Changing tonality and voice between sessions

[jmac698]

Hello,

I have tried hard in my latest project to create consistent, distinct voices. Despite what I considered a fairly good performance, my equipment let me down. Try as I can, I can't get my voice to sound the same between sessions, let alone days.

Is this an issue you experience yourself? Perhaps I need more re-takes than most people. Have you eventually solved it?

I will describe the steps I take currently. My recording booth is set up in my closet, well padded on all sides with clothes and blankets. I cut a stick to 3" and use that to hold my pop filter at a measured distance. The mic is hanging upside down, about level to my mouth.

Despite knowing exactly the distance I need to reduce plosives and gain some of the bass of the proximity effect, it's nearly impossible to stay there. When I'm reading, it seems all my brain power goes to the performance, and I will end up moving around. The other problem is being able to read a laptop, looking down, but with the mic somewhat in the way. I end up having to creek my head to one side which hurts eventually

I know I need to experiment more. My mic is a Yeti, just so you can picture it, it's quite big, and the pop filter is a good 4" diameter. I saw one tip to put the mic above your mouth pointing down, perhaps that would help. Perhaps I need to print out my lines, but I 'd have to make a trip to the library for that, so it's a bit inconvenient. Is there a free teleprompter app for a tablet (Android) ? Any other ideas?

For reference, for my latest work, I read all my characters individually, however I found some missing words, and did a re-take on a different day. There was no way to make them sound the same. To me, the change in tone and voice is glaring. I don't know if listeners notice this much or not.
Here it is:
https://sndup.net/hv4z/
Voice inconsistency at 4:40, changes back at 4:52

Thanks

[Boomcoach]

I don't have an answer, all I can offer is sympathy, but I look forward to hearing if others have advice.

This is one reason that I do not ask for Word for Word PLing on my solo projects. It is so difficult to re-record something and paste it in without sounding jarring. I do my best to steal a word from elsewhere in the same recording to do edits.

I have had some luck adjusting volume of inserted sections to make it less jarring, but have no idea how to adjust pitch.

[Penumbra]

This is quite common. The problem (if you want to call it that) is that your voice doesn't sound exactly the same from day to day. Allergies, state of relaxation, mouth dryness or wetness, and a myriad of other factors all affect the sound. If you plot the spectrum of the original and new sound you will see a complex difference affecting both base tones and resonances. I read some time ago about some pricey software that might help, but it is beyond the capabilities of Audacity and similar tools.

On the plus side, tt is much more noticeable to you than it is to anyone else.

You might try:
1) do some voice warmup exercises before every recording session to get your voice to a more consistent sound.
2) If you are inserting words into an existing recording, listen to what the original sounds like and speak in that voice for a few minutes to get closer to the original.
3) If you have to insert a single word, re-record and replace the entire phrase or sentence (or paragraph).
4) Check the recording against the script and make needed fixes immediately after you do the original recording.
5) Adjust the volume of the new recording to match that of the original.

I used to worry a lot about this but eventually let go of it and, coincidentally, my voice became more consistent. Or maybe my hearing just deteriorated.

Regarding the pop filter blocking your view of the script, try moving the mic 30 to 45 degrees off axis. I did that and found I didn't even need the pop filter any more.

[Peter Why]

I think it will come with experience .. that is, you get to know the relationship between how your voice sounds in your head and how it sounds to you when you play back your recording.

At least for me, there are two aspects to the problem: 1) when I'm simply narrating a text in my normal voice, want to continue a recording, and find that my voice doesn't match, it's often solved by re-recording at the same time of day as the earlier recording ... your "normal" voice changes through the day; and 2) when you're recording the voice of a character in your text and want to continue with the same voice, you can make a series of test recordings in slightly different intonations to compare with the earlier recording, so you can find the best match. It's a matter of remembering the tensions in your mouth and throat, and the dialect and emotion that you hope will colour the piece.

Oh, and finally, when you insert/append your new recording to the old, adjust its overall volume to fit with that of the ending of the old recording .. especially the first word or two.

I wish you luck; it can be quite hard work.

Peter

[DrSpoke]

Hi,

I'm still on the quest for that gral, and still stress too much about the differences between one session and another, but I can share my current recording set up -not satisfactory, but the best so far in my situation:

I have no booth, no padding. Small laptop on desk facing the wall. Cheap usb mic with accessories. Audacity.
I nowadays keep the mic head up, not hanging, slightly to the side, enough to allow me to read from the laptop. I've moved the lollypop purposedly to the side; imagine an L where one end is for the mic and the other for the lollypop. I stay quite close, kind of partly framed by that imaginary L, and move as little as possible. The mic is wearing the foam cap.

Good luck with your trial and error. Sometimes focusing on what other people get wrong can help to figure out how to do it better. Sometimes counterintuitive works somehow.

P.S. the file linked seems empty and I can't operate on it.

[barleyguy]

One of the biggest causes of the "room" sounding different between sessions is microphone placement. Because rooms have uneven frequency response, moving the microphone even a couple of inches can make the room sound completely different.

If you have a dedicated space you record in, I would recommend getting a microphone arm that attaches to the desk or wall, and once you find a place you really like for the microphone, lock it down tight and leave it there. Good microphone arms can be found for less than $20 at the usual retailers.

EDIT: Also, as far as your voice varying when you move in and out of the proximity effect, my advice would be: don't do that. "Proper" microphone placement is 6-8 inches from the mic, with the mic on axis but your mouth off axis, for example with the microphone to the side of your face but with the front of it pointed towards you. People who listen to the recording are much more interested in the story and your emotional expression of the story than how pretty your voice sounds when it's close to the microphone, IMO. So if you are getting a lot of variance from the proximity effect, don't be so close that's a factor.

