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Post by benedict on Sept 11, 2018 13:38:07 GMT -8
Please don't give up.
And please do mention this on the VAC Discord server. I think it'd lead to a much more constructive conversation than you might think. And by all means butt in. I don't think you're the only person in this position. That alone makes it a good topic for discussion.
I don't see the "must move away from USB" as much here or in the VAC Discord as I do other places. (If I've contributed to that in any way, I apologize.) You're absolutely right, though. Equipment does not dictate acting ability or vice-versa, and the two really should be judged separately.
I wish I could help you with the neighbor thing. I'm in a similar boat. I can't start recording at night until around 10pm, and I wake up at 5:30am. Sleep is a necessity. If I figure anything out that doesn't break the bank, I'll be sure to post it here. So far, not much has fixed it.
Hang in there.
Tom
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Post by benedict on Jul 29, 2018 16:53:22 GMT -8
A couple of thoughts: You can post audio for feedback here in the forums, but you can often get a quicker response if you post the track to the "feedback wanted" channel on the VAC Discord Server: voiceacting.boards.net/thread/2099/announcement-vac-discord-serverAs far as what to read, that's entirely up to you. Voice acting encompasses such a wide range of voice work, no matter what you read, it applies. Ad copy, short stories, radio dramas, scripts, the newspaper, blogs, etc. it's all fair game for getting feedback. If you choose to audition for a role (lots of roles to audition for here on VAC), you can also post your audition lines on the VAC Discord for feedback. Cheers! Tom
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Post by benedict on Jul 25, 2018 9:36:12 GMT -8
This is all excellent. I really don't have much to add.
One bit of advice I'll pass on is this: Nothing is so important that you can't wait 24 hours to post. Often, in the heat of things, our filters go out the window and we write / say / do things we later regret. By all means, write down what you're thinking. But if in doubt, give it 24 hours before clicking that button that commits your words to permanence.
On the subject of permanence, make the basic assumption that everything... EVERYTHING online is permanent. Every post, every email, every text, every video, everything. While your data lies inside your own four walls, you control it. Once it hits the network it has already passed through someone else's server. Chances are they take data integrity seriously, and may archive everything in perpetuity. A dumb anecdote on this: Back in 1986 I wrote a short tutorial for reading out the values of a joystick plugged into an IBM PC using an interrupt handler. As late as 2004 I could still find that tutorial through Google, even though the IBM PC ceased to be a thing decades before. My guess is I could probably still search a Usenet archive and find it. Everything online is permanent.
Last thought: When you post to social media of any sort, you're creating content. Each time, be sure to ask yourself, "Who benefits from this content?" Ideally, the answer should be that it benefits both you and your audience. It's easy to find extreme examples of this (e.g. Dee Bradley Baker, Crispin Freeman), but even something simple like, "Studio X just announced a game I was in. I had such a good time working with Y and Z! I hope everyone enjoys playing it as much as I enjoyed being a part of it," fits this, too. The world at large finds out there's a new game coming out. The studio gets free advertising. Potential casting directors find out you're a positive person to work with. The people you worked with get a virtual knuckle-bump from you. You benefit as well. If your content only benefits you at the expense of others, spend those 24 hours asking yourself if it's really worth having Jimmy go, "Aha! Perfect example for my upcoming lecture!"
Tom
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Post by benedict on Jul 7, 2018 14:05:13 GMT -8
One more update: I spent the last month traveling from my home in Hawaii to Austin, Washington DC, and New York. I packed a bunch of field recording gear, but because I had open auditions I might have to record for, I packed my VA kit as well. (Turns out I did have to record for one of them! YAY!) I won't go into many of the details, but I did want to share something that might be useful, namely how I packed the mic itself: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GX4SYM2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1It's a zippered hard case made by a company called Hermitshell. They make cases for all sorts of things. This one is designed to fit the Rode Video Mic GO. Turns out it also fits reasonably sized condenser mics like mine. If your mic doesn't fit in the volume of this case, be sure to browse their inventory to see if they have a case that might fit better. I had to add a little bit of foam to give the mic some cushion inside the case, but that's it. With the mic inside, I buried the case in my rolling bag with my scissor arm. The mic survived being checked on every flight and is now safely back at home. Tom
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Post by benedict on Jun 24, 2018 13:54:22 GMT -8
I can't recommend any specific setups, but this is an excellent guide written by Sensy and Taneko: voiceacting.boards.net/thread/2508/usb-xlrHaving said that, the Blue Yeti you have should work fine with Skype and Discord. A number of forum members use Blue Yeti mics in the Discord server. If you'd like to get some live streaming experience prior to your workshop, hop on in the Discord server (with your Blue Yeti!) and take it out for a spin: voiceacting.boards.net/thread/2099/announcement-vac-discord-serverBefore jumping on the new mic bandwagon, assess what exactly it is about your sound you're hoping to address. A lot of ills stem more from the acoustics of the room in which you're recording rather than from the mic you're using. One of the best illustrations of this is a video from Mike Delgaudio, in which he records with a Neumann mic in his shower and describes each piece of acoustic treatment he adds to change it from sounding like an echo chamber to sounding like a vocal booth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wjc_Hv5xAQAnd before anyone mentions it, the point he's making by using the Neumann mic isn't that you need one to sound good. It's that even his Neumann sounds awful when it's used in an awful space like a shower. If you're interested in pursuing voice acting professionally, you really will eventually need to upgrade your mic at some point. But be sure your recording space is offering you the best sound you can get with the equipment you already own. Cheers! Tom
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Post by benedict on Jun 24, 2018 13:43:16 GMT -8
Excellent guide! I only have a couple of things to add:
In the guide you make the very good point that a USB mic is a monolithic piece of equipment that incorporates the mic, preamp, and ADC, and that an XLR setup allows you to customize each part of the chain. You also make the very good point that as much as going with an XLR setup adds complexity, it also adds flexibility.
