The Lesser Known Andy
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Post by The Lesser Known Andy on Dec 18, 2016 1:55:58 GMT -8
So, here it is! My very first demo reel. Any tips and ideas on how to improve it are very welcome, as I'm sure there are many ways that it could be made better! Click Here!Thanks for listening!
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Post by peterjvo on Dec 18, 2016 7:49:33 GMT -8
Good effort, I would call this more of a "voice sample" than it is a demo reel.
I didn't hear a whole lot of variance between the characters you were trying to portray, nor did I get a real sense of what kind of characters they were when I heard them.
What I learned from my improv class, it's best to establish a character, a scene, or relationship ASAP. Preferably within the opening lines. Take action, rather than making reactions in your demo real.
In a demo, each character you create should be about two sentences each and distinctive from one another, whether it's by the tone of your voice, the energy you put into it, or the scene that's taking place.
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Post by omegaflash4 on Dec 18, 2016 8:29:11 GMT -8
Hey Crooked! I listened to your demo and I really like the direction you were taking with it I get the feeling that you like playing mysterious characters and it shows that it's an archetype you've worked at.
Some critiques I have for you I noticed some light background noise behind your sample, I'd recommend trying the noise removal tool in audacity as it doesn't seem so bad that it can't be edited out at the cost of quality.
I'd also really like to see a wider range of characters I can see that you portray mysterious well, but can you do a bumbling klutz, a brave superhero, or a sarcastic comic relief, etc?
Along with that I think if you pushed the emotions you were portraying in some of you clips a bit more they would come across more strongly, I'd also like to see a but more variety in the emotions as well such as anger or joy.
It would also be interesting to see how you do reading lines at different cadences and paces, it may give you an idea for some new characters to explore!
All in all I think you're well on your way to being an amazing VA and I look forward to seeing more of your work!
^-^
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The Lesser Known Andy
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Posts: 30
I Am A(n): Creator/Producer, Voice/Casting Director, Writer, Hobbyist Voice Actor
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Post by The Lesser Known Andy on Dec 18, 2016 12:14:36 GMT -8
Thank you both for the input! I think I'll make a list of suggestions somewhere and write up a new batch of lines to read. Hopefully it'll be improved!
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The Uncertain Man
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Looking for some gentle feedback on how to improve my demo.
Posts: 164
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Post by The Uncertain Man on Dec 18, 2016 12:37:06 GMT -8
Sounds good Crooked. I'm confident you'll progress as you nab more roles and improve your recordings. Look forward to hearing your next demo.
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duffyweber
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Post by duffyweber on Dec 18, 2016 17:21:37 GMT -8
First let me say, you have a LOVELY voice and a solid reading ability. Others have already said to ramp up the emotions a bit and get more into it, so I'll skip that in favor of technical advice (I AM a mic/audio/computer geek, heheh)
It sounds like you work the mic properly, for the most part - your plosives don't seem to peak the mic on your P's or anything, but:
A) There IS a bit of technical noise - you've scraped the mic, or nudged the stand here and there. Keep an ear out for that when editing, and eliminate it or do a re-take.
B) You HAVE to run a noise filter on your recordings to remove the background hiss. Don't worry: it's easy! If you're using Audacity, grab a 3 to 5 second sample of "absolute silence" (no other noise but room noise) and use it as your sample to feed the noise reduction tool. Then select the whole recording, and and use CTRL+R (repeat last action - in this case, noise reduction.) Then listen to the before and after with some good headphones, and you'll think you got a $300 upgrade to your mic. ; )
(If you need more specific instruction on this, or you get lost, gimme a shout.)
That said, keep at it. Your voice is great, and I can see good things happening for you. ^_^
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The Lesser Known Andy
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Post by The Lesser Known Andy on Dec 19, 2016 4:01:23 GMT -8
Thanks, Uncertain! Appreciate it. duffyweber : Thank you for the kind words! And also, I just tried out what you suggested and damn. That is fantastic! It's was like one of those adverts for cleaning chemicals where they dip an old penny into it and half of it comes out shining like new... okay, a bit of a stretched analogy, but thanks for the tip! I'll be doing that on all my recordings in the future.
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duffyweber
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Post by duffyweber on Dec 19, 2016 5:44:10 GMT -8
Thanks, Uncertain! Appreciate it. duffyweber : Thank you for the kind words! And also, I just tried out what you suggested and damn. That is fantastic! It's was like one of those adverts for cleaning chemicals where they dip an old penny into it and half of it comes out shining like new... okay, a bit of a stretched analogy, but thanks for the tip! I'll be doing that on all my recordings in the future. I LOVE the analogy! ^_^ Just be sure you don't grab any noise but room noise. If you get, for example, someone talking in the background, or a chair squeaking, the cleaning algorithm will remove that range from your voice and you'll sound weird and tinny.
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The Lesser Known Andy
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Posts: 30
I Am A(n): Creator/Producer, Voice/Casting Director, Writer, Hobbyist Voice Actor
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Post by The Lesser Known Andy on Dec 19, 2016 5:49:51 GMT -8
Funnily enough, when I was trying it out, I actually creaked my chair on purpose to see what would happen and it was exactly as you said. I'll be sure to keep squeaky chairs and the like out of the background recording! xD I think I'll run through my demo reel again just to get rid of the background hiss.
