Overprocessed Submission
Hello,
I submitted a demo earlier this week. First time, I forgot normalize. The most recent time I was rejected because I sounded too processed. I use Audacity (for now) and I had every effect flat lined. I wonder how it sounds processed.
The audio is at www.italkthelines.com/demos/
My voice box is a standard kitchen cabinet wrapped with polyfoam inside and out. Stuffed it with pillows and blankets. Put some acoustic baffles and then wrapped it in moving blankets.
There are two other demos, that are processed in a studio at the link.
I am trying to figure out how to unprocess an unprocessed demo more.
Thank you.
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Hi Kurt, thanks for reaching out! I just listened to your demo.
What I could hear is:
1) There is boominess in your recording, which is an undesired boost in the low frequencies that makes your voice sound muddy and inarticulate. The reason for that could be the ‘voice box’ you have and all of the pillows and blankets you have around it. It would be nice if you send us some photos of your recording space so we can have a better understating.
2) There are some plosives in the recording. Are you using a pop filter?
3) There is background noise impacting the recording. It may be due to a fan, some electrical device, etc. Please make sure to turn off any device that produces sound.
I hope to hear from you soon and see your recording space.
Kind regards,
Steven Cifuentes.
Questions 1 & 2
My mic is an ADK 3 Zigma Hybrid 47L, https://adkmic.com/collections/3-zigma-hybrid-mic-singles-matched-pairs/products/clol-47-tl-microphone-1. And by the photos, I do use a pop filter.
Question 3: The requirement is not using any effects or mods. With noise reduction that low end is gone. Plosives and esses are gone with my settings as well.
I loathe Audacity. Pro Tools First hasn't worked for months, so that is what I have fallen back on. I am experimenting with Cakewalk and Reaper DAWs. Strongly leaning towards Reaper for ease of operation. Cakewalk is free, but it is a lot to take in.
I find it weird that I had a home audio assessment two months ago and the only thing that changed was the DAW. They said the same thing you did, but they sent me the Pro Tools adjustments to remove all of those issues.
I had all of the Audacity settings flattened out per the instruction for the audio and normalization was set to Bunny Studio standard.
Which raised the question, how do I unprocess an unprocessed audio? I don't get it.
I appreciate the assist.
In attempt to bump this to the top. I have submitted the info that has been asked for, but have not received a response.
I have thrown Audacity out the door. It has its purpose but not for this. I have made the move to Reaper. I am 100% happier with it and considerably better than Pro Tools.
So. What do I need to know based on the information that I have given?
Hi again Kurt, sorry for the delay!
What I can see is that all of the pillows, blankets, and foams are absorbing the high frequencies, but the mids and lows would be bouncing around the box (because the box is made of wood, which is a hard material) , generating some cancelations and unwanted side- effects (like making it sound boomy) It will be nice to listen to a recording with the same mic but outside of the ‘voice box’, so we can compare and listen to the side effects of it.
On the other hand, the acoustic treatment is usually used behind the singer/narrator (facing the mic as you can see in the photo). This is due to fact that the mics used to record vocals tend to have a cardioid pattern (like yours) which means that they only capture the sound coming from the front and sides, not the back of the mic, so having an acoustic treatment in that place helps a lot too. You can try using some absorption behind you instead of enclosing the mic in that ‘vocal box’
For now, I’ll be waiting for a recording outside the box to compare!
Regards, Steven.
Steven,
To give you an idea of what I am working with. I have a large bank of windows behind my booth. Outside there is a common green area where lawnmowers run every other day. Behind that is a busy street with constant car noise. It is a cavern as you can see by the photos.
Two months ago, I paid for a home assessment by a sound engineer who then designed presets for that booth that eliminated the problems you mentioned. This is the reason the booth is designed the way it is.
The photos exhibit just exactly what I am working with in regards to the cave of space that I work in daily in relation to the booth I created.
I set up another demo with my presets inside the booth. It may sound a little harsh because of Audacity.
Hi Kurt,
Definitely, demo 2 sounds better because the voice is more clear and the EQ helped to clean the muddiness. Plosives have gone too. The only issue that still remains and is very prominent is the background noise. It sounds like a computer or a fan (not a street noise). What do you think could be causing that noise?
Wow. I mean my computer is 4 feet away from the booth.
I am going to have to design something to go around it to cut that out. Might take a couple of days to fabricate something.
That is the only other thing that could be doing that.
Steven,
I put a panel with acoustic foam in front of the culprit and re-recorded. It is Demo 3 at www.italkthelines.com/demos.
If this doesn't work, I am completely out of ideas. Again, this is on Audicty.
Hi Kurt, there's no demo 3 at the link you shared, please revise :)
Huh. Weird.
www.https://italkthelines.com/demos/
It is there.
backwards. sorry
www.italkthelines.com/demos
Hi Kurt, sample 3 is the best of all samples, you have improved the quality and the background noise has gone! There is still a little bit of that 'boxy' sound but taking into account the limitations of your recording space, I think the quality is good!
Perfection! Glad we were able to isolate the concern and get it addressed.
I am going to re-record this and submit tomorrow.
I appreciate the help Steven.
Regards.