Audacity tips (how to improve voice)

[CinemaguyMaster]

Hello guys. I use Audacity for my podcast show. I'm wondering if you guys have tips to improve the voice (like settings/tips/plug-ins). We are looking for a deep, radio kind of voice with a bit of bass.

Thanks in advance

[SteveRunner]

If this is something you really want, I'd recommend that you use dynamic range compression wiht a threshold of -12 dB, a ratio of 3:1 and an attack time of 0.1 seconds...normalized to 0dB after compressing...then play around with bass boost.

I can't imagine why you'd want to ruin your voice with a "pumped up optimod-like" compression sound like we use in AM/FM radio though...it'll drive 90% of your audience away...the same audience who may have come to your podcast to escape THAT sound in crappy AM/FM radio.

And I'm a former broadcast engineer who used to get "big bucks" to program pre and post audio processing to achieve that sound, including AM "clipping" which was a trick to get our audience on the edge of the signal to hear the station....talk about a "crappy sound"...ugh.

My advice is to "keep it real" and limit the amount of processing you use. I use a Comp16 compressor for my RE20 microphone...not to BOOST the sound, but to "fill in" the freqs lost in my voice. Anyone who listens to my show and heard my voice in person would hear the same thing.

Good luck with it though.

- SR

[Rasheed]

I agree with Steve. In podcasting, the more natural you sound, the better. Do voice processing with utmost restraint, the less the better. Clean it up, but don't improve it.

[RobotsLove]

A 3:1 compression is a nice way to control the ambient peaks in the volume of your voice. Don't go overboard and hard limit so your wav smashes the ceiling. Good radio stations will make the voice sound big and thick without smashing the dynamics of speech. I have, however, never heard anyone give up radio totally for podcasting for this one fact, I'd bet it's probably the 20 mins of commercials per hour that does it.

The distancing of how radio is done from how podcasters should do things is another discussion with plenty of opinions, but if you like radio style vocals then by all means do them; I know I process for that. This whole "natural is better" kind of stems out of the fact not many podcasters have the equipment or knowledge to reproduce the radio sound. For the majority of shows it's a very guerilla approach.

My first question is what mic are you using? If you aren't getting a good low/mid response then get a new mic, you can't manipulate frequencies that weren't recorded in the first place. Radio stations have $300+ mics and they also speak fairly closely into them, taking advantage of proximity effect to fatten the voice.

If you tell me about your rig, I could give you some more advice.

[CinemaguyMaster]

Thank you for all the replies guys. Basically I want just a bit of bass, but I'm getting some distortion that I don't like. I'll try your settings. Thanks again

[CinemaguyMaster]

I use M-Audio Dynamic Microphone with a pop filter

[RobotsLove]

Thank you for all the replies guys. Basically I want just a bit of bass, but I'm getting some distortion that I don't like. I'll try your settings. Thanks again

Ok, well if you're getting some distortion there could be a few reason. Is it on plosive syllables like "pa's" or "ba's"? Do your levels look under control or does it look like the waveform is clipping? You can peak the meters on your mixer and the waveform won't look as loud but still clipped (flattened).

What you want to do is set your mixer's level to 7 and then adjust the gain until you get a nice strong signal but that isn't going in the red. Since you aren't mixing your voice against any other live source you really don't need to move the overall level away from 7.

As far as getting more bass, you could ramp up wide around 100hz to fatten your voice, but cheaper vocal mics(not cheap, but cheaper, $70+ compared to $250+) designed for live use tend to be light on bass in general.

[CinemaguyMaster]

Kool, thanks. It's weird but in my previous shows, I didn't hear any distortion. But I did in the last one.
It's not that noticable, but it bothers me a bit. I'm kind of a noob on this (just few months playing with the Audacity settings). Can you guys share your "dream" settings in Audacity to optimize your voice? step by step after the recording.

Thank you again

[Yotto]

There is such a wide range of not just voices, but recording setups, that telling you what I do for my voice will be little help. I do a show with several people, and each of us react to compression and leveling differently. Plus, things have greatly changed from when I was using a headset mic to now that I'm using professional mics and a mixer.

But, the real keys to success are Amplification, Leveling (if you're using the "beta" of Audacity which you should, it's just as stable as the "stable" release), Noise Removal (If you need it. If you can get a good enough sound to not need it that goes a *long* way to having good final sound) and Compression. Unless I'm doing something special (fading in/out, overlaying music, etc) those are all I use, and I try to use them as sparingly as possible.

[CinemaguyMaster]

cool. I have a quick question. Am I allowed to post my site where my podcast files are so you guys can hear it? just wondering. I don't want to break any rules and I just got here. :p

[RobotsLove]

cool. I have a quick question. Am I allowed to post my site where my podcast files are so you guys can hear it? just wondering. I don't want to break any rules and I just got here. :p

You can add a link to your forum signature or use the New Show Announcements forum in the listeners section.

You can always add your feed to the Alley as well

[CinemaguyMaster]

I just did (on my sign) :D