Audacity Forum

I probably didn't say so, but when you post a sample, it's best if it's a Clean sample. No effects or filters. Straight voice.

When you post a processed sample we have no idea what you really sound like and further, we can't apply filters without bumping into the ones you already applied -- and we can't take yours out.

We did start to get a feel for the voice from the first sample. Can you read a sentence from an actual script?

Most announcers/presenters have a pro voice and an everyday voice. I've been surprised many times by listening to a broadcast voice and not knowing who it was.

You know Bart Simpson's a girl?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004813/

Koz

kozikowski wrote:... When you post a processed sample we have no idea what you really sound like and further, we can't apply filters without bumping into the ones you already applied -- and we can't take yours out.

Can you read a sentence from an actual script?
Koz

I will try, but keep in mind that, without even using the remove noise filter, you will here a bit of background hissing noise. So I am not sure if this will help you either. However, lets try it.

I’ve lowered the pitch as far as I dare, by -8%, (I previously suggested -3% above).
Then boosted 40-400Hz range by 3-6dB, and boosted 4000-10000Hz by 3-6db in an attempt to preserve sibilance after the extreme downshift in pitch. Before-After mp3 attached
[Yes I’ve used a bit too much noise reduction ].

So that's what happens when you push the pitch down. It's generally accepted you can only do that just so much before the performance starts sounding weird.

I still think you can do with what you have with voice coaching. In both samples, you sound exactly like you're reading from a script with flat inflection and no interpretation. OK, there's only so much you can do with "One, Two, Three," but still. Is there someone whose announcing you like? We had an animator who, during lunch hours, played to SRO audiences in a conference room with his travel slides. Travel slides that you would normally pay to not see? He moved to another company before I could record his voice, but I now realize I should have. I would play it multiple times and see how he could talk for 50 minutes straight and nobody got tired of listening.

Do that with someone you like and compare it to your own voice. Keep changing yours and comparing.

You may find that a seemingly comical emphasis and throat/vocal pitch shift comes off far better than trying to "talk" the script.

You could do vocal training, but it's not going to be fast. Even with crash courses, it can take a week or so to get rid of your natural swing and adopt a professional presentation. Oddly, I think you could do it as either man or woman. I have a naturally deep voice, but I played a convincing woman's part in a radio presentation once just by adapting the swing and meter of a 1950's romantic comedy.

Koz

best presentation is *fast* -- faster than the usual slooow boring one
without all the er umms anduhs etc

heard that at a conference once
and woke right up
listened to the whole presentation intently
all the others were way too slow
and just couldnt speak well at all
had nothing to do with the voice

if the voice does not irritate me (like the blond on csi miami)
then i can ignore it and concentrate on the material

<<<best presentation is *fast* -- faster than the usual slooow boring one
without all the er umms anduhs etc>>>

Yes, speed is important. Some of that conference effect is from speakers who work in a dark cave every day suddenly being called on to address 500 people. Lots of "umms" and getting lost. Public speaking is a learn-able talent.

We also have Subject Matter Experts that know the work so well that they blast through it and leave the audience in the dust. Can't do that, either. We had one software engineer who came down from light speed long enough to ask the audience a question. He got flustered when all he got was Deer In The Headlights looks from 80 people.

But back to the question. Do you have any books on tape? They're usually presented by pro readers pleasant to hear. Write down a sentence or two and present it into a microphone and pay attention to the differences beyond pitch and background noise. See: Jimmy Cagney (anything) and Claude Rains (Casablanca). Neither of them would last five minutes as a presenter just based on pitch.

Koz

true
there is fast
and there is too fast
but
most speakers are way too slow
they waitfor you read the slides
at least twice before they start
read the blinkin slides to you - s l o w l y
[and no i dont steal sheep (aside for typographers)] ]
then pause to make sure you heard them
and copied the slides down verbatim
before they finally hit the advance button

<<<and there is too fast>>>

Try to stick with us. The poster doesn't appear to have a speed problem.

Koz

Trebor wrote:I’ve lowered the pitch as far as I dare, by -8%, (I previously suggested -3% above).
Then boosted 40-400Hz range by 3-6dB, and boosted 4000-10000Hz by 3-6db in an attempt to preserve sibilance after the extreme downshift in pitch. Before-After mp3 attached
[Yes I’ve used a bit too much noise reduction ].

On first attempt I opted for a very similar pitch change -1.5 semitones (-8.3%), but pitch changing inevitably sounds false and not like the speakers real voice, so I had another go using Equalization as the only effect (plus noise reduction and amplification)

The original recording was at quite low level and had quite a bit of low frequency noise and DC offset throughout, so benefits from Normalizing, then using a high-pass filter before anything else. In this case I rolled off at 80 Hz. This also helps the noise reduction to be more effective with less artefacts.

Noise reduction was the next step.

Next came equalisation to gently raise low frequencies (to pull out a bit more chest resonance), and subdue some of the nasal tones and sibilance.
Here's the curve: Here's the processed file: The recording would benefit greatly from using a better microphone (close up) and better sound card, both for producing less noise, and picking up the lower (more manly) tones in the voice.

kozikowski wrote:<<<and there is too fast>>>

Try to stick with us. The poster doesn't appear to have a speed problem.

The recording could stand having the tempo increased by 10%.

If all else fails there are a (very) few people on Freesound.org with clear voices who will post high quality recordings of submitted scripts for free.
{a couple of minutes maximum: not "War and Peace"].