My two cents.

[jmac698]

You're right, the posted file is empty. Oh well, here is another link:

https://librivox.org/uploads/m8b1/casebook_10_doyle_128kb.mp3

[quartertone]

You're right, the posted file is empty. Oh well, here is another link:

https://librivox.org/uploads/m8b1/casebook_10_doyle_128kb.mp3

I record jn the corner of a basement room (not relevant), and have some acoustic foam padding on the walls (slightly relevant). I have learned to maintain mostly consistent mouth-mic distance by sighting the patterns of the padding on the walls as landmarks so I can tell if I'm in the approximate sweet spot. You could probably do the same with the blankets/clothes in your closet recording space. Or put some masking tape on the walls as reference points.

Another useful trick is to listen to your previously recorded voices so you can match it more accurately. For my current solo work I have a collection of character voice clips to use as reference if I forget what they sounded/felt like. I've found this extremely useful, especially when the characters disappear from the plot for a while, or (like you) if I need to patch up some spots.

As far as proximity effect, consistent positioning will/might take care of most of this, but I've found that the Audacity effect "Bass and Treble" (bass cut -3dB) to be very helpful in removing some of that proximity bass.

Mic positioning is tricky. I now have my mic positioned at about forehead height, pointing downward toward my mouth. This way it keeps the mic out of my line of sight, as well as out of my line of breath. I do still use a pop filter for the occasional breath that makes its way to the microphone.

That's my setup! It might not be so relevant to your situation but maybe you'll find something useful in there.

[jmac698]

Thanks for the empathy and advice, you have all given great tips! I can't wait to try different setups for my next project. I'll report what I've found!

[jmac698]

Hello,

I have tried some of the tips presented. My current setup has the mic on an arm, level with my nose and as close as convenient, which is about 4". I now have a chair and look slightly down to read. This is much more comfortable as I can easily see the screen. The chair is against a wall and can't move, and the mic arm isn't touched. This has turned out to be much more consistent for me, and the audio tone is nearly perfect. The only differences I have to battle now are speed and sometimes pitch of my voice, as it seems it raises if I get a little enthusiastic. I also added a slight bass boost, which is somewhat similar to the proximity effect, though I'm curious to try to measure exactly what proximity does, perhaps by humming continuously as I move closer.

I managed to record a new work of 50 minutes long in just 4 hours of recording and finish it in 2 days. (I should say, necessarily 1 hour of reviewing and more to make notes).

[jmac698]

Using the new setup, it takes the mic out of the equation. To handle actual changes in voice, I have completed some 22 seamless edits, by these methods using Audacity:
-to pitch up your voice, use Effect, Pitch and Tempo, Change speed. I've used 1-3%
-to ptich down your voice, you can use Change Pitch, but only to -2%
-you can use Tempo by a few % to adjust pacing
-Changing pitch upward sounds unnatural
-Be sure to use Amplify to match volume as well

I've gotten perfect edits of two halves of a sentence on different days.

When recording the re-takes, you can also record variations like changes in pitch and pacing, to help you better blend in edit. That saves you from having to practice each line. For character voices, you should always practice the lines.

[DrSpoke]

Great!
Thanks for sharing back!

[fosterwest33]

Hello,

I have tried hard in my latest project to create consistent, distinct voices. Despite what I considered a fairly good performance, my equipment let me down. Try as I can, I can't get my voice to sound the same between sessions, let alone days.

Is this an issue you experience yourself? Perhaps I need more re-takes than most people. Have you eventually solved it?

I will describe the steps I take currently. My recording booth is set up in my closet, well padded on all sides with clothes and blankets. I cut a stick to 3" and use that to hold my pop filter at a measured distance. The mic is hanging upside down, about level to my mouth.

Despite knowing exactly the distance I need to reduce plosives and gain some of the bass of the proximity effect, it's nearly impossible to stay there. When I'm reading, it seems all my brain power goes to the performance, and I will end up moving around. The other problem is being able to read a laptop, looking down, but with the mic somewhat in the way. I end up having to creek my head to one side which hurts eventually

I know I need to experiment more. My mic is a Yeti, just so you can picture it, it's quite big, and the pop filter is a good 4" diameter. I saw one tip to put the mic above your mouth pointing down, perhaps that would help. Perhaps I need to print out my lines, but I 'd have to make a trip to the library for that, so it's a bit inconvenient. Is there a free teleprompter app for a tablet (Android) ? Any other ideas?

For reference, for my latest work, I read all my characters individually, however I found some missing words, and did a re-take on a different day. There was no way to make them sound the same. To me, the change in tone and voice is glaring. I don't know if listeners notice this much or not.
Here it is:
https://sndup.net/hv4z/
Voice inconsistency at 4:40, changes back at 4:52

Thanks

As far as I know, there are several free teleprompter apps available for Android tablets. Some popular options include "Teleprompter Pro" and "PromptSmart Lite". These apps can help you keep lines in sight without having to constantly look at the script, which can reduce the need to move your head.

[KevinS]

At my level, I am just happy to be participating. I feel---hope!---that listeners are forgiving of the variations they hear in my voice.

What seems a wonder to me is that the professional recordings, whatever they may be, seem to have defeated this problem with technology. I presume this is done with a high level of expense, and not just an expensive microphone.