
VOICE ACTING PRACTICES SOFTWARE
Suppose your audio software doesn't have volume automation, like Audacity or other low-end DAWs.
VOICE ACTING PRACTICES HOW TO
I will explain how to edit plosives later, but the general principle of using volume automation to adjust the levels of loud sounds manually is a valuable rule to follow. Like plosives such as 'P', certain syllables will not be loud enough to hit the compressor but will have a noticeable 'pop'. Use volume automation to adjust the level of specific sounds that sound like they are too loud. Yes, there is a difference between perceived loudness and absolute loudness (amplitude). It will be compressed regardless of the perceived loudness. a higher decibel level than the rest, but it is not perceived as louder because of the different frequencies making up the sound. Ĭompressors work across all frequencies simultaneously. You may have seen the word “ automatic ” in the previous sentence and thought “, why would I not use that? It'll save so much time!” but there is some skill involved. It’s tricky to get right.Ī compressor is a tool that automatically reduces the relative loudness (determined by the 'ratio' of the compressor) of peaks that are higher than a certain threshold measured in decibels. Similar to EQ, expertly using a compressor takes practice. USE VOLUME AUTOMATION to adjust relative levels, rather than compression Remember – somebody else can't add in what you've already taken out, but they can usually take out what you've left in!Ģ. It is best to avoid using them too frequently, or else an engineer can't fix them.
VOICE ACTING PRACTICES PROFESSIONAL
Professional noise reduction plug-ins can also introduce more noise and digital artefacts. This is because you won't know if it will interfere with some other sounds that are yet to be added, such as music or sound effects. Unless you are mixing something for a final broadcast, do not boost anything. It's much harder to add it back in once it's removed!Ī dubbing mixer may occasionally boost certain frequencies where it works to make a voice cut through sound effects or music or to improve the overall tone, but they do this gently.

If you are inexperienced using EQ, don't use it! Any audio engineer would always rather have something with a little bit of rumble or a little bit too much sibilance than something that has had too much removed. This can be used, for example, to remove low-end rumble or add some 'air' in the high frequencies and make it sound crisper.įrequency is measured in hertz, so knowing which frequency to edit to achieve your desired result is vital. It works through complex phase algorithms that highlight or reduce specific frequencies. DO NOT 'OVER-PROCESS' with EQ or other effectsĪvoid this and the audio engineer will always be eager to work with you.ĮQ (short for 'equalizer') is something that changes the tonal quality of audio. However, there are a few tricks and principles voice actors can bear in mind to make life easier for the audio engineer and anyone else involved in the voice-over post-production work.ġ. Here at Voquent, we generally do the audio editing in-house, and the voice actors who record projects with us will send their audio completely raw, with no processing whatsoever.įor us, this means we can do the edit from a clean start, and we're not wasting time fixing someone else's terrible-if well-intentioned-edits. Howdy folks, it's your wee pal Alex, back for more fun!
