Hello, thanks for dropping by. My name is Gary Terzza and I am a British voice-over coach with over 30 years of experience in the broadcast and voice-over industries. On this channel I provide useful voice-over tips. I hope you find the videos useful.
You are one of the reasons I still pursue VO work in my professional life. I've sent your videos to so many younger people to help develop their voices too. Class act sir!
@@GaryTerzzaI think I know what he means. He believes that clipping is not a thing. But the thing is, once the sound is distorted, and you normalize it, it won’t do much really, because that info is already lost during distortion, if the recording was done in 24bit or 16 bit. But if let’s say the recording was done in 32 bit float with an audio interface capable of that resolution, then there is no such thing as clipping.
New to audiobook narrating (though not Audacity), and this was a great help! I went the extra step of creating a macro (AKA Chain) that I can run on my files going forward.
Want to avoid distortion in your voice-over recordings? 🎙 Use Audacity’s Clipping View to easily spot and fix any audio issues. In this video, I walk you through the process to make sure your recordings are clear and professional every time. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more audio tips. Thank you!
In this video I’m talking about bricks and mortar agencies, rather than the online casting sites. So email and even a good old fashioned phone call will be your best line of pursuit.
Very helpful, thank you! I was using the plug-in for ACX, which checks automatically to see if you meet ACX standards. It told me my RMS levels were too low, but didn't tell me how to fix it! Had to come to you for that. :) Thanks for the help!
While the comment I posted four years ago, is still relevant now, I feel I should've corrected a few things I obviously overlooked at the time; so please forgive me if I do so now. 'In this scenario, one of the most important things to remember is that as a narrator you are giving a 'reading'; so there's no need to overplay it. The use of different 'voices' and 'accents' are not required here, as you are not acting the story out, but tying together parts of the story and explain anything that can't be explained in other ways. The use of different 'voices'/'accents' and performing/acting would make the job a lot more involved than it otherwise needed to be.'🤔
I appreciate you revisiting your first, well observed comment. You’ve added some more flesh to the bones and expanded those initial observations. All relevant, timeless stuff 👍
@@GaryTerzza Thank you for the reply, Gary. (I notice I missed another word which I should have fixed though; sometimes I need to check better before I post something. I know it's nothing major, just that the word 'explain' should have been 'explaining')! I like to think I'm improving though, LOL.
That’s correct. It’s available for voice actors in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US. Hopefully this will change in the future, but in the meantime check out the alternatives to ACX here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nMmCpcz4wgs.htmlsi=wfYv76kchBAdEDjo
Hi Gary! So, if i have this loud and clear buzz and it is my laptop chargers fault and my battery is dead. Is there anything that i can do to remove the buzz? Its driving me nuts. Can i earth the laptop with my own little fix or something? Thanks alot Gary.
Sounds frustrating. If the buzzing persists, especially when touching the laptop, there might be a serious grounding issue. In this case, it’s safer to consult a professional technician. I hope get it sorted!
You should be able to export your iPhone audio into Audacity and remove that way. There isn’t an Audacity app at the moment, so you will have to do the noise reduction on a laptop or desktop.
Why would you even want to work with such client again? If you respect yourself you refuse to work with them. Your selfrespect has to be greater then your love of money. If you have asked them to compensate your money and they chose not to pay you you should be done with them.
Goodness me. -91 dB RMS is extremely low, far below what’s acceptable for audiobook standards. This could indicate silence or almost inaudible audio. You mentioned Audacity was “applied to -23,” which suggests you adjusted the RMS in Audacity to meet ACX’s requirement. However, the result on ACX doesn’t reflect that change. 1. Check Audacity Export Settings: • Ensure that when you’re exporting the file from Audacity, you’re not introducing any errors that could alter the RMS levels. Double-check that you’re exporting at the correct bit depth (16-bit) and sample rate (44.1 kHz). 2. Verify RMS in Audacity: • After applying the RMS normalisation in Audacity, use the “Analyse > Contrast” tool in Audacity to measure the RMS level before exporting. This will confirm if the applied change is correct. 3. Check the Entire Track: • Ensure that there isn’t a segment of the track that is extremely quiet or silent, which could drastically lower the overall RMS. Look at the waveform in Audacity-if there are long periods of near silence, they might be dragging down the RMS. 4. Normalise Before RMS Adjustments: • Normalise the audio peaks to -3 dB before applying any RMS adjustments. This ensures your audio has a consistent volume level before adjusting the RMS. 5. Use Compression: • Apply compression to reduce the dynamic range, which can help in bringing up the quieter parts without clipping the louder ones. This might help in achieving a consistent RMS level across the file. 6. Re-check File Submitted to ACX: • Make sure that the file you submitted to ACX is indeed the one you processed in Audacity. Sometimes, it’s possible to accidentally upload an unprocessed version. 7. Re-process the Audio: • If nothing else works, consider re-processing the audio from the original source. Apply the RMS normalization in Audacity again, ensuring all the settings are correctly applied. Good luck!
Sometimes a pop stopper is not enough to prevent those pesky P's distorting on your recording. Using Audacity we can easily remedy any offending plosives.
Thank you. Could you do a quick addendum video on how one might change/fine-tune the numbers on Audacity's voice profile window to keep a decent human sound to the voice after noise reducing? I'm working with old 1970's recordings with a lot of hiss. I appreciate your video, thanks again.
Thanks for the comment. Fine tuning Audacity is more art than science and much of it is trail and error. As an alternative you may want to experiment with Adobe’s amazing AI voice enhancer. I have a video on how to use this for removing room reverb, but it may also work for hiss ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iSJg73mVVI8.htmlsi=oiPHw1wlsrRmBlK1
This is a bit backwards, but, as a Canadian, I have a naturally very rhotic R, but... I have a lot of friends and family that are British and I LOVE the way they sound. I kinda wish I didn't have it. I've tried not using it, but it just doesn't sound natural. LOL
Embrace and celebrate your rhotic R Phil - it’s part of who you are. There are rhotic accents here in the UK too, West Country and East Anglia so not all Brits sound like they are from Windsor!
On spontaneous, spurr-of-the-moment prompts, it's important to avoid going with the first thing that jumps to mind. That's what lands most people in thinking/sounding the same. Creativity is stepping back and going, "Hold on a minute, I can play with this." Then, from there, you can improvise and go where it takes you.
Plosives are best dealt with in the real world ie by using a pop shield, properly positioned. There are third party plugins available for other issues (like sibilance) and I highly recommend the de-clicker ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jlEJtT1GWmg.htmlsi=ooMzIbYeIDT6lRqZ
THANK YOU! This was the best tutorial for installing this De-clicker. None of the other tutorials online explained how to install it as well as you. Appreciate it so much!
Thank you for this. I am glad you pointed out that it's more a style/tone and can be done with a female voice. This was my amateur attempt: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-If7aGFiYVdQ.htmlsi=WVSUbgXJqPcZ7_gf
Sounds really good Garry. Thanks for bringing it to everyones attention. Whether this means that VO artists can record without a proper insulated environment remains to be seen. I'll try this out and compare with my studio output. 😊
You’re welcome. I think it will help with situations where, for whatever reason, the studio acoustics are compromised, but treating your recording space is still essential for achieving high-quality voice-over recordings.
Thanks for this Gary. I've started using my home studio more regularly now and still get underlying room reverb - possibly from mic feedback - so this will prove useful. Might also be good for recording on my phone as well which I sometimes have to do for auditions with tight deadlines.
