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Old 10-06-2012, 10:24 AM   #81
Falcon
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Here are my demos- there are some pretty ballsy things I do too! ;-) Your can either choose Commercial demo #1 or Movie Trailer #2- that should give you something to work with. I have just given download permission on both those two- so you should be able to grab it. Thanks Tod! and anyone else who wants to jump into this :-)
http://soundcloud.com/montysvoice And if you need something from me in stereo (which you probably do to create this I am guessing, or just double the track and pan L/R- anyway, let me know.

For the benefit of others who are stumbling across this thread...

Again the "sound I want" is here: http://mrvo.com/VRVOs/BasicAnncrVO.mp3

The "sound I have" is here: http://soundcloud.com/montysvoice

Can it be done with Reaper?

Last edited by Falcon; 10-06-2012 at 11:01 AM.
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Old 10-06-2012, 01:31 PM   #82
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Here are my demos- there are some pretty ballsy things I do too! ;-)
I think you've got a great voice Monty, ballsy too not to mention very talented. I don't know, heh heh, are you sure its not "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome.

Any way I did a little analysis between the two and made some slight changes in a short part of one of your tracks. It's a little difficult when everything is all processed and mixed with music.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63198126/03%...0(mp3)%201.mp3

I might have been able to do more but I didn't want to go too far. Besides Heh heh, I don't know if it helped or not.

Actually it could be many little things that's grabbing your attention. Things like the mic used or the acoustic environment it's recorded in, or both.

Last edited by Tod; 10-06-2012 at 01:37 PM.
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Old 10-06-2012, 02:05 PM   #83
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Thanks Tod :-) I was able to add the Nugen stereoizer to Reaper and it has some very similar effects. I guess I need to play with it more. Would it help you if I uploaded something to soundcloud with no music? It´s processed, but no music. I just did it for a a new video game trailer. I am just trying to get the width he has on the demos.
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Old 10-06-2012, 02:18 PM   #84
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I played with those two files (just in my phones for the moment). Great fun!
"Well I'm not a novice..." and after that a big breath followed by a smooth atack of vague narration. Hard fixing (if you use just the gate). The whole story is very funny, no doubt. Reaper vs Waves, to match two different things. What about free plugins? Why not some spice from these gifts? This is just for the part with plot holes in SOS scenario...
Of course in Reaper some really magic can be done, that's for sure...
In this case, it's not that hard to make the voice sound good but there are also some facts at the starting point:

- the short file, has a more intimate vocal timbre, but also a much worse recording (the room reverberation is more obvious in this one). But the vocal has some cool vibe to my ears. This can be done only by mother nature, and this little thing is very important! This isn't from Waves.

- the second file, is better as a starting sample point, nice vocal too, but it's so different than the first one. The overall fell is different. A more relaxed story, not the some needs, different sound.

So, I skip the "matching part", with something like: make this file sound good and you're done."The strategy" in my opinion:

- The file has some level out (so turn down a little the sample volume)
- Gate unwanted breath (manual if there is high expectation)
- Put some body with ReaEQ in low frequency, find where the sweet caracteristic of the rest of the spectrum is and tune for your liking (and for sculpting the personality of that particular timbre). See the volume level (always!) and make it right.
- Tight the vocal but don't use the compression (carefully, the xpander is what makes wonder here!)
- Eq again! Some nice presence but don't boost the hi shelf! This time, subtract the low frequency, and compensate the volume.
- Time for some sweet magic, so put the xciter with harmonics by the personal taste
- The compressor! It's like glue all the above steps. Very gentle, you don't want to kill the vocal dynamic which I always prefer for a natural feel. Two bad the music these days kill this aspect with regularity.
- Here is where you choose how to give some imperfection to the digital medium as we use these days. Some trick to put a 3D feel to the sterile sound of digital. I always do this step with vocals, it's like grain magic in photography. Here is where the secrets are IMO. But a more simple way is to use a free plugin called Ferric. Not best, but much better than finding some tricks in Reaper warehouse. Why a massive chain of suffer when there is a much simple way to do the job? Remember also the plugin delay compensation for some live situation...
Return to Ferric, this simulate some tape dynamics and has a limiter for final stage, but also broke the law Called Waves vs Reaper... Why this law? Don't ask me, it's top secret. I have secrets too...

Tomorow I'll put the test on my monitors and if I like the sound, I will join the "matching sound" traping game.

It's fun!

Last edited by Avatar44; 10-06-2012 at 02:24 PM.
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Old 10-06-2012, 02:27 PM   #85
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Thanks Avatar- but those original files are old news really. Tod, Airon and some of the other guys here were able to create some nice plug-in packages via Reaper. My thread update would be the most recent posts. As for "making it sound good" good isn't always enough in the VO industry- and what is good anyway? Good to a musician may not be good to a client who wants a voice for their business and possibly even more so for a national brand. There is a standard in the Vo industry, and the example I provided with regard to the "what I want" sound in the initial thread and this recent one- meets that standard.

Anyway, now that we have kinda gotten close to that sound with the initial help way back about 6 months ago- I am trying to build on it even more with a new example of "what I want" which you will find just a few posts ago. Just wanting to really broaden the sound like in the "what I want" link I posted a bit earlier. Thanks for the help!
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Old 10-06-2012, 03:23 PM   #86
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Thanks Tod :-) I was able to add the Nugen stereoizer to Reaper and it has some very similar effects. I guess I need to play with it more. Would it help you if I uploaded something to soundcloud with no music? It´s processed, but no music. I just did it for a a new video game trailer. I am just trying to get the width he has on the demos.
Sure, although I'm not sure I'm the one to do this but I'll give it a shot and maybe some of the other guy's will chip in.

