VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

CC Heim · Backstage Pass Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 401

I've got this project where I'm producing 60 separate meditations, each ranging from 20-40 minutes in length. Because of the cadence there is a lot of space between the phrases. Because of the quietness with which I must speak, there is a lot of intentional "dead air".

Here's my problem. No matter what I do, I have a lot of noise on my recordings. Because I use a really low, mellow voice for these, the room tone noise during the pauses seems very apparent to me.

I keep my micportpro set at the 3 o'clock position. I need it at least here to pick up the voice, but any higher and the noise is REALLY bad. Confused

I'm in a soundproof environment, so I'm not sure where the noise is coming from.

When I'm voicing a "regular" project, like a narration or a commercial or something, it's not really noticeable at all. It's just in this case of lots of quiet pauses in between the phrases.

Anyone care to take a listen and give me some guidance on how I can reduce the noise? BTW, I did try the noise reduction thingymabob in Audition, and it ended up making the whole thing sound weird. Maybe I did it wrong....

If you're willing to take a listen and provide some input, let me know and I'll shoot you a portion of one of the files.

Thanks,

CC2

Mushmelon · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:13 pm Post subject:

I'm thinking that a noise gate might help. I use GGATE along with Adobe Audition. GGATE is a free VST plugin which you can download at http://www.gvst.co.uk/ggate.htm
You will need to be careful adjusting it so it doesn't clip your voice or decay too fast or too slow as it might sound unnatural. A lot of people do not like using noise gates but it's worth a try. Personally I find them very helpful if used properly. Give it a try...hey it's FREE!!!
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cyclometh · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:20 pm Post subject:

You could try a gate, as per above. If you want, shoot me a short sample and I'll run it through a gate in Cubase so you can hear what it might sound like.
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:46 am Post subject:

Avoid noise reduction. it makes things sound weird as you're noticing.
Avoid gating. it tends to mute quieter passages and you don't want that. You want natural room tone.

Aside from finding the source of the noise, you might be able to EQ it out. if it's a hum, you'll find it in the lower frequencies. If it's a hiss, try to isolate it in the higher frequencies and cut it out as much as you can.

But it sounds like you really need to find the source of your noise.
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cyclometh · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:16 am Post subject:

CC2 sent me a short sample and I gave it a listen. Sounds like there's a bit of hiss, although I'm not certain what from. It's probably more noticable on such a quiet piece. I ran it through a gate just to provide an idea of what it would do; the piece is a lot of short phrases separated by silence; in this case it's not so much that it's going to mute quiet passages, but getting the release right.

I sent a sample back, you can hear what a gate does with it.

From what I can tell, the noise is at about 4KhZ.
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cyclometh · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:33 am Post subject:

I also sent a sample where I did not gate but just applied a bit of EQ around where the hiss is at. The spike seems to be from about 3900KhZ.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 6:27 am Post subject:

Like pain medication, noise gates, noise reduction and filters (EQ) mask the symptoms without doing anything for the cause and usually have side effects. (EQ-ing noise out also removes the offending frequencies from the voice.) The best way to fix a noise problem is to find the source of the noise and correct it.

The first thing I thought of when the noise was described as 'hiss,' was - when a mic signal goes through a mixer - that perhaps the mic trim control is set too high and the mic gain is too low. In that case, the mic pre-amp is 'expecting' a louder signal from the mic, but getting considerably less, and the noise inherent in the electronics is being amplified.

But if your mic is going through one of those 'Mic Port Pro' things, frankly (and I don't mean to be rude), you're hoping for studio quality from a trinket. And I don't know what kind of mic you are using; it could be contributing to the problem, too. There is a reason studios use microphones and preamplifiers costing into the thousands of dollars. You don't necessarily have to spend that much, but consider that if it has four wheels and the ability to be steered and stopped, a go-cart does the same thing as a car. But you want something better, don't you?

I listened to some of the demos on your website. If those demos were produced using the same setup you have now, it sounds as though you might also be using compression (a software plugin). If so, a compressor is going to affect (increase) anything contained in the signal it receives: your voice... and whatever noise is present, whether it is acoustical noise in the room or noise generated by (my apologies) less-than pro quality gear.

