Anyone have any suggestions for how using audacity I can take out some of the natural crack/horse sound of the voice?
Fiddled with normalization, and sound and pitch but not really getting what i’m looking for. I don’t want to change the voice, just take out the cracks in it. almost like a micro auto tune to even things out.
You are listening to what happens when you ignore all the rules of shooting a voice. The announcer is too far from the microphone, it’s in a boomy echo-filled room, the honky, bubbly sound compression is on the moon too high, and all those problems make the theme music artifacts compete with the voice making it hard to understand.
A common mistake in beginner audio production is use MP3 for everything because “everybody knows that’s how it’s done.” It’s not. MP3 and its cousins M4A, AAC, etc, are one-shot delivery formats for your iPod, not a step in the middle of audio production.
Shoot everything to WAV, do your editing, effects and filters and then at the end, Export an MP3 for on-line uploading. A lot of that honky, bubbling will vanish making the show a lot easier to understand.
Then get closer to the microphone. This is a serious problem if it’s a video podcast and the microphone is on top of the camera. Some cameras allow the use of external microphones and that helps a lot.
Those two may get close enough so you don’t have to worry about echoes in the room, but recording in a carpeted bedroom instead of the kitchen can also go a long way.
I am the person in the video gospel linked. I’m here to clarify a few things because gospel here has gotten a few things wrong. Last week, he came to me with ideas on how to “fix” my voice. I told him it wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t for the reasons listed here. Far from it, actually. You see, I am deaf. I have hearing aids and I’ve had speech therapy when I was younger. This unfortunately changed my voice and unfortunately there is nothing anyone can do about it. I still produce and edit videos on the Internet despite that.
I use a condensor microphone, pop filter and other tools at my disposal to do the best work I can regarding audio. I never asked for gospel to help me with any editing. He came here on his own after I repeatedly told him that I do not wish his help. There’s simply nothing that can be done about it. I found out about this thread via my site’s trackback and that’s why I am here. To clear things up a bit.
I actually sit myself quite close to the mic and I edit the sound accordingly in Sony Vegas. I do the best I can do given the circumstances and it works well. This guy’s help wasn’t warranted and it is just him who is annoyed as others can hear me and understand me just fine.
Thanks for the clarification Cferra.
A close friend of mine is a speech therapist so I am well aware of the challenges that you have overcome and I’d like to reassure you that your words in the video come over perfectly clearly. Having said that, I think that Koz raised some valid points regarding the sound quality in the video and I think that we may be able to help you to improve the sound quality should you wish to go down this route. We can probably not do much about the “bubbly metallic” artefacts that Koz mentioned as that is most likely just a side effect of the video compression that is necessary for internet video.
Yes, I have a feeling Blip distorts the voice a bit. Other people I know who produce videos and use blip to embed have also encountered similar problems. They can sound different on Skype than in a regular video for example. If you wish, you can provide tips. I’m not against advice. But, like I said, there are some things I cannot change. I do like using audacity and it’s fun to use. There are some things in the program I haven’t gotten the hang of like making a decent echoing voice.
As it is, here’s what I do when I go to record voiceover:
I used to use a headset mic and that was honestly a lot worse. It sounded like I was in a cave or something. I also tend to drink water in between takes and I make sure the door is shut as well.
I also render the file as a .mov.
I did try to edit the voice on my own using some tactics. There wasn’t any change. Anyway, any other help is appreciated. I just didn’t appreciate someone going a bit too far after telling him “no” many times.
I don’t know what you mean by “reasonably close” but you could perhaps try being even closer. As long as the recording does not start to distort and as long as you are using a pop shield, getting closer will help to reduce “room sound” and echo.
Soft furnishings and sound absorbent materials in the room will also help to kill unwanted reverberation (room echo).
Microphones are often sensitive to sounds from their reverse side, so if possible, put something sound absorbing on the far side of the microphone. There are devices that are specially made for this (but they are not cheap):
By reasonably close I meant that my head isn’t far from the pop filter. Thanks for the tip, though. I’ll see if I can find something like that on Amazon. Just give me the name. =)
It’s called a “Portable Vocal Booth”.
A couple of dense cushions, winter coats or a folded rug behind the mic would be a lot cheaper
Heavy curtains, sofas, beds and such like in the room will all help to avoid the “bathroom” type sound.
Just saw the price. Yikes. I’ll have to confer with other voice producers to see what they use. If anything. I know several use their on camera microphone for voiceovers. Thanks, though. I’ll see what I can do next recording session.
