Audio editing effect question

[ColleenMc]

This is not directly about Librivox, but it's...say, Librivox-adjacent, and the answer may be relevant to Libivoxers here.

I'm doing a freelance word-perfect prooflisten of a professional or semi-professional audio recording of a book. I don't know if the narrator is using Audacity or some other recording/editing software.

But i'm noticing that just about every word is a little dropped at the ends, I guess to avoid hard consonant sounds and plosives, but it also sometimes makes a plural sounds singular or slightly distorts words -- "book" sounds like "booh". On the vast majority of words the brain automatically fills in the tiny missing bit from context, and I don't know how noticeable it would be to someone who wasn't prooflistening at a very granular level.

Is this some kind of filter or effect that can be applied in recording to drop the volume on the ends of words? Is it a setting in Audacity or other recording software? Or is it perhaps a trick that a more pro reader knows to do with their voice?

And do other pro recordings do this all the time and I just don't notice because I'm not reading the text word for word while I listen? (Actually I just went and listened to bits of my Audible editions of Tale of Two Cities read by Simon Vance and Mansfield Park read by Wanda McCaddon and they both clearly enunciate the ends of words--hisses, hard stops and all. So maybe not)

I ask both because I'm curious and because I'm trying to decide how or whether to mention it in my recording notes. The book is only about a third done, so even if they don't want to go back and change it in what's already recorded, if it's a matter of over engineering or a filter/effect being applied, they could maybe leave it off going forward if they know about it. It's not a huge deal but when doing an word perfect proofing, I have to keep rolling back and relistening to decide if there's a very very quiet "s" on the end of a word or if it truly does sound singular where it should be plural, and if I should add it to the notes or not. I think if I do bring it up to the guy who is coordinating this project, if it is systematic, I'd like to be able to also offer a suggested explanation that he could ask the narrator about. Or maybe he is doing the recording or editing/engineering himself.

Anyway, thanks for any enlightenment you good folks can provide on this! If there is a filter or effect like that it would be nice to know about for editing my own recordings in Audacity here when the hard stops or plosives get out of hand in a particular word, rather than re-recording a snippet to get rid of it.

Colleen

[Availle]

I think this may be due to some sort of de-clicker or similar effect.
If it is too sensitive, it doesn't only take out the mouth clicks (which we all make, more or less), but can also attack hard popping consonants on the beginning or ending of a word.

[ColleenMc]

Interesting! Is that a typical effect or filter in Audacity or similar recording software?

This place is so educational!

Colleen

[GrayHouse]

If it's just on the beginnings and ends of words/phrases then it's probably a noise gate effect. They work by reducing the audio level (or muting it altogether) when the volume falls below a preset level, so they act to reduce the background noise between the words. They can also be used to attenuate breath sounds, but you have to be careful in choosing the right settings. If the threshold level is set too high, or they 'open' too slowly or 'close' too quickly then they can clip the ends of words. I think that's what you're hearing. There is a Noise Gate effect in Audacity, but it's usually better to use the Noise Reduction effect which actually works like a sophisticated noise gate.

-Ian

[DaleInTexas]

Yep- either a too heavy-handed de-clicker, gate, or de-esser (if you notice it only on the Ss) applied, or combo of any/all above.
Dale

[knotyouraveragejo]

I agree. It's probably a noise gate set at slightly too high a level.