Changing voice intonation at DVinfo.net

Kathy Smith · July 13th, 2015, 01:32 PM

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

Roger Gunkel · July 13th, 2015, 03:14 PM

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

Roger

Rick Reineke · July 14th, 2015, 10:00 AM

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..

Kathy Smith · July 14th, 2015, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Reineke

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..

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

Greg Miller · July 14th, 2015, 12:09 PM

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

Kathy Smith · July 14th, 2015, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Miller

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

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?

Rick Reineke · July 14th, 2015, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathy Smith

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

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.

Greg Miller · July 14th, 2015, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathy Smith

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?

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.

Kathy Smith · July 14th, 2015, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Miller

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.

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.

Jonathan Levin · July 15th, 2015, 11:10 PM

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

Kathy Smith · July 17th, 2015, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Levin

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

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

Greg Miller · July 17th, 2015, 03:08 PM

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.

July 13th, 2015, 01:32 PM	#1
Kathy Smith Major Player Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NY, NY USA Posts: 519	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

July 13th, 2015, 03:14 PM	#2
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Changing voice intonation You could try a bit of gentle pitch lifting on the last bit which will lower it slightly. Roger

July 14th, 2015, 10:00 AM	#3
Rick Reineke Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New York Posts: 2,039	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..

July 14th, 2015, 12:09 PM	#5
Greg Miller Trustee Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,793	Re: Changing voice intonation There is a similar tool in Cool Edit / Audition if that helps you any.

July 15th, 2015, 11:10 PM	#10
Jonathan Levin Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Chicago, Illinois USA Posts: 692	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 __________________ "Fearless Fernando Hernandez: A Fighter's Journey"" Jonathan Levin Photography & Video

July 17th, 2015, 03:08 PM	#12
Greg Miller Trustee Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,793	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.