this new recording.
We find a few issues with it that we should tackle.
There is significant background noise on your recording. Is there a chance you can send us pictures of your recording space, your equipment, and let us know where does the audio peak where you're recording?
We want to figure out where is that noise coming from so we can try our best to remove it from the recording.
Let me know
Hi again Johnatan,
I'm attaching photos of my space, which is a walk in closet. As you can see, there is carpet on the floor, three walls have blankets thumbtacked to them, two walls have clothes on hangars, and my recording set up is an AKG P220 mic, Scarlett solo preamp, and MacBook Pro computer. I'm not near any kind of AC or vent or window with traffic going by. I almost wonder if it's the equipment itself that is making the noise.
Thank you, again, for any feedback.
Judy
Hi Judy,
Thank you for those pictures.
Before talking about the noise, let me point out that your very desk is causing your mic to pick up early reflections of your voice, it's like your voice is bouncing right off those flat surfaces and being captured by your mic, is there any chance you could use another table, or perhaps cover those wood surfaces with a blanket or a towel?
About the noise, can you let us know how much gain are you applying on the interface, and where is it peaking when recording?
There is a chance it has to do with the gain on the interface.
I hope we're onto something Johnatan! I got really excited about moving that desk out of the closet and moving a little bamboo end table in. As you will see from the attached photo, I put a towel over the bamboo and brought a soft bench in instead of a chair. Fingers crossed that makes a difference!
I'm going to attach a screen shot of the WavePad screen so you can see where the peak is. Looks like around -12 to me.
My gain is adjusted to 3 o'clock. Wavepad seems to like it about there; I don't get messages that I'm too loud or too soft and it stays in the green range.
I'm also attaching links so you can hear the raw sound both with and without normalization with the new set up.
Thank you for your help! You are a Godsend!
Hi Judy,
Thank you for these changes and pictures.
It seems like we might still have to work on those acoustics, I am curious whether we can still work with it once we work on some mouth noises and hiss noise.
If it's ok with you, let me give you two articles that might help you with these two issues:
Please, give them a read, try to implement some of those suggestions, and let me know if this helps us.
Let me know if there's something I can help you with
Yikes. I thought the situation was improved after getting rid of the desk; it seems like my noise floor is better. That said, I do still hear some background stuff that definitely needs to go away.
Thanks for sending the articles, and I'm really thinking, given the fact that there's nothing in that closet that could interfere electronically except the mic, the pre-amp, and the computer, the hiss is coming from one or more of them. There's a computer router in the room outside of the closet, but there's a door and blankets between it and my setup. I'm going to experiment with trying to move the computer out, if possible, and turning the gain down more.
As far as any mouth noise is concerned, honestly, I don't know what to do at this point except get some apple juice and sip on it. I'm also going to experiment with keeping my delivery maybe sideways to the mic or further away and seeing how that goes.
Are you willing to listen to and give feedback on any more test tracks? Thank you so much for all you've done to help so far.
Of course, Judy.
I'll be more than happy to listen again and give you feedback.
Take as long as you need, do some experiments, and come back when you feel comfortable with your new recording, I'll be waiting for you.
Thank you very much for all the effort you're putting into this process, you are a great example for other Pros! We truly appreciate your effort and willingness to improve.
Thanks, Johnatan. I will see if I can do a few more test tracks later today and I appreciate you.
As per our email, Johnatan, here is a new sample. Honestly, I think this is as good as I'm going to get. https://soundcloud.com/judy-mcmillan-1/judy-mcmillan_jody
Hi Judy,
Thank you for this new submission. It is sounding very good, however, there are some artifacts on your audio as a result of using plugins on post-production, one clear example is at 0:02 after saying "sleep" you'll notice that "p" has some additional noises to it.
We suggest you dial back on the processes you're using so this doesn't have again.
Let us know what you think
I think that's encouraging!
To do this recording, I adjusted my Scarlett Solo gain to slightly different settings. When speaking I kept farther back from the mic and spoke to the side rather than the front of it, speaking louder to get the right level rather than relying on the mic, to reduce mouth noise. After normalizing to -3, I grabbed a sample of room sound, and cleaned up the whole recording based on the it. I then did some click and pop removal.
I'm thinking maybe I overdid the click and pop removal. Thinking I should rerecord using the same drill, but only remove sections of click/pop that are obviously needing to be removed.
Does that sound like a reasonable plan?
Absolutely! Please, Judy, go ahead and try that approach again, it seems we're almost there!
Sorry for the delay in getting this to you, Johnatan. I've got a new sample that I just did using the strategy above. Let's see how this one works, and thank you:
https://soundcloud.com/judy-mcmillan-1/judy-mcmillan-nettie
Hi Judy,
Thank you very much for this new message, unfortunately, upon clicking on that link, it says that the sample has been removed.
Could you please make sure to send us the correct link, and that the audio is still up?
Try it now, Johnatan. It wasn't removed; it was private. Don't know why it didn't work, but I just made it public. Let's see if it works for you, now. https://soundcloud.com/judy-mcmillan-1/judy-mcmillan-nettie
Hi Judy,
Thank you for doing that so quickly.
It seems like we are still a bit far from our desired result. There are still some issues with your recording, mainly due to the use of plugins in post-production, it is affecting negatively your audio, leaving artifacts, creating weird noises, and making your audio sound a bit boxy, all of these reasons that our team could use to reject your work.
I am truly sorry to say this as I've seen your progress and dedication in the last couple of weeks. I really believed we could change it for the best.
How do you feel about this, would you like to keep trying to make it right? I know you already tried to leave it as it is, how'd you like to move forward here?
I'm at a loss, Johnatan. I appreciate your and your team's efforts. It doesn't look like I'm getting where I need to be. The only thing I can think of is to try to turn the gain down even more and do no processing other than normalizing and see what happens. Do you want to try that, and if it doesn't work we can call it quits?
Johnatan, this track was done totally with no plug ins, and I recorded with only the gain necessary to get no error messages on my program (ie not too loud not too soft). There's no processing except normalizing. If this one doesn't do it, I guess I'll have to give up. Let me know.
https://soundcloud.com/you/mastering/tracks/881307997?ref=t429
Hi Judy, we'll gladly evaluate this sample, however seems like it is marked as private as well, can you please set it to public for us?
So odd! It was marked public. Try this: https://soundcloud.com/judy-mcmillan-1/judy-mcmillan-nettie-2a
Hi Judy, it seems like we won't be able to make it, that RAW file has a bit of hiss noise, acoustics issues and some mouth clicks as well.
I am truly sorry that we weren't able to make it work, it seems like we've already achieved the best we could with these audios.
Let me know what you think
Seems like it's either over processed or under processed. I appreciate your time and energy in trying to help. Let's just remove my profile, though, since I won't be working with you.