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Audio is too thin
I’ve been working on a corporate video and I’m having trouble with the voices of my subjects sounding too thin. I’m not very experienced with Audacity, but my attempts at boosting the bass and using amplify but they haven’t yielded good results.
I’m hoping someone here can help me by giving me some advice about which filter(s) will help me add more meat to the peoples’ voices.
Audio is here: 4684_interviews12.aif.zip
Thanks in advance!
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15 Replies
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Just a few questions first…
What sort of mic did you use?
How far away was that mic from the person talking? -
HI
I have listened to your file.In my opinion, its not that the sound is too thin necessarily. There are lo frequencies present, but the recording suffers from
1) Too much distance. The mic is not near enough to the speaker
2) To much ambience. mic is picking up a lot of room reflections in addition to the direct sound. This makes it sound a little “boxy”
3) To lively a room. The acoustic of the room is poor. Hard, reflective, parallel walls make it too lively a space.
4) Poor amplitude. The recording levels are very low. Merely turning up the signal in a desk will also raise the room and bg noise with it so yes the voice will be louder but everything else will increase.Clearly as there are no pictures, Im guessing that these things are all contributing in a negative way for you.
In summary, i dont think theres much can be done as removing reverb is not something Im aware is possible at the moment.(If anyone knows different please send me the details and Ill be very happy)
Is re recording a possibility.
If so get these things right
1) location. look at the space and get one with plenty of soft furnishings, carpet and a less bouncy space.
2) Get a quality mic in close.
3) Look closely at your record levels.
4) Forget the viewfinder. Put on the headphones.Peter
Post Production Dubbing Mixer
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Peter,
Thanks for the detailed analysis. I know Brendan appreciates it.
There is De-Verb, an SPL plugin. I’ve tried it and my response is, “not so much.”
I have tried a lot of things to “de-roomify” a track. None with much luck.
George Massenburg designed a multi-band noise reduction filter for Disney a number of years ago that actually could reduce some reverb. It was a very special 6 band expander with other attributes.
Digidesign’s BNR has a lot more than six expanders. You might fiddle around with that, but no guarantees.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
“In summary, i dont think theres much can be done as removing reverb is not something Im aware is possible at the moment.(If anyone knows different please send me the details and Ill be very happy)”
This appears to be the state of the art these days…
https://www.zynaptiq.com/unveil/videos/But, of course a $400 (or $4000) plug-in after the fact can NEVER yield results that you would get by simply recording it properly in the first place.
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Richard,
I tried it for that particular purpose but was not impressed.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
Hey all, thanks for the responses. I’m not sure if those that listened to the audio listened all the way through to the end.
The first four segments (first :48 or so) were recorded at a different site than the rest of the track (:50 to the end) so it has reverb that isn’t present in the rest of the audio. In both instances, the mic was within 2-2.5 feet of the speakers’ chests. Since it was my first time using the mic in the field (Azden SGM-2X) I had to use a pre-amp, which was hooked up incorrectly. : (((((
Anywho, just to clear up my original question, I’m not that concerned about the reverb of the first speaker. I know there’s nothing that can be done about that. Plus there is a music track that plays underneath that mitigates some of the audio problems.
What I’m mostly concerned about is that the voices have no “authority” for lack of a better word. I’d just like to beef up their voices.
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I had to go check what the Azden mic was because it sure sounds like a stereo mic especially on the first voice. There is no center audio image only lots of Left & Right. The other voices have the same L/R issue but are not as strong as the 1st.
I don’t know if the mic was on a boom pole or camera mounted, either way it was too far from the sound source. Good luck in post, you have your work cut out for you.
Eric
“I push the RECORD button and hope for the best”
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That’s a mono mic.
https://www.azdencorp.com/new/product.php?productid=93299
Brenden, what camera did you use and what sort of cable?
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
Problem solved….. The track sounds GREAT.
The problem is that the LEFT track is 180 Deg out of phase to the RIGHT channel.
Either just use the LEFT track OR the RIGHT track but NOT BOTH.I have just dropped it into an editing program and inverted one of the channels and hey presto…. a very nicely recorded track
I bet the original poster of the thread used an ‘off the shelf’ cable incorrectly wired.
Probably XLR pin 1 to shield of a 3.5 plug, Pin 2 to tip of the 3.5mm and pin 3 to the ring of the 3.5mm plug.
The mic having a balanced O/P a positive signal will go to LEFT channel and a negative signal will be going to the RIGHT channel. -
Brian,
Yeah, that’s where I was going with my last question.
Good for you.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog
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