VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

ACF Guy · Guest

Hi, everyone. Just a cautionary tale for you.

I record long-form narration for a legal books-on-tape company. We recently moved our office across the country, and ever since getting set up in our new recording space, I noticed that my voice didn't look the same on the waveform readout as it had before -- it was much smaller, and in playback it was much quieter.

I wrote it off to me possibly not remembering properly what the waveform was supposed to look like (it had been a few months since I last recorded, after all), and confidently reassured myself with a phrase that should have sent up a huge red flag: "They'll fix it in editing."

We send our sound files out to our editors in 50-file bursts. When I'd finally accumulated that amount and shipped it out, the editors called me up and told me in no uncertain terms that the files, even after editing, were absolutely unpublishable due to poor quality.

I frantically tore my whole setup apart, convinced that the mic had been damaged in transit, or the new studio space was set up improperly, or the USB port on my computer was bad, or my interface was shot ... I was all set to throw thousands of dollars at this problem.

That is until someone suggested I check my recording software's input settings.

Sure enough, for the three weeks I'd been talking into my Sennheiser, I'd actually been being recorded by my iBook's 3mm-wide monitor mic.

The fix: one click of a mouse. The cost: free. The price of my "they'll fix it in editing" carelessness: 3 weeks of lost work.

Hopefully someone here can learn from my experience!

Audiogal · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

Oh nooooooooooo! It is always the little things that drive us crazy, isn't it? Glad you got it all figured out....for free.
_________________
Mary

Jerry Withers · Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Ouch!!! I hope the client was somewhat sympathetic.
_________________
Jerry L. Withers
"The Voice behind Your Audio Project"
http://www.JDubVO.com

BenWils · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject:

Wow!
_________________
Ben

"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap."

Yoda117 · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:25 pm Post subject:

don't take this the wrong way, but I'm really, really trying not to laugh at this.

This is one of those "oops" that we all have at one point or another that reminds me to not take life too seriously. Just as importantly, it's a reminder that the simple things can get you as much as the complicated ones. I feel guilty for finding some humor in the situation, but being there more than a few times, I've learned to laugh at it.

Glad you got the problem solved, and hope you get caught up on the work quickly.
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones

ACF Guy · Guest

Haha .. laugh all you like, Yoda -- believe me, I'm doing it too, in that forehead-slapping, shrugged-shoulders kinda way. Sometimes it's all you can do when you've exceeded all the bounds of stupidity.

And, Jerry, the company I'm employed by creates its own content, so we sort of ARE the clients. I was pretty rough on myself, but I've decided to keep me aboard. Smile

mcm · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:16 am Post subject:

Greg, I think you've got the right approach Smile

After you've finished walking on tacks and have hung the hair shirt in the closet [til next time], there's not a whole lot else you can do but move on (and, oh yes, record everything over again).

Probably the only reason this hasn't happened to me is that I don't have an iBook.

louzucaro · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:59 am Post subject:

Haha thanks for posting this...very glad that you got it figured out, and very glad that we got to share in your pain / laughter / Doh! moment Smile

_________________
Lou Zucaro
http://www.voicehero.com

"Well, yeah, there's my favorite leaf!"

Yoda117 · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:06 am Post subject:

BenWils · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject:

I used to have these goofy routing issues when trying to route ISDN sessions through my Digi 002. Now....I figured out that setting up a Pro Tools template is the way to go. Laugh

_________________
Ben

"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap."

todd ellis · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject:

we've all been there ,,,

had an emergency spot for a regular client while out of town last week. remembering some great advice, i set up my micport pro, at2020 and laptop in the car. cut the spot, noticed it sounded kinda "not right", but thru the laptop speakers ... meh. client emailed back said he couldn't use it - poor quality - please do it again.

after checking every possible setting, cable and connection i discovered i had been talking into the back of the mic. turned it around ... sounded spiffy.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?