-
How do you turn up the volume of a voice, without room tone turning up noticeably?
I am mixing the audio for a project, and it’s my first time doing the mix myself, but I want to learn :). I have an actor who’s voice goes loud when he gets emotional, but then goes very quiet when he is calm.
These really quiet parts are hard to hear, so I have to turn them up. But if I do the room tone in those tracks goes up with him of course. I could turn up the separate room tone tracks up more loud to match, but then I am just worried about the room tone being too loud.
Is there anything I could, or should do in this case?
-
3 Replies
-
Hello Ryan, Welcome back.
This can happen. A good sound person will vary the gain while the actor is giving the lines to help keep the level more even. At some point however, if they get too quiet, there’s not a lot you can do because, as you have found, the ambient noise (room tone) is raised.
Actors with film experience know this and reveal their emotions more through expression, not volume. The actor may be directable and another take made.
In your case, you’ve got what you’ve got and have learned another valuable lesson. If the quieter lines were repeated in a closeup, you might use that.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog -
Okay thanks! If the sound person recording on set has to raise and lower the levels though, then you will hear it go up and down in the recording though. I thought that the level was suppose to be kept at one level to remain even, unless you absolutely have to raise it up or down, but normally, it’s suppose to be kept at one even level for consistency, isn’t it?
-
asked and answered, Ryan,
“This can happen. A good sound person will vary the gain while the actor is giving the lines to help keep the level more even. At some point however, if they get too quiet, there’s not a lot you can do because, as you have found, the ambient noise (room tone) is raised.”
Gain changing is especially common in dramatic shoots. Doing it so that you don’t notice and don’t clip is part of the art and craft of a good sound person.
Even on non-dramatic shoots, I might get a talent who talks a LOT louder after taking a breath than when he/she is about out of breath. it happens all the time. If the ambient sound is not a problem, I will duck the first moment of their line after they breathe and slowly bring the level up as they talk. This is called “Riding Gain.” Please read this paragraph three times.
I mentioned riding gain during a workshop presentation to video producers in Washington, D. C. years ago and got a loud, “THANK YOU!” from the back of the room from someone who had obviously run into the same problem.
You may not currently have the skills to do it now.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up