Changing your pitch for a dramatic reading?

JohanLiebert · Post by **JohanLiebert** » August 19th, 2012, 4:30 am

I always experience a change of pitch whenever I patch new recordings to old recordings... and I just recently found the Change Pitch function in Audacity. Is it ok to use it when you've claimed a male role to make it sound male and vice versa?

this is my 1-minute chapter 16 recording of Mary, A Fiction
http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/xx/mary1minOrig.mp3

this one has higher pitch than the original
http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/xx/mary1min.mp3

this one's lower
http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/xx/mary1minLOW.mp3

Post by **KiltedDragon** » August 19th, 2012, 6:53 am

I use it when I do character voices, most recently to do Billy Bones and Long John Silver in Treasure Island. I don't see any reason not to. It is a very helpful tool as is the Change Tempo which I also applied to Long John.

YouTube · Post by **Darvinia** » August 19th, 2012, 5:10 pm

I'll add my agreement. I've used it to create voices for short stories. It's fun to play with!

JohanLiebert · Post by **JohanLiebert** » August 19th, 2012, 5:53 pm

Ooohh, great! This will help me a lot when I claim a male role!

jollyrogered · Post by **jollyrogered** » August 20th, 2012, 1:16 pm

I've never played with this feature, apparently I need too.

Post by **TriciaG** » August 20th, 2012, 5:18 pm

I've tried it, but I never liked the result of lowering my voice, so I leave it alone.

catrose · Post by **catrose** » August 20th, 2012, 5:24 pm

I did a short story with the pitch higher (I was meant to be a monkey) and there was a part where I highered it, then lowered it to sound like a boy (it helps that most of my recordings already sound like twelve year old boys, or so my mum says) and it really worked. Bob (bobgon55) thought someone else had recorded that part for me. Sorry, reading back on this, it doesn't make much sense.

Cat

Post by **ToddHW** » August 20th, 2012, 6:24 pm

Go listen to The Dragon of Wantley - our version 1 by D A Frank. I keep bringing this up as the premier example I have heard of what you can do to create characters with the Audacity controls - still can't believe it is a solo version!!! arden1066 has explained somewhere in the forum how she did it.

Thanks, Todd

JohanLiebert · Post by **JohanLiebert** » August 20th, 2012, 7:19 pm

ToddHW wrote:Go listen to The Dragon of Wantley - our version 1 by D A Frank. I keep bringing this up as the premier example I have heard of what you can do to create characters with the Audacity controls - still can't believe it is a solo version!!! arden1066 has explained somewhere in the forum how she did it.

Thanks, Todd

I'll definitely listen to it. Thank you Todd!

Post by **annise** » August 20th, 2012, 7:27 pm

viewtopic.php?p=696117#p696117 is the link for the description of what was done and how - and it worked beautifully.
But I have heard ones that were awful - so do listen to it as a whole , not just think that it is different therefore it is OK

Anne

JohanLiebert · Post by **JohanLiebert** » August 20th, 2012, 7:34 pm

annise wrote:viewtopic.php?p=696117#p696117 is the link for the description of what was done and how - and it worked beautifully.
But I have heard ones that were awful - so do listen to it as a whole , not just think that it is different therefore it is OK

Anne

Cool! I've been doing a lot of pitch chancing lately, experimental how it would sound like... and that link would incredibly helpful!

Post by **KiltedDragon** » August 21st, 2012, 5:04 am

I find it easiest to record all the characters lines at one time if I can. Once I find "the voice" for that character, it is easier for me to just keep going with it. Like arden1066 said, I find a catch phrase for that character and I repeat it every time I would start to record a section for them. The latest example would be repeating "Them that dies will be the lucky ones" for Long John Silver each time I started another section for him. Then when I have all or almost all the sections done for a character, I apply the same Change Pitch and/or Change Tempo and Noise Removal changes to all those recordings and it turns out pretty consistent. I have to copy and paste in the characters lines when I do a solo recording but I find that easier than trying to change voices during the recording and then having to apply Audacity changes to each separate speaking part.

BearCares · Post by **BearCares** » September 11th, 2012, 3:01 pm

It would be interesting to hear an auto-tuned Shakespearean play. Or like Anne of the Island or something.

I can't remember a real quote from the book but you might imagine something like, "The distinguished gentlemen from India greeted Anne with a smile and then ejaculated"

TaoPhoenix · Post by **TaoPhoenix** » January 6th, 2013, 12:34 am

I'll jump in and say that I do it from the listener side. It's more for music, but it might be a technique for those people who aren't quite happy with how certain readers sound. My mood varies, but I tend to prefer audio texts slower and lower pitched. So I'd take an existing rendition and drop both the tempo and the pitch down to where I like it. (Change Speed does both as a single step in Audacity.)