Incidentally have you checked out dropbox, that could be a pretty good resource for you to do things like this. You could still use Soundcloud for the general things like your demos but use dropbox to collaborate here on Reaper and with your clients. Just a thought.

https://www.dropbox.com
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Old 10-06-2012, 03:32 PM   #87
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Hiya- yeah I use dropbox all the time- right now mine is full up due to the fact that I just produced a video promo package that will play on my new website. I also do a bit of animation and film work (well have for about 25 years in addition to my voice work)- so I made this recently and will loop on the new site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR0qhZGlMbg

Soundcloud us used because many of the new websites designs are sc compatible and I don´t need to tie up my own site space by uploading demos. I just place the sc link- and the demos already line up and have their own playback buttons etc. I can upload something that is dry with no music to sc. Not the trailer though- since it is top secret stuff and the game hasn´t been released yet. I will see what I can find.
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Old 10-06-2012, 04:44 PM   #88
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what did the voiceover industry do before waves? do that.

sometimes its about the voice, sometimes its about the mic and preamp.

did you already demo the waves plugins and compare those plugins with reaplugs?
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Old 10-06-2012, 04:46 PM   #89
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I can upload something that is dry with no music to sc. Not the trailer though- since it is top secret stuff and the game hasn´t been released yet. I will see what I can find.
OK..
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Old 10-06-2012, 04:51 PM   #90
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Hi "reapercurious" thanks for the input, but that was a post from a long time ago. If you go to the end of the thread, you will see the current topic. As for waves- I found the mgmt was arrogant and not one bit helpful. And I for one was not about to spend a 1000 bucks just to see that I was dealing with a bunch of buttheads on a product I never used before. So, this the reason for starting that tops about 6 months ago. Some very helpful folks here did find some decent processing via reaper. But now, I am trying to step it up a notch with expanding and broadening the sound. That´s what we´re trying to figure out now. There is a "what I want" link (the new one - not the old one) that I posted today. And also a "what I have" link that features my demos. Just wondering if we can match that broad sound via some plug in that anyone knows of- within Reaper itself or another that I can buy and install in Reaper.

Last edited by Falcon; 10-06-2012 at 04:58 PM.
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Old 10-06-2012, 04:57 PM   #91
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Hey Tod (and everybody willing to help) here is a track that can be used with voice only for the experimentation.

http://soundcloud.com/montysvoice/mo...uerwein-studio
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Old 10-06-2012, 08:11 PM   #92
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Hey Tod (and everybody willing to help) here is a track that can be used with voice only for the experimentation.

http://soundcloud.com/montysvoice/mo...uerwein-studio
Heh heh, it already sounds really good, I'll DL it tomorrow and give a couple of things a try.
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Old 10-06-2012, 08:22 PM   #93
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:-) Thanks. But I am trying to expand it more like the example I gave with my colleague´s audio. Nugen stereoizer plug-in, is pretty cool, but after messing with it for over an hour, it just started sounding muddy. I think that has more to do with the mic I am using. I am using a Blue condenser, but, I have a mint condition- with factory warranty and less than a year old, Blue Woodpecker active ribbon that I am trying to sell in order to get a Sennheiser 416- or maybe trade that mic for a 416- or maybe a Neuman or possibly a Blue Blueberry. But for now, I am using another Blue condenser mic (Bluebird) and it´s not cutting the mustard. I have the woodpecker on ebay but only one nibble so far.
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Old 10-06-2012, 11:11 PM   #94
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Originally Posted by Avatar44 View Post
The strategy" in my opinion:
(...)
It's fun!
Definatly! Thanks for this post. It helped me a lot to gain some knowledge about what certain effects are being used for and what do focus on for voice recordings.
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Old 10-07-2012, 04:05 PM   #95
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:-) Thanks. But I am trying to expand it more like the example I gave with my colleague´s audio. Nugen stereoizer plug-in, is pretty cool, but after messing with it for over an hour, it just started sounding muddy. I think that has more to do with the mic I am using. I am using a Blue condenser, but, I have a mint condition- with factory warranty and less than a year old, Blue Woodpecker active ribbon that I am trying to sell in order to get a Sennheiser 416- or maybe trade that mic for a 416- or maybe a Neuman or possibly a Blue Blueberry. But for now, I am using another Blue condenser mic (Bluebird) and it´s not cutting the mustard. I have the woodpecker on ebay but only one nibble so far.
Hi Monty, well I did try a few things but your voice sounds so good as it is, there's not a lot I can do with it. As far as the mic goes, I think it sounds pretty good, of course I don't have a clue what processing you used on it. It's obviously well compressed or limited but I don't think it's to much, although it certainly don't need any more.

At this point I'm not sure what you're looking for. In that sound track that you seem to like and want to emulate I don't hear anything extrodinarily different or better than your own tracks. The only thing I noticed is that your mp3s didn't have quite as much volume as your target one did, which of course can lead to some misconceptions.

May I ask what kind of listening room you have? Is it a well treated room with good monitors? Or are you maybe using headphones? I only ask because you seem to hear something that I'm not or at least I can't put my finger on it.

Are you using a spectrum analyser at all, they can be great for zeroing in on frequencies and how loud they are.

At any rate, I think you have a great voice Monty and you know how to use it. The only thing about the mp3 you posted is that it was pretty dry so I did add a little convo-verb with a Small Wood Room impulse in a True Stereo configuration. I thought it improved it slightly by adding a small amount of ambience but I'm not sure if it helped it or not.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63198126/03%...Convo)%201.mp3
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