Hello there I am trying to start up recording “Let’s Plays” on YouTube commenting over my gameplay of Pc games.
Thing is I have a very young sounding voice for my age. I am a 27 year old male and have been told quite a few times I sound like im 17…
I am really loving Audacity and plan on using it to record all my mic audio but I was wondering if there is anyway to maybe deepen my voice a bit. I don’t want to deepen it to the point of making me sound like a different person I just want it to me easy to listen to.
I have tried messing with EQ settings adding some bass but it seems I have no natural bass in my voice to start with lol…
I made a quick test recording ONLY adding Noise removal filter in audacity and not adding EQ or Compression, do you think its possible to make my audio a little deeper and more pleasant sounding? If so what ranges do you think I should adjust in the EQ and by how much?
BTW I’m using a Blue Snowball about 1 and maybe a 1/2 feet away from my mouth to the side of me a bit but facing me. I don’t have a legit pop filter atm just one I rigged together for the time being.
I did this Effect > Equalization curve a while back to see if I could do it. I thought I lost it. Attached. Copy the values from the picture. You can move the dots around more left to get lower pitched bass and more right to get higher. Decrease the up and down size of the curve to lessen it’s effect.
I can almost guarantee it’s going to sound like a 17 year-old with an equalization curve, but it’s worth a shot. We can’t make tones that didn’t start out there in the first place.
Thank you for not asking about Effect > Change Pitch. That doesn’t work on voices.
By the way, if you have a headset noise-canceling microphone, that could be a good deal of your problem. The first thing those things do is sheer off the low tones. Broadcast Announcer low, rumbly tones are impossible to control in a communications microphone.
I used recorded the audio clean with nothing and then used Audacities noise reduction.
Is my voice if I added a slight EQ maybe listenable or is it irritating lol… I have plans of putting some real effort into this so im hoping its atleast not irritating to listen to.
Try getting a little closer to the mic, and also you could try using the Change Pitch effect and set the percentage to around -6 or -7 %. Don’t go much more than that or it will sound weird. There are also “acting skills” that can help - Before you start recording, relax, and try to feel your voice coming from your chest rather than from your head. A slight boost at around 100 Hz can help to bring out the resonance, particularly after the other step. Don’t overdo any of this or you’ll sound like a mutant
You may note that most of the straight-line portion of the curve to the right is below 0. That’s to reduce the volume of all the rest of the voice tones. Bass notes take up a lot of room. Adding bass notes isn’t “free.”
Yes, if you’re using a directional entertainment microphone like a Shure SM58, you can get closer for the “proximity effect” bass boost being careful not to pop your P sounds. That’s the artificial bass boost that your club gets when the guitarist on stage gets too close.
That’s a juggle with this microphone because it intentionally has a low tone suppression to get rid of this effect. And, of course, if you move around, the effect will come and go.
I am using a Blue Snowball atm I really like it… ( A friend from online I’ve never met in person actually gave it to me kudos to him for that) Don’t have a proper Pop filter atm tho… Kind of uhmm using a makeshift pany hoe pop filter lol… Wasn’t sure if I wanted to admit that.
I like ours. Which settings are you using? The directional setting will give you the proximity effect.
Are you using the stand that comes with it? Try this. Hold the stand so it’s pointing up and do a voice test starting with the microphone on the table and then, as you talk, raise it so it’s at least two feet above the table. Or get someone to help you. Chances are really good the best vocal range is not going to be with the microphone 8 inches off the desk.
You might also try laying a blanket or two on the desk under the mic (ignore everything else in this picture).
You can play all sorts of games with voices. Bart Simpson’s voice comes from a 57 year old woman. One of our graphic artists had a mellow announcing voice that made us attend SRO lectures multiple times. I never figured out how he did it and then he changed companies. Shucks.
Lauren Bacall’s voice was lower than Humphrey Bogart. “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve?”
Wasn’t sure if I wanted to admit that.
Had trouble finding a pop filter in your size? All you had to do was reach behind the front seat of the convertible. There has to be at least one back there, right?
In addition to the chest/head thing: Sit on a stool rather than a chair or try one standing. That will open up your diaphragm and unclench your throat and lungs. Johnny Olson used to announce all the Price Is Right shows and rehearsals standing up.
In reading the original question, Effect > Change Pitch is going to change the crisp. That’s it’s major failing for voices. Give it a shot anyway, just to see what it does, but people trying to lower their voices notice right away that their voice gets a blanket over it.
It will if you go more than a few percent. If the pitch is lowered too much the voice will turn into a mud-monster (a monster made of mud). If the pitch is raised too much it will sound like a chipmunk. Up to about 7% either way should still sound OK.
Another note about live recording, anything you do in post production will have to be done forever. No such thing as getting to the end of recording the show and go home. You have to always remember to apply the filters corrections and check to make sure the show sounds OK. Every. Show.
Newbies posting on the forum generate huge lists of filters and effects, cutting and pasting, volume management and fading and think they’re going to create a podcast like this every night. Maybe not.
There was one poster who was actually going pretty well but after several months is down to short “Flash” podcasts with quick updates. I suspect eventually they’ll be down to Twitter feeds like everybody else.
I could upload one without noise reduction but its horrible… I built my gaming Pc for performance over noise level so there is a lot of background noise if I don’t use noise reduction. I’m not looking for studio quality sound just something that when people are watching my youtube videos think hmm this guys audio sounds good and is enjoyable to listen to.
I’m not looking for studio quality sound just something that when people are watching my youtube videos think hmm this guys audio sounds good and is enjoyable to listen to.
I’m not after studio quality sound, but I want it to sound like it was recorded in a studio. Only one poster so far has got away with that and he was only interested in note-taking and nobody but him was ever going to hear it.
Studio Quality sound is designed to be pleasant to listen to. That’s its whole reason for being. No dogs, no echoes, no hiss, no background noises, no fans or pumps and no honking, tinkling cell-phone sound. No competition. Just the performer in a natural quality as if they were standing there talking to you in a quiet room.
If you’re happy with your work, then we’re done. This is your show. But if you feel like it, yes post some completely uncorrected voice. Post enough WAV so we can get a good chunk of clean background noise (several seconds) and then actual performance.
I shot a sound performance a while ago and one of the instructions from the client was just before the show, everybody absolutely stop what they’re doing for ten seconds and record Room Tone. I was recording under studio conditions and they didn’t need that, but we did it anyway and I thought it was a swell idea.
