I need some Voiceover audio engineering help!

[gwyneth_galvin]

Hey fam, hoping someone with some more training than me can help out.

I'm totally self-taught and I know I've picked up some bad habits over the years, I just don't know what they are... because I'm self taught 😅

Over the last 6 months or so I think I must have changed a setting somewhere along the line, because my sibilances and plosives are now *extremely* loud. They're loud from the point of recording - I can hear it in the raw audio. Using a de-esser hasn't worked for my esses. I have to go in and manually dampen every single instance... as I'm sure you can imagine, this makes my editing time go from 10 minutes to an hour, easily. I'm at my wit's end. I've tried everything, followed a dozen different tutorials online and I can't figure out what my problem is.

If anyone thinks they may be able to help, I can send you a video of my setup/take screenshots of my settings, etc. and send to you via DM. I'd be so, so grateful!

Things I've tried:

• adjusting the angle/location/height/distance of my mic
• moving my pop filter around/taping things to my pop filter/holding objects in front of my lips to divert my breath
• adjusting the gain on my audio box
• using a de-esser (it's possible I have used this incorrectly
• playing with parametric equalizer (it's also possible I've just used this incorrectly LOL)

🚩SOS 🚩

CHEERS, I LOVE YOU ❤️

[jinsoo_kim]

Hey Gwyneth, 

 

Generally EQs are really good for subtle room ambiences. There are wizards who can use them to work through sibilance and plosives, however that is just not how EQ is generally used. Also, de-essers and all the plugins and effects should be used sparingly if possible.

Questions I would ask:

Was the change sudden? [Obviously you have probably have tried comparing what you did to what you are doing. However, it the change was more sudden it may be more diagnosable. Also, if you did not have this issue before feel encouraged knowing that it is totally possible for your sound to be with out the sibilance.]

-----------If it was sudden... ------------------

-Did you change your mic? [The reason there are so many mics at so many price points is they all claim slightly difference frequency responses. So some mics are just better for some people and not others.]

-Daw? [All the digital workstations have similar functions but play out and look differently. So you would have to play around with them a bit to make sure they keep your sound the same.]

-Equipment in general? [Just as an example, something as simple as going from a mesh pop filter to a metal one needs to be accounted for by many because they quite literally mitigate plosives differently.]

----------If it was not sudden... ----------------

-Are you still following proper mic technique? [This will be a majority of your solution if you are not.]

-Are you warming up properly? [Believe it or not this can impact your performance over all not-withstanding sibilance and plosives.] 

 

Hope this helps and wish you the best, 

Jinsoo 

[leannelrivers]

I've changed mics and gone to a metal pop filter recently. It definitely changed things, especially the pop filter. Has the gain increased at all?