VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[SvenChi]

For VOs and long narration-which is "better"? or more "useful" ?

I saw both of them fairly cheap on eBay and I wonder, since I'm involved in producing "spoken word" type of material, can I find them useful in my work ?

For example, just recently I finished an educational CD for learning foreign languages and I recorded a whole bunch of professors and teachers with zero experience in talking to mic. They moved back and forward from mic, swinging with their heads and/or mouths, etc...so, 'cause of the level changes during tracking, the editing of such material was literally painful and very time consuming.

To make a long story short, I start thinking that some kind of "leveler" could be handy to be around in the studio, especially considering the price....

Any thoughts or suggestion are highly welcome.

Cheers,

Sven

[Edo]

What kind of microphone do you use? Maybe that can lead to a more suitable answer...

[SvenChi]

[Bill Campbell]

The Aphex and Symetrix will work OK, but if the levels are real wild, they'll only help but so much. I've worked in Talk radio on processing, those boxes will help.

For a lot less money, buy a Samson S-Com. It's a good compressor and the expander is really good for toning done the hollow room off mic sounds with multiple mics. $99 well spent. And, it'll sound good on single voice, too, if used moderately. Just place it between your mixer and sound card, you can bypass when you want.
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[SvenChi]

[Bill Campbell]

I vote for the Aphex. You can really run them hard and they still sound clean.
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[SvenChi]

[Bill Campbell]

I'd put the Aphex between your mixer and interface/soundcard. I think it has a bypass switch when you don't won't it in line. You'll get a nice controlled level into your DAW.
Let us know how you like it.
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[Frank F]

Something to think about when using ANY of the equipment with the un-initiated is to consider a bit of education - FIRST. teaching them about microphone protocol and what it means can be a great asset.

Suggest to the "talent" to think of a six to eight inch string being attached to the end of their nose and the front of the microphone. When the person moves away from the microphone too far the string will pull away from the mic and the sound will be poor. Consequently, if the person stays within the range of the string the sound will be good.

Place a piece of string on the microphone as a reminder, and you will be surprised at how the "talent" will respond to this un-spoken suggestion from that point.

Although using the Apex or any time of compressor with your system can help somewhat, remember this thought - the compressor will also make louder passages - LOUDER, too. By finding a good high quality/high power pre-amp and combining it with a very wide pickup pattern microphone (such as a C-12 or a shotgun microphone), your talent can be up to two feet away from the microphone and still be in the "sweet spot".

A very wide cardoid pattern mic or LoBar pattern shotgun will make more of a difference than the compressor for the situation you describe. Consider playing with your mic settings and patterns, this could be an easy fix or a costly and time consuming "fix" if you are not aware of the foibles.

A few suggestions as to shotgun microphones for a very low price are the Azden SGM series (1X, 2X, and 1000), Audio-Technica AT835b, Sennheiser K-6/ME-66/ME-67, Audio Technica ATR-55, Sennheiser MKE 300, Rode NTG1/2, Sanken CS1, the venerable Sennheiser MKH-416, or my favorite (although more costly) Schoeps CMIT5U. Although shotgun microphones are designed for film and video audio acquisition - this could be a case where the technology would work well for such a varied degree of inexperienced "talent". I would consider leaning toward a "short" shotgun mic, rather than a "long" as your "talent" will be inside a controlled space when recording.

Good luck on your choices.

Toodles

F2
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com