VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[NateOphonic]

After absorbing a great deal from this board, here is my first attempt at an audiobook. After reading all the ACX stuff, and needing to post a sample, this would be my attempt to read, record, edit and master to ACX parameters (so yes, this has some processing per ACX recommendations). This is also my maiden voyage in terms of asking for your critiques (you know just how potentially scary for the novice VO-BBer this is....) Am I in the ballpark, or do I need to go back to woodshedding (noting that there is always room to improve my reads) for another year?. Thanks for any time and consideration the VO-BB community chooses to extend.

http://snd.sc/14JQzdv

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
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Nate Cimmino:
A man, a microphone and a pair of reading glasses. (How they learned to read, I'll never know)

[vkuehn]

Nate, your technical qualities make me jealous. Smooth gating!!! I measured the Average RMS Value and it seemed a little lower than ACX standards want (you are at -25.5 and they say the want -18 to -22 or something don't they? But your recording peaks at just a smidge below -3 so they could just "jack up the gain" about 3 dB and we have happiness in the kingdom.

My limited experience with ACX is that they will bring more loudness into your recording during their process and when you listen to the finished product... you may mutter... "Why did they mess with it????"

I hate to comment on anyone's 'delivery'. I tend to move into a "relaxed fit blue-jeans" delivery but I have been choosing reads where that fits. I played yours through about four times and got used to your "not quite relaxed" delivery and decided that I could listen to an entire book of that and not find it hard to listen to.

If the author you are working with likes your speech style for this particular book, it doesn't much matter what I might encourage you to change if for some reason I became your coach.

I wish my first one was as clean as your sample.

[Jeffrey Kafer]

You need some more work. You're going through the motions, but I'm not feeling like you're telling me a story. You have the tell-tale up and down vocal bounce, but it doesn't seem genuine and, at times, seems inappropriate. Flatten the read out a bit and vocalize ups and downs when the script calls for it.

I also didn't realize that Virginia was a woman, or even a different character than the narrator. Needs more differentiation, but less of that false bounce I noted earlier.

In short, you need to work on the acting.

Also, get rid of the phone effect on the other character. Audible will very likely reject your files if they hear that.

Finally, do I detect a lisp? If so, this might hinder you being cast for some projects.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Bob Stevens]

I have never done an audiobook so take my critique with a grain of salt.

First off, I will second what Jeff said.

From a customer listening standpoint it was tough for me to listen past the first few sentences. Too much processing for my ears. It sounds over compressed and the gate harsh, often times cutting off the beginning and end of words. The flow was choppy on-off-on. All of this drew my attention away from the story and characters. I had to replay it several times to figure out who was who and logically connect the story.

It is also possible I hadn't had enough coffee when I listened to it.. lol

I think whatever processing you are using muddle any dynamic the characters have, flatting them and making them all sound less distinctive.

Like I said, consider my critique with a grain of salt.

Bob
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"Dialog is the painting on a canvas of silence"

[Philip Banks]

There's a fine line between the "oh **** do I REALLY have to read this?" style and the "one word at a time with autotune".

Here's what you do. www,bbc.co.uk/radio4 ,look at the schedule and choose from morning story to book at bedtime and listen and listen and listen and listen. You will be listening to top actors doing "THE GIG".

Good luck.

[Scott Pollak]

Nate, I gave it a partial listen before anyone else had replied, but I wanted to wait to see if the consensus mirrors mine, and it does.

Jeff Kafer will be one of your first and best sources of spot-on critique especially in terms of audiobook narration since he has over 100 of 'em under his belt.

I don't have nearly that many, but I AM currently working on my 16th for ACX.com. Interestingly, I apply NO processing at ALL to the final files I send to acx other than hard-limiting my audio to -6db. And that's it. And they've never kicked it back. (As an aside, I also applied a phone-effect filter in one book I narrated, at the author's request, and it, too, passed ACX scrutiny).

It was just too 'robotic' sounding to my ears. There is a thread elsewhere on these forums about the so-called latest advances in artificial voice technology ( http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16379 ) and - not to be mean - but honestly that's what I started thinking about as I listened and also why I couldn't get more than a minute or two into it. Maybe part of the problem WAS the processing you applied.

But in any case, you really have to feel and LIVE and breathe the story when doing an audiobook because you ARE telling a STORY. It's not a narration, or instruction, it's a tale.

Don't know if you have any acting background, but most folks here (myself included) usually highly recommend having it, or getting some, to aspiring v/o folks, and I'd say that goes double for people wanting to narrate audiobooks.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

[NateOphonic]

Gentleman, thank you for your thoughtful and reasoned replies so far. There are many good points to consider in your critiques. One of my goals in starting this journey was to learn how to read more naturally. It is amazing as to how difficult it is to undo the subtle input that daily media (such as seeing a newsreader on tv or radio) has on us. You should have heard how I read last year.

