VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[tokyofan]

Hey VOers,

I spent a half day recording and mixing this spot for fun (it was a V123 audition script). http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/StormEye.aif
I welcome comments on any aspect though more interested in the sound quality and how I could improve my production technique.

A quick list of processing (in order):
Voice track:
Waves Vox downward expander
Waves REN Comp (very light)
De-esser
EQ Tracks3 (vocal warmth)
EQ Digirack (low cut and and slight boost around 5K)
D-Verb (slight reverb)

Master track:
D-Verb
Brainwprx Cleansweep (low-cut)
Ren Comp (very slight)
S1 Shuffler (subtle improved imaging)
L1 Ultramaximizer (gentle limiting to -3dB)

Thanks!
Chris
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www.chriskoprowski.com/en

[Deirdre]

Wow. Very nice!

I know that's kinda weak, but that is what I said out loud when I hear this.

I wish I could address the processing you mention but I can't. I thought it looked like too much (too many notes) but here on my lappy, it sounded clear and fine and the BG music was a keen accompaniment.

Really nice read! You have a very kind, authoritative voice that's easy on the ears.
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[asnively]

I had the same response that DB had. I said "Wow!" aloud!
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[Philip Banks]

It's a fine and dandy bread and butter demo. I did not WOW because the two girls planted high expectations deep within the bosom of my soul and upon hearing a Voiceoverist deliver a Voiceoverism I was left deeply crushed right down to the core of my being. I paid no attention to the production which suggests it was just right.

Money earning Voiceoverist sound - CHECK. Now choose your next rung on the ladder and start climbing.

[tokyofan]

Thanks much for your positive comments!! What a confidence booster! I usually have my stock demos done by pros but I like to dabble a little when I have time.

Deirdre: when you say it looked like 'too many notes', are you talking about the read?

Philip: Cryptic as usual But I agree...it's a very straight and safe read. Thanks for weighing in!

Back to the lab...
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www.chriskoprowski.com/en

[Mike Sommer]

Chris you're a great technical reader, and you've made great improvements in becoming more conversational. But you've still have got that NPR mechanical read in your voice. I know it's a tough habit to break, especially when it's your daily bread and butter .

Here's a couple of things you can do to try to get you a little more conversational: 1) Take your copy and read it as fast as you can. Then try to read it faster, and try to read it faster than the read before. What this will do is take your mind off the actual words and place it on to the act of coming in under time. Then when you read it at regular speed is should flow out effortlessly. 2) Write down a bunch of emotions and feelings on strips of paper and put them in a hat (happy, sad, mad, indifferent, drunk, snarky, etc..). Pull out an emotion and read the copy. Then pull out another emotion and layer the two emotions in the read. This is good for everyone, because it helps you find different nuances in the script, by forcing you to stress different words. All kinds of great discoveries are possible with this technique.

Over all the production is good. Music is a little hot. A little trick, when you put a bump in your upper mid vocal EQ, give equal an equal reduction to your music EQ.
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[Dustin Parkhurst]

Sounds really good. I hope you're exaggerating about the half-day.

[Deirdre]

[Mike Sommer]

[schrecster]

one thing I noticed was that the way you pronounced the name of the clinic sounded to me like "store my" clinic instead of storm eye clinic.

I am having trouble trying to put into words what I heard. I guess I would say it this way, if you were a trumpet player, you would be slurring the note as opposed to tonguing the note. it sounds like bah-wah, as opposed to bah bah...... it seems like there is no seperation between the words storm and eye

[tokyofan]

All great feedback!

Mike: I do regular news recording and also educational, ESL-type stuff in Tokyo. So it's hard to break out of that straight, 'announcery' mode at times. Thanks for the reading tip...ill try that! And I'll tweak the music.

Deidre: Yes, I noticed some of the words could be a little crisper and and some of the articulation seems to have gotten lost in the mix. I'll need to re-read this. I tried to keep processing bare-bones so it would sound like me. And an engineering friend taught me to kill the lows in the my voice so it sits better in the mix.

Screcster: With the first 'Storm Eye Clinic' I think I punched each word pretty well....though the second and third instances could be clearer, I agree.

I'll keep working on this. It probably won't be a keeper but it's still good practice. I just posted a bunch of new demos on my site if anyone's curious. Thanks again!
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[schrecster]

[Lance Blair]

Hey, is that with the Speck 5.0?

Sounds great in terms of the production and quality.

I think you should experiment with a higher pitch/register for your voice. That will break you out of the narrator/announcer vibe where you rest upon two lower drone notes for your voice.

Lately, I've decided to raise my register, and it gives me so much more natural range...room to move and be more expressive. If I want to be more announcery I drop my range.
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[tokyofan]

Yep, that's the Speck 5.0 paired with a U87ai. Liking it!

The direction on this spot called for a tone which is "educational yet compassionate and authoritative" so I stayed in my lower register which seems more soothing. But, you're right, I should experiment more.

Here's a new take:
http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/Storm_eye.wav

I re-read a few lines with better articulation, though the delivery is still pretty straight forward and matter-of-fact. I cut the compression and EQ 'warmth' on the vocal track and lowered the music.

Thanks!
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[Lance Blair]

Yeah, that's nice! Really good read, just a notch higher up frees up your range of expression.

You probably know this, but the transformer on the Speck is on the output, so if you engage the pad and drive the gain you get full character from that Jensen transformer. Or, you can drive the gain and attenuate a bit on the MIX side, which is post-transformer. Ah...the Speck .
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