Consider that a big part of what you are selling is the sound of your lovely voice. Don't you want that lovely voice to be showcased in the best way possible? Again, I don't know what kind of mic you are using, but the signal path between your lovely voice and the point at which is recorded needs to be of the highest quality possible.

The last thing you want is to receive an email or phone call from a new client who asks why your audio files are noisy.

If you're serving up your best, don't serve it on paper plates.

Smile

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Dan4VO · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:55 am Post subject: Exactly!

(Moderator edit. Please don't quote entire posts, especially if they appear right above yours. thanks)

Well said Mike. An investment in some pro gear or some time at a properly equipped studio sounds like the answer here.
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Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

Hey Carson,
Given what you have to work with you might try the Adaptive Noise Reduction feature in AA3.

jsgilbert · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 11:48 am Post subject:

Normally I would agree on the "ownership" of top gear, especially since I'm well into the high five's in terms of my own stuff.

I can tell you that I have participated in some shoot outs with the mic port pro going up against mic pre's in the $2,000+ range and it has more than held it's own both technically and in producing a pleasing sound to the ear.

There's lots of questions that nobody seems to be asking, such as what operating system? Or whether the internal sound card is disabled. Do we have start programs disabled? Turned off virus checkers and background tasks? And shut off our connection to the internet and network?

We could also be getting some interference from flourescent lights an a potnetial that the juice is dirty. I'd be curious to see if the problem went away if you plugged into a line conditioner.

A few years back, I was at a very high end studio that had just taken over some additional space and had Walters Storyk build their facility. I wasone of the first v.o. talents to work in the room. About 15 minutes into my session an audible buzz happened and nothing would get rid of it. I sat by and watched as this poor engineer was joined by other engineers and fully ripped apart the setup they had so laboriously just put in and had thorughly checked out.

About 2 1/2 laters the culprit wa discovered. Apparently the circuit shared either a ground or lightning arrestor with the Japanese Restaurant next door, who had been washing and drying their linens.

One last thing that is possible is that the cables and/or connector on the micport pro are bad. If you are near a Guitar Center, You might want to bring your micport pro there and have them try it out on their gear to see if the sameproblem occurs.

And finally, it could be any one of a million things in your microphone. It could be a very tiny short, capacitor, (I'm no electronics expert, so forgive me)

Try a different microphone and see if you get the problem.
Try a different interface with oyur microphone and see if you get the problem.
Try a different computer with both your interface and mic and see if you get the problem.

Go to law school and forget this whole voice over nonsense.
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cyclometh · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:06 pm Post subject:

Since I've listened to it, I can say with a fairly high level of confidence that it's coming from the audio chain somewhere.

I'd suggest unplugging the mic and recording with the interface only at the same settings you normally have. If the hiss is still there, try recording with no mic and at different levels on your MicPort. If the hiss changes in volume with the level adjustments, you know where the issue is.

Also, look for other sources- one to check is other soundcards or audio gear in your system, as jsgilbert noted.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:41 pm Post subject:

I don't own any USB audio devices (can you guess why?), but doesn't using such a device eliminate the need for a sound card? Isn't that one of the selling points... that one doesn't need a sound card to get audio into the computer? I honestly don't know; just asking.
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cyclometh · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:48 pm Post subject:

Lee Gordon · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 3:40 pm Post subject:

I guess we can agree that after-the-fact noise reduction is not the ideal solution. However, if that is the route you must take, it's my opinion that the noise reduction in Audacity beta 1.3 is superior (cleaner and produces fewer artifacts) to that found in the Adobe products.
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CC Heim · Backstage Pass Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 401

Thanks all! Lots 'n' lots of good info here!

I'm using the Harlan Hogan mic, into the cord, into the micportpro, into teh connector cord, into my PC.

I tried it in two different locations, and with two diffent computers, and the sound is the same. must be coming from the sound chain, not the environment.

The demon lives in my sound chain...