A couple of other ways that this flexibility can work to your advantage: Older mics that date back before Y2K are almost all XLR-based. If you're after a particular sound that you can get by using an older mic, you can often pick them up cheaper than a new one of the same caliber and sonic character. (This isn't always true, of course... a classic U87 or U47 is frighteningly expensive.)
It also opens up the ability to hack the bejeebers out of your sound. At one point Mike Delgaudio had to record a segment for a commercial that sounded like a 1930's era radio voice. Rather than record with his main vocal mic and tweak the sound in a DAW, he chose to make a custom microphone out of a discarded speaker from a transistor radio. It worked like a charm!
I realize both of these are a stretch for someone who's just starting out, and certainly shouldn't be taken as a reason for a hobbyist to feel compelled to spring for a more expensive kit than they can afford. I'm just pointing them out as another aspect of the flexibility an XLR chain provides.
Cheers!
Tom
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Post by benedict on Jun 4, 2018 14:26:31 GMT -8
Back in October of last year, Duffy Webber wrote a really good tutorial on how to travel as a voice actor: what to pack, how to turn a hotel room into a makeshift recording studio, and how to match the frequency response of your travel mic to your booth mic. Before launching into this experiment, I highly recommend reading Duffy's thread: Recording While on the RoadThis experiment is an extension of the EQ matching part of Duffy's tutorial that can be explored by anyone who uses a Blue Snowball and Audacity. [The details may be boring for anyone who's not eyeballs-deep in mics and DAWs, so feel free to skip this part if you just want to get going.] I took a Blue Snowball and a pair of XLR mics and did a more automated version of Duffy's EQ matching using the Eventide EQuivocate plug-in in Reaper. The mics were fed with two broadband signals - a song and a frequency sweep. The mics themselves can be used in two configurations. They have switches for rolling off the presence peak of their respective capsules, which results in a slightly warmer sound. The upshot is that this process resulted in eight EQ curves ranging from relatively bright sounding to relatively dark sounding, depending on which mic was used and how it was configured. The two broadband input signals produced different curves as well. The curves generated from the song tended to be more shallow, resulting in softer EQ. The curves generated from the frequency sweep tended to be more pronounced, resulting in harder EQ. The two sets are labeled as "Soft" and "Hard", respectively. As-is the EQ curves generated this way only really work with the EQuivocate plug-in, which doesn't do anyone other than me much good. The rest of the process was to export the curves (aka "type them in manually to text files") and interpolate them into the XML format used by Audacity's Equalization effect. At that point, the curves were ready to import directly to Audacity. [End boring details] The Snowball EQ Kit consists of the eight XML files for each of the eight EQ curves along with a text file with notes on how to import the files: Snowball EQ KitI invite anyone who uses a Blue Snowball with Audacity to play with these curves. My guess is that at least half of these will sound harsh or unnatural. My hope is that there will be at least one in the set that is a good match for each person's voice who tries this. But as a friend of mine is fond of quoting, "No expectations. Only hope. - Amy Tan". If there's one that works particularly well with your voice, please let me know. If there's one that works well enough you feel comfortable using it in an audition, please PLEASE let me know. Cheers, Tom
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Post by benedict on Jun 4, 2018 11:40:37 GMT -8
It's funny, I'm a huge proponent of Reaper, but it's not the easiest learning curve to plow through and it's still a little weak in some areas. It's funny you mentioned spectral editing. I find spectral editing in Audacity is more precise than spectral editing in Reaper, though Reaper's is more flexible. It's a trade-off. But that's true of most things, anyway.