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The Uncertain Man
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Looking for some gentle feedback on how to improve my demo.
Posts: 164
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Post by The Uncertain Man on Dec 19, 2016 6:57:06 GMT -8
B) You HAVE to run a noise filter on your recordings to remove the background hiss. Don't worry: it's easy! If you're using Audacity, grab a 3 to 5 second sample of "absolute silence" (no other noise but room noise) and use it as your sample to feed the noise reduction tool. Then select the whole recording, and and use CTRL+R (repeat last action - in this case, noise reduction.) Then listen to the before and after with some good headphones. Wow, I wish you were around to tell me this 4 months ago. I've never full understood how to use the noise reduction tool, just applied it to the gaps in my clips.
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duffyweber
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Post by duffyweber on Dec 19, 2016 11:03:56 GMT -8
B) You HAVE to run a noise filter on your recordings to remove the background hiss. Don't worry: it's easy! If you're using Audacity, grab a 3 to 5 second sample of "absolute silence" (no other noise but room noise) and use it as your sample to feed the noise reduction tool. Then select the whole recording, and and use CTRL+R (repeat last action - in this case, noise reduction.) Then listen to the before and after with some good headphones. Wow, I wish you were around to tell me this 4 months ago. I've never full understood how to use the noise reduction tool, just applied it to the gaps in my clips. It make a difference, to be sure! And it's not really as intuitive as one would like, is it? I think it'd be better if there was a "Get Noise Profile" and an "Apply to Selection" button, or something. XD I try not to get TOO aggressive with the settings. My noise reduction is set at 13dB, Sensitivity is zero, smoothing is 150Hz, and attack is 0.15. Not sure if that's the defaults or not. One of my favorite pastimes is seeing how far I can stretch a cheap mic using a DAW. (I've got some really nice ones, but I LOVE playing with cheapies and seeing how good I can make them sound.) Audacity has a GREAT noise removal tool (especially for a free product) and Reaper has a rather comprehensive (if somewhat involved) one. Play with them until you get good at them (if you get a bad sample selection, your voice will sound weird afterward - be careful of that) and you're gonna have a LOT better rate of responses on your auditions just from having clean audio. = )
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Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on Dec 19, 2016 17:48:30 GMT -8
Wow, I wish you were around to tell me this 4 months ago. I've never full understood how to use the noise reduction tool, just applied it to the gaps in my clips. It make a difference, to be sure! And it's not really as intuitive as one would like, is it? I think it'd be better if there was a "Get Noise Profile" and an "Apply to Selection" button, or something. XD I try not to get TOO aggressive with the settings. My noise reduction is set at 13dB, Sensitivity is zero, smoothing is 150Hz, and attack is 0.15. Not sure if that's the defaults or not. One of my favorite pastimes is seeing how far I can stretch a cheap mic using a DAW. (I've got some really nice ones, but I LOVE playing with cheapies and seeing how good I can make them sound.) Audacity has a GREAT noise removal tool (especially for a free product) and Reaper has a rather comprehensive (if somewhat involved) one. Play with them until you get good at them (if you get a bad sample selection, your voice will sound weird afterward - be careful of that) and you're gonna have a LOT better rate of responses on your auditions just from having clean audio. = )
You CAN select a segment of the waveform in Audacity and just apply the noise removal to that segment, if that's what you're talking about with "Apply to Selection". I just double-checked that (since it's not something I ordinarily do and wanted to make sure I was right). =) You just highlight the part you want to use noise removal on, (after getting the noise profile of course), and then use the noise removal tool as normal.
(Try it with the static from an internal mic or something, and you'll be able to *see* the effect.)
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duffyweber
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Posts: 220
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Post by duffyweber on Dec 19, 2016 19:24:32 GMT -8
It make a difference, to be sure! And it's not really as intuitive as one would like, is it? I think it'd be better if there was a "Get Noise Profile" and an "Apply to Selection" button, or something. XD I try not to get TOO aggressive with the settings. My noise reduction is set at 13dB, Sensitivity is zero, smoothing is 150Hz, and attack is 0.15. Not sure if that's the defaults or not. One of my favorite pastimes is seeing how far I can stretch a cheap mic using a DAW. (I've got some really nice ones, but I LOVE playing with cheapies and seeing how good I can make them sound.) Audacity has a GREAT noise removal tool (especially for a free product) and Reaper has a rather comprehensive (if somewhat involved) one. Play with them until you get good at them (if you get a bad sample selection, your voice will sound weird afterward - be careful of that) and you're gonna have a LOT better rate of responses on your auditions just from having clean audio. = )
You CAN select a segment of the waveform in Audacity and just apply the noise removal to that segment, if that's what you're talking about with "Apply to Selection". I just double-checked that (since it's not something I ordinarily do and wanted to make sure I was right). =) You just highlight the part you want to use noise removal on, (after getting the noise profile of course), and then use the noise removal tool as normal.
(Try it with the static from an internal mic or something, and you'll be able to *see* the effect.)
Thanks! Although I am actually aware of it - I was just lamenting that the button currently simply reads "OK." ; ) Noise removal from a small section is, as you pointed out, not something VAs usually deal with - more in the realm of sound engineers, because if, as a VA, you're doing noise-removal on a single area, it either means something was happening in the background and you should probably re-record anyway, or your 'fridge kicked on halfway through and was running. XD
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