Rich, deep, trailer-type voice effect

[John Locke]

Hey audio experts,

Anyone have any pointers about which filters to use on a voice recording to give it that really great sound that you hear in movie trailers?

Expensive audio equipment and years of experience aside (don't have either right now)...what would be the "best shot" at getting "close" using FCP's built-in audio filters?

So far, I've used:

- Expander/Noise Gate to get rid of background hum
- 3 Band Equalizer, pumping up bass, keeping midtones and high pitch at their presets
- Reverberation, set very low (5) at a small room setting.

But it just isn't getting there...

[Rob Lohman]

According to my audio guru (and LX co-producer) it is basically
in the voice of the person. You can "amplify" the effect a bit, but
basically only when it is already there. Case of you've got it or
you don't it seems.

[John Locke]

That's the problem...this guy I recorded has "got it". Silky smooth radio voice.

Unfortunately, my audio skills ain't got it.

[Peter Jefferson]

afew things i woud suggest on top of what u have already listed...
One thing to note, is that FCP doesnt have facilities like soundforge or any hardware units, so its really hard to say what would work and what wouldnt, obviously the source is the key factore hear, and working with what u got make it hard when ur only limiting yourself to the one applicaiton.
anywyas

to fatten it, i would suggest a chorus plugin.

Compression - A nice tight comp to keep the freq stable

Aural Exciter - I dunno if these are available as plugs for FCP, but i use a hardware Aphex Aural Exciter which is integrated with 2 of my samplers (A3000mkII and RS7000) but can be bought as standalone rackmount
http://fr.music-hardware.com/item-169-0.html#

Its also available in SW form now http://www.digidesign.com/products/d...roduct_id=3820

As mentioned a nice Chorus plugin, such as the DBAudioware plugs, they make some really nice fat verbs too.

Another trick with woudl be to run the effect thru a LP filter and slowly tweak it open as it builds to the ful effect takes hold at teh peak.

theres lots u can do with audio :)

[Peter Jefferson]

how long does the audio go for?

I woudlnt mind messing around with it.. i need to keep in practice and i havent done any projects like this for a while...

if u like drop me an email and we can go from there

[John Locke]

I really appreciate the offer, Peter...but I'm on a mission to get this right myself for once. Audio has been my biggest foe.

Thanks for all the tips above...I'm off to FCP right now to try out what I can.

[Peter Jefferson]

hehehe no probs, i know the feeling mate...
I been at the audio game for 12 yrs now.. its not easy teaching urself the ins and outs, but when it finally dawns, its THE best feeling!!

hey, if u want a nice strange poltergeist effect, reverse the audio, run a reverb thru it, then reverse it back to normal.
now run another reverb thru it...

:)

[Charles Papert]

I've always thought that it had a lot to do with the mike used.

It's impossible for me to think about this subject without this trailer coming to mind...

[Federico Dib]

I used to design and "direct" Multi Media Computer Based Training and I had to work a lot with radio narrators.. (actually among the bests in my country) and I had to be at the studio when they were recording... and one thing I learned while talking to the audio guy, who by the way used pro-tools..
Is that to get a rich, warm, fat voice TV narration like.. you need 3 things:

1. - A good voice.
2. - A great mic.
3. - An outstanding tube preamp for that mic.. And he´d turn his preamp on and off just to show me the difference.. and it was obvious that there was the key to that sound.

I don´t know if one can recreate some of those tube preams on software plugins... but I guess there has to be something like that out there.

[Jeff Patnaude]

Hi John,
the radio voice or movie trailer voice is a guy making around $800 plus and hour (probably double that too). We hire voice over talent here at my work and the better guys make $700 for walking in, doing a quick read. Thats union for ya.

In order to get the best results- on most mics you are using- have the talent read quieter and closer to the mic. You get better presence that way. Compression will help you from clipping- but use it sparingly. It will be most effective for evening out quieter or louder passages. Too much will cause distortion (crispie sound). I'd stay away from any chorusing or reverb unless it's relevent to the video or piece. I'd always record clean and add that in post.

The place you do the recording in should be as quiet and acoustically "dead" as possible. You can even hang blankets off of ladders, or if you are inclined, build "gobo's" with sound deadening stuff on them and arrange them together into a sort of booth. Thin plywood backing with a hinge, sound stuff glued on the front works. Markertek has material for fairly decent prices.

I use a Neumann A87 mic and an Avalon Tube preamp. MAN do they sound good! Very silky! Course- I couldn't afford it myself.

Hope there's a nugget of helpful info there somewhere.

Good luck!
Jeff Patnaude

[Rob Lohman]

Thanks for the link Charles, I had forgotten about it and it is just
too hilarious! You just made my day.

[John Locke]

I love that trailer...I've always wondered what his every day speaking voice is like.

"Tube Preamp" eh? Hmm...that's worth a look around to see if a software version exists.

[Matt Gettemeier]

Well Gang, I'm beginning to think I'm getting a SERIOUS handle on getting the best possible sound for video... and fortunately I LOVE to share.

Yes, the right person is important... but as you say, you have a guy who "has the goods".

In that case I'd second the input regarding the tube pre-amp.

You may not have seen my little thread regarding the Rode NTK tube mic (under $500 total INCLUDING TUBE PRE)... Well, rather then just SAY "You won't believe how good it is..." I'm going to show you. Starting with John. Get ready for a quick listen via email.

What you hear is a friend of mine. He is "just a guy" with NO connections to video or broadcasting. I took 1 minute explaining proximity effect to him and how to NOT pop the mic in close range. This friend of mine then donned my 7506's and proceeded to close in on the mic... to about 6".

With a large diaphragm mic in close proximity... especially a tube mic... get ready to be FREAKED OUT.

That's all I have to say for now... let's see what John has to say after my email...

BTW this is with NO processing and NO special room... just NTK straight into my DVX and on to your ears.

[John Locke]

"Who's your daddy?" That cracked me up!

Now that IS impressive, Matt! And that's the type of sound I was going for.

Mind sharing details about the preamp? What model is it? How does it work...just as an intermediary device between the mic and your computer?

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

Hey!!! we also want to hear about this! put it online!

thanks! :)