VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Jeffrey Kafer

Head on over to http://www.podiobooks.com/title/inside-stories/ and give a listen to the 4th audiobook I've narrated. It's a collection of short stories by Mike Yachnik, a very talented writer, in my opinion.

The book is free to download and listen to, though the site accepts donations to offset the cost of me!

Hope you enjoy! As well, I'd be happy to hear any constructive criticism.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Barry · Guest

Jeff - Wow, really nice job! I particularly liked the cadence in your delivery. The only minor thing I am picking up on are the short little breaths. I thought your voice was very nice on the ear and it kept me listening as well. Very well done.

Barry

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:59 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Barry. I appreciate you taking the time to listen.

As far as breaths go, I've heard arguments for both leaving them in and taking them out. Apparently you're in the "remove them" camp?
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Brett Mason · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject:

Finally got a "round to it". Good job. Anyone who can properly pronounce "pumpernickel" gets my vote.

I must say, that the breaths caught my attention too, but I had read the previous post, so I don't know if I was prejudiced by that. I know I make a point of trying to edit them out of the auditions I've been doing...and judging from the throngs of voice seekers banging on my door....ah...er....oh well but that's another topic.

Enjoyed hearing your read. Good job! Voice on!
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:49 pm Post subject:

To follow up on the breath thing, in later stories, I edited out the breaths at the beginning of sentences, but left them in when they were in the middle. I didn't do that with Cello Fingers (The first story).

Thanks for listening, Brett!
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

bobbinbeamo · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:53 pm Post subject:

Cool, Jeff. Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to check it out! (I am going to download now)
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:30 pm Post subject:

Thanks Bobbin, I look forward to any feedback you have.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Chuck Davis · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:01 am Post subject:

Only got to listen to the first few minutes of Cello Fingers. I really like your delivery Jeff.
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Bruce · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:06 am Post subject:

As one who has listened to many audio books and now done a few, I must say, "nicely done."

I noticed the breathing too (now that somebody mentioned it!) and because they are short and sharp they seem to bring a bit of urgency to your read that you may not want to add to some stories in the future. If you feel a need to reduce the sharpness here's my trick: I try to open my throat more when drawing in breath. One takes in more air with each draw and it makes less noise.

I used to be a really noisy breather and this, along with standing during certain reads, really helps.

B
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:30 am Post subject:

Thanks for giving it a listen, Chuck. I appreciate it!

Bruce, that's great advice. I'll try it next time since breathing habits are something I need to work on. Thanks!
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject:

jeff--listening now. i like your voice. a lot. easy, smooth ... you're a natural for audiobooks.

As for breaths, todd & amy both suggested this to me, which is laborious if your editing job is a long one already, but a neat trick and the natural pace remains: create a preset in your amplitude settings (i call mine 'breath reducer') and select the breaths to reduce by your determined decible (mine's -20dB).

i used to work with a guy in radio who turned his head away from the mic to take a big breath (while on the air).

but bruce's tip seems the best for these long projects.

nice job Bitchin

!
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Chuck Davis · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 4:48 pm Post subject:

In some cases I think breath sounds should be left in the VO.

Dramatic cue, natural speech and all. After all, people do breathe...and unless it's really pumped up by compression I think it's all part of the natural rhythm of speech.

This prinicipal is not applied to car ads. They don't have time to breathe.
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bobbinbeamo · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject:

I liked it a lot, Jeff. Nice, descriptive words and a quick "read". Thanks for sharing.
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donrandall · Guest

Jeff -
I liked it. I like it a lot. Nice read, well done. I hope you do more!

About the breath thing - yep, I noticed 'em right away too. If we become aware of something that normally would not attract our notice, it is probably true that a correction is in order. Usually, breathing is something that we hear, but we don't really "hear" - if that makes sense.

The other suggestions are all good and useful. I would add that perhaps it would be a good idea to slow your inhalation slightly so as to eliminate the the unsettling effect of hearing a sudden, sharp intake.

In any event, we are pointing out a very minor detail here in an attempt to make a very, very good read just that much better. If I were twice as good as I am, I would be almost half as good as you. Maybe.

You already know this, but there may be others who can benefit from it:

For those wanting to process or edit breath noises, I agree that to some extent it can be beneficial - but must be done with a very light touch.

If breath noises seem louder than you think appropriate, experiment and find how much attenuation is right for you. Some may do well with about 3 db, others may need 6 db and possibly more. Compressing audio generally tends to pump up the low volume sounds and make breath noises uncomfortably loud, so taming these is probably gonna be a good idea. Overly loud breathing can be annoying, but be careful, too much reduction will make the read sound artificial.

If you want to eliminate some breath sounds, that may be a good thing, but once again - it requires care and careful consideration of context. Removing one breath may force you to leave in another that should be or could be removed to greater purpose. You can really change the rhythm by removing breaths, so be careful. In some cases you can even change the perceived meaning of a sentence without changing the actual wording.

When removing a breath, bracket the amount to be removed. Do not simply cut it out and move on. Mute that portion that you have bracketed, then move your brackets inward some and then cut or delete that slightly smaller amount. In other words, if your breath is around .400 seconds, mute that and then move your start and end brackets toward each other and cut or delete only .200 or .250 or even .300 seconds. After a little experimentation, it will begin to make sense.

Sometimes the best results will come from muting the breath but not cutting or deleting anything at all. It will vary - so let your ears be your guide. Simply bracketing the breath and clicking on cut or delete will give acceptable results sometimes, it will also result in some rather stilted audio with an odd cadence and an uncomfortable sound at other times.