Audacity Forum

Hi,

I tried searching all over the web trying to find a way to take two files and make one sound like or close to the other.

I asked the actor to do some ADR (he needed to be louder and more scared) and he couldn't meet so he just emailed clips he did himself. The problem is though it is him - the scream and other dialogue just don't sound like the rest of the audio. I am trying to help my editor who doesn't have experience with this (I know sound mixing is a different speciality - but I am on a budget).

I have Sony sound forge and just downloaded audacity. I also have sony vegas. In my searches on the internet FCP X has a cool function where you can take two audio files side by side and make one mimic the other one.

I know it is my own doing - rookie mistakes, but hoping someone might be able to chime in. Just trying to get the clips to sound like it could be him - right now it doesn't sound like him when compared to the other dialogue.

Many thanks.

So you should be looking to rent a Final Cut session if we can't do anything for you.

The first reaction is no. We have no good tools to change the character of a human voice (and few other people do, either). But since the same talent did both, there's a chance.

You should post 30 seconds or so of each voice...somewhere we can get it. I suspect we'll need at least that much to catch all the subtleties. You can't do that as a posting on the forum. The best we can do is two or three seconds. Don't bother with MP3. We need as close as possible to the original WAVes. You did do everything in WAV, right? Not MP3?

You should know that unless the talent shot it in his studio, you're also going to get his room tones, rumble, dogs barking and everything else in that doesn't sound like the original shoot.

Koz

If the recordings were made in different locations , (e.g. different rooms) then IMO its impossible to make a seamless join.

Making the sound spectrum of the two recordings similar with equalization is possible, but equalization won't change any differences in reverberation due to different locations.

It is usually possible to make a really good recording sound like a bad recording.
It is usually not possible to make a bad recording sound like a really good recording.

You're trying to squeeze blood from a rock.

ADR means you have the actor in a controlled studio looping through your options until you hit the performance you SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN the first time.

No matter how many programs you download, if you haven't experienced the skills to manipulate voice it's going to be more expensive to do it yourself. I'm talking months of investigation here. You're going to have to hire a recording studio, a bedroom pro, or you're going to have to accept the minimal "improvements" you can make.