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Voice FX

J

jnorth

What are some of your favorite ways to process the voice when doing radio imaging? Specifically for FX purposes, not so much the general EQ & compression.


One I use often is delaying a copy of the voice slightly and pan them each hard left and right, similar effect can be achieved using plugins of course.. gives you the nice wide/big voice.. Of course, doesn't work as well when listening in mono (actually, sometimes it can sound bad in mono - so make sure you check!)

And of course the normal filters, etc.


Hopefully we don't have too many "secret-keepers" here! I'm willing to share anything I know.
 
Aside from filtering and some dual stereo type stuff with Waves I'm using less and less VO FX these days. Also depends on the format, demos, etc. Especially with over 40 demos. Hardly any VO FX.
 
VODood said:
Aside from filtering and some dual stereo type stuff with Waves I'm using less and less VO FX these days. Also depends on the format, demos, etc. Especially with over 40 demos. Hardly any VO FX.
Click to expand...

Agreed; my compression is very, very gentle. Most modern processors already in the chain do all the work you'd want without you having to do much in production.
 
Hyper-edited/processed voice effects are very 2005. Listeners are sick of that sound. Spending more time working on writing good copy, and less time on crafting over-produced noise, is the way to connect to your audience.
 
I like to brutally squash the voice with a series of compression plug ins, and remove any hint of dynamics, manually removing breaths, pops, sibilance, mouth noises etc that this brings out. Then, don't add any compression to the music or the overall mix. This lets the voice sink deeper in the mix, yet you'll still clearly hear every word that's said. It's not fatiguing in that you're hearing the compressed voice against uncompressed music, the music can now play cleanly much more in the foreground.

Otherwise i'm still hearing chorusing, stutters, preverb, filtering and distortion used to great effect. The only trend in Voice FX I'm noticed evolving in the past few years is to not use any Voice FX at all. That's great for solid scripts, but if the script is lame and the producer adheres to a purist ethic, the result is a very non-compelling piece of production.
 
For CHR and some rock imaging you'll hear VO FX. In other formats it's getting passe'. The writing is key to everything, and being brief with that writing. If you need to break up the copy and create multiple promos or sweeps and rotate then you do that. In a PPM world, short, sweet to the point.

We have an AM with automation that requires full 60s and 30s in certain parts of the hour. But if a sweep/promo between songs I keep it short and sweet and to the point. And it's AM.... VO FX don't print outside of filtering or doubling.

In regards to spot production. Shouldn't require VO FX at all. National spots don't use them. IMO Local shouldn't either. Even concert spots from Tour Design or Bill Young don't utilize much aside from filtering or doubling.
 
VODood said:
Even concert spots from Tour Design or Bill Young don't utilize much aside from filtering or doubling.
Click to expand...
Probably lots of hard limiting and/or compression as well, to make the voice stand out over a hot music bed. Overall, their files look pretty rectangular in a waveform editing window.
 
I agree with the "less is more" crowd with regard to VO fx. Most of the imaging I do is for online listening. I figure people are listening online because they want a different experience from what they get over the air. I think of my own listening habits and what i would like to hear in imaging. Clever, funny and relevant win out over production and sfx every time. It does boil down to the copy.

That said though, I still employ filters, doubling/hard panning, delay, flanging, reverb and the usual compression/eq, though much more judiciously than in previous decades.

A couple of plugins I use for vocal shading are OHM Force's Fromage and Izotope's Vinyl. Fromage for trippy-ness and Vinyl for when I want to sound early to mid 20th century.
 
re: Tour Design/Bill Young. I'm told they use primarily TC products, ie the Finalizer and Waves plugs like L1 and L2 on voice. Low end rolled off to cut through beds.
 
At one point in time I had a job offer from Tour Design near Indianapolis. I was impressed with the HUGE volume of work they did. This was back in the early 90's so they were using older incarnations of Pro Tools and Spectral Studio Tracks workstations. This was before a lot of plug ins were available so almost all processing was outboard. Lots of Eventide presence..and some Yamaha SPX effect boxes..I can only imagine what they have at their disposal these days!

In Dallas doing TV tracks for automotive tracks..they showed me a curve for VoiceOver that will cut thru a dense track is a rolloff of anything below 90 hz
A little goose at about 125hz..then flat to 1.5k (slight 2 db boost) flat to 4k slight bump of 1db there..then the "magic butter knife" 6.7k and a rise of about 3db..and another rise at 8k to taste. Most anything higher will add sibilance.

Broadcast processors have a natural affinity for upper midrange..I guess that's why the rise at 6.7 kHz
 
I too had an offer from Tour Design. It was about 2001 when with CC Raleigh. Wanted to hire me to be a "track builder". No VO work. Just produce the spots. Money was the same as I was making. So I stayed put.

I was accepted to Bill Young's roster a few months ago. Only means something if I get hired. Haven't yet.

@Jeff... can you convert what you just explained about the EQ into to a REQ6 and shoot me a screen shot ? Purty please?! :D
 
robnokshus06 said:
A couple of plugins I use for vocal shading are OHM Force's Fromage and Izotope's Vinyl.
Click to expand...

I *love* Fromage - OHM Force is a brilliant little plug-in shop. Izotope, FWIW has the best VO processing plug in I've ever used: Nektar. First time I've been able to shed all outboard gear after the mic pre and get decent results.
 
I just started using Adobe Audition 3.0 and I can't believe how much stuff they added since version 1.0. That said, does anyone have some thoughts as to good selections for basic voice-over production (EQ, compression, limiting, dynamics processing, NOT flanger, reverb, chorus, etc.)? In other words, what effects would you apply to your voice file on a simple commercial for a doctor's office or an insurance company (not the used car dealer down the street or the circus coming into town)?
 
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