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Post by benedict on May 23, 2018 10:54:30 GMT -8
One more, though this one will run a little longer than the 10-20 seconds I think you're aiming for:
The bar joke - The lines don't necessarily have to be funny, but pick three characters and have them enter a bar or a coffee shop. Depending on how you want the dialogue to run they don't even have to get to the point where they order anything. Give each character a different role in the dialogue. Voice all three characters.
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Post by benedict on May 23, 2018 10:50:42 GMT -8
Prompt ideas:
Pick two emotional states (e.g. happy/angry, wistful/zealous, disillusioned/sentimental, etc.) and transition between them in a single line or in two lines. (Maybe a fixed set of lines for everyone to say, but emotions of their choice, or vice-versa?)
Pick a line or set of lines that are obviously written for one emotional state (e.g. "Happy birthday, [Insert name]! Hope you're having a good time at your party!") and deliver the lines convincingly in a completely different emotional state of the VA's choice.
Move about the room as the character of your choice. Pick a mundane room like a kitchen or a living room and assume the role of your choice (e.g. the sorceress, the wise mentor, the spunky sidekick, the knight in shining armor, etc.) Then imagine you were dropped into this place. 10-20 seconds of the reaction(s) of your choice to what you find.
The "Yes, but..." Something great just happened to the character (e.g. new job, bought a new car, paid vacation to Tahiti, etc.) but... something correspondingly bad also just happened (e.g. no transportation to get to the new job, monthly payments for the new car exceeds budget, the plane to Tahiti leaves in a week and you don't have a passport, etc.) Either lines of the VA's choice or pre-written lines (not sure if you're wanting to turn this into an ad lib exercise), but the delivery has to capture both emotional states.
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Post by benedict on May 18, 2018 16:12:05 GMT -8
ARGH! I'm going to miss it. I'll even be on the mainland! Just... on the opposite coast.
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 15:38:38 GMT -8
Bummer.
One other possibility, though I don't think it's any more portable than your existing booth: For the room in my house where I hope to eventually record, I was planning to make some faux rice paper screens out of plywood and acoustic foam. When not in use, they'll fold flat and stow against the wall. When I need to use them, swing them into position and cap with a moving blanket.
Tom
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 15:05:47 GMT -8
I agree with Bean. Your setup is ahead of mine! How tall is the ceiling of your booth? How inconvenient would it be to just flip up or remove the blankets and have people walk through the frame of your booth?
On local studios, neither of the ones I've been talking to are in anything resembling a phone book. One is a guy who works at a local school who records on the side. The other are friends I work with who record on the side as well. Can't hurt to ask local musicians if there's anyone local, or check the local coffee shops or live performance spots to see if anyone has left contact info. (I get the small town thing, though. I live in a small cow town. Both studios are the next town over.)
Cheers!
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 13:50:00 GMT -8
Forgive me if there's already a Con Thread, but I figured if there wasn't, it was time to make one. I'll start! Is anyone planning to attend HawaiiCon 2018? It's from September 13-16 at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii: www.hawaiicon.com/So far I've missed every single year it's been held, but this is the year! If you're coming, I'll see you there! Tom
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 13:37:16 GMT -8
Yes, I have the same problem (excess of birds, excess of kids, living 30' from a highway and my fence is in the process of being replaced.) Unfortunately you've already ruled out my solution to my issues: recording in the car.
What makes this a particularly tough one to solve is that your fundamental issue isn't acoustic treatment. It's soundproofing. The only real way to tackle soundproofing is to put mass between you and the source sound. You can do this with a DIY booth, but it's going to be a substantial structure.
The most straightforwward way to do this, aside from buying a Whisperroom, is to build a free-standing double-wall box inside your house and pack the walls with acoustic insulation. This is basically interior wall construction. This will substantially reduce outside sound, but won't stop loud housemates from being in the room with your booth.
Provided you can kick them out of the room in which your booth will live, you may be able to do something along the lines of what Duffy was building. He used metal lumber from the hardware store (the Meccano of big stuff), and draped acoustic carpet to make the walls and ceiling, with more acoustic carpet on the floor. He said the acoustic carpet is backed with a HEAVY rubber layer, so the whole thing winds up being pretty substantial. The mass in the carpet helps damp outside sounds.
Past that you're in the PVC/moving blanket kind of thing, which is good for acoustic treatment, but won't stop outside sound from over-active housemates.
Other possibilities:
If you can come up with a fairly mobile setup that you can carry, see if your local library has study rooms with doors that close. The ones at the university where I went to school had terrible acoustics, but not so bad that a moving blanket wouldn't help cut it down.
Past that, check in at local studios. Depending on where you're located, there may be some smaller studios that might be willing to work a deal so you can access one of their voice booths. (I'm trying to swing that where I am. There's one studio I've been recording background ambience tracks for, and another that I've loaned microphones to in the past. Heck, I'd sweep the place if it gave me access!)
Just tossing out ideas.
Cheers!
Tom
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