Changing voice intonation
 

Hi,

This is probably a really stupid question but I'm going to go for it. Is it possible to change voice intonation? If someone's voice at the end of sentence doesn't natural drop off like it's an end of sentence but is more open like there should be more coming, is there a way to change it? Using equalizer, perhaps? Just curious.

Thanks
K

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

You could try a bit of gentle pitch lifting on the last bit which will lower it slightly.

Roger

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Yes, I've done that a few times, a pitch bender is a better choice IMO, which is variable (up/down over time. I use the iZotope e'lastique Timestretch, which can bend the pitch as well as alter the time. I've never tried a (fixed) pitch shifter..

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

I can't find iZotope e'lastique Timestretch, is this a plugin or a stand alone product?

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

There is a similar tool in Cool Edit / Audition if that helps you any.

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Yes, I found "Pitch Bender" in Audacity but I need to figure out how to use it. So far, I am not getting any positive results. Any tips on how to use it?

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Actually, it's from Zplane not iZotope.. as I thought.. sorry. In any case, it's a plug-in that was included w/ Sound Forge Pro which also includes the iZotope Mastering suite and Nectar Elements.
Saltline 'Son of a pitch' is a free VST plug. I haven't tried it or know how well it works.
Saltline.co.uk.
Search the KVR.com site for others.

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Sorry, I've never used Audacity (although I've recommended it to other folks who want something that's freeware). I am talking about Adobe Audition, which started life as Cool Edit Pro. The names are a bit confusing but Audacity is not Audition.

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Sorry, I meant Adobe Audition, got the name confused. I have Adobe Audition and looked at "Pitch bender" but have no idea how to make it sound right using this tool.

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Kathy.

I just had to alter a 21 year old female's voice to sound like she is 50. I just used the built-in pitch audio plug-in in FCP X ever so slightly.

Trust you ears. Make an adjustment, listen to it, then I recommend walking away for sometime and then listen to it again.

And in you case if you need to just do the very end word or short phrase, try setting a keyframe and sort of fade the Pitch adjustment in. Carefully. Again walk away after doing this and replay another time.

Good luck.

Jonathan

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

Thanks Jonathan.

I'm able to make the voice sound like someone else's voice but changing the pitch so the sentence sounds finished is challenging. Maybe my expectations are too high, is it really possible to do it so it really sounds like the end of sentence or the only thing that can be accomplished is just a slight improvement? I just need to know what's possible.
Thanks

Re: Changing voice intonation
 

From my experience, it takes a lot of experimentation, and even then sometimes it's not successful.

Select the entire last word, or maybe the last syllable, or maybe some intermediate length. Apply a "sliding" or "gliding" stretch. The beginning should be 100%, the end should be no more than 106% of the original time, or 94% of the original pitch. (Those numbers are based on my experience, they're not carved in stone. And even those numbers are sometimes too extreme and will start to sound artificial.)

Note that if there's any room reverb immediately after the altered word, the reverb will be at the original pitch, not the modified pitch. It will sound funny. You may need to listen carefully to see where the reverb is, and modify that pitch, too. But don't keep shifting downward. Keep the reverb at the same amount of stretch as the very end of the word.

If you use an option like "change pitch, preserve time" or "... preserve tempo" then this will sometimes introduce a choppy quality into the voice.

The non-choppy alternative is "preserve neither" which will change the overall length of the file. You then need to subtract the original file length from the modified file length, to come up with the difference expressed as some number of samples. Then find a quiet spot right after the place where you made the pitch shift, and delete that same number of samples, so the resulting file is the exact same length as the original.

Of course if there's any noticeable background noise ... especially a steady pitch hum ... that will be stretched, too. That will just complicate the entire procedure.

And remember you can't do this successfully with every speaker and every word. Some just defy fixing. So don't hire a narrator who's guilty of "up-speak" in the first place! A good voice actor should know better.