I did some light Off Broadway acting in character parts about 25 years ago, I have been working on better reading over the past year, going to a voice coach when I can afford to, and in spite of a long term fear of improv, getting my backside into an improv class (which I'm just finishing up, and want to take more classes in). Any voice work involves developing one's own ear for self direction, a revenue share book will not allow me the luxury of running every chapter past a director/coach.

Finding one's OWN style seems to be, more or less, a crap shoot. The difference between "too flat" and "overly animated" has been a challenge to me. I can appreciate what Mr. Banks said regarding listening to "top actors doing "THE GIG". Indeed, that sets the bar considerably higher than the samples I heard poking around on ACX for reference. The author did choose the level of the read, and likes "what I've done with the characters". I did ask around on the phone effect viability before incorporation, and the author preferred we use that effect.

As for processing, If I can send just a hard limited to -6db file I would much rather do that, as whatever engineering skills I have seem want to make choices totally counter to what I see looking at the waveforms on the ACX mastering tutorial site look like. Mr. Pollack's setting would sound better and have more air all the time. I'm not a fan of brickwalling the c*** out of it.

The "lisp" Mr. Kafer heard was more likely a too high de-essing threshold. What's a little Labio-dental fricative issue among friends?

I know I have more work to do with reads and acting, which I will continue to persue. Just as long as as no one here suggests I dismantle my studio and take up shuffleboard instead.
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Nate Cimmino:
A man, a microphone and a pair of reading glasses. (How they learned to read, I'll never know)

[Jeffrey Kafer]

Doesn't matter if the author "likes" the phone effect. Effects are rarely, if ever, used in audiobooks and titles have been rejected by Audible for using a phone effect. Don't do it.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[NateOphonic]

Fortunately, I learned enough about workflow to be able to undo the effect. I hear you, Mr. K.
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Nate Cimmino:
A man, a microphone and a pair of reading glasses. (How they learned to read, I'll never know)

[ballenberg]

You know, I've thought this before, but I'll say it now.

I don't care if someone has done 100 audiobooks or ten thousand. If asked for a critique, giving it with tact is the way to go. The harsh, unfriendly, humorless response may not bother the original poster, but when I read it, especially written by a moderator, I'm sad to be a member of this board.

[todd ellis]

i didn't read anything "harsh" or "unfriendly" at all in the critique. direct, yes. honest (in his opinion), yes --- but by no means mean spirited. what is the point of a critique if it's just a sunshine sandwich? helps no one. all i've seen here is good, honest opinions & advice.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[ballenberg]

It's not the critique I disagree with--it's the tone, the attitude.

I agree that the critique can and should be honest and to the point. Maybe harsh is too strong a term--it's just so direct as to be "in your face."

An example of an honest yet less abrasive critique would be the type I've often seen posted here by Bob Bergen. He's not mincing words, he's not kissing up...but there's a certain level of civility and tact that's welcome, and is absent in the post I'm referring to. Maybe I'm the only one bothered by it. But "You need some more work." is direct to the point of being an affront. I may be the only one who feels that. But I feel it very strongly.

[Jeffrey Kafer]

And this reaction is why so many people don't bother to give critiques. Can't please everyone.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Philip Banks]

One of the so-called top pro audio book narrators does the "do I REALLY have to read this" this style and there are many who appear to over-inflect like they are reading one word at a time then do a bit of random autotune. Neither is story telling. Listening to the work of the "jobbing" audio book narrators will probably get Nate no where very quickly and I'd love to hear of him making real progress, hence my pointer to any story broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It's not a Brit thing, I simply no of no other place where one can find such high standards. Martin Jarvis reading any of the "Just William" stories is a delight.

I think it's great to take someone by the hand and say.

"No my friend, don't look there, take a look at THIS!"

Victims who post here need to be mindful of the fact that most opinions expressed are invalueless and should be welcomed as such.

[heyguido]

Ballenberg.... (is there a 1st name? It feels sort of impersonal to address you by your handle...)

I would note that this is far from the first time you've been offended on behalf of another when no slight or slam was intended. Many here try to be frank, as Todd noted, not to be cruel or dismissive, but to be honest and upfront with those who ask for truth.

I don't perceive that the poster was offended. Why should you?

Politically correct is only political. It is far from correct.

Perhaps you should ask why you are offended when it has nothing to do with you.

Perhaps it's just you.
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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"