Articles

Choosing a Voice Talent that is Right for You
By Mony Raanan

A voice over, often abbreviated VO in script notation, is a narrative technique in which an unseen actor's lines are heard over visual elements in a movie or commercial. The narrator of a documentary or the announcer introducing a talk show host would be considered a voice-over artist.

Not all voice talents are created equal. Thus, anyone considering hiring someone as their vocal talent should consider exactly their own needs. One type of voiceover production may require a commercial “TV promo” voice, while another may require more theatrical skills. Additionally, specific skills aside, not every personality is right for every type of voiceover production.

A voice talent style, which may be thought of as a TV promo voice, can be suitable for short spots. Professional voice announcers normally work well in commercials, since time is quite limited and the object is to get a potential customer's attention quickly. This is not a soothing voice—it is the type of voice that can cut right through fantasies about what's for lunch or worries over what your boss will do when you tell him your computer ate your report. While it may be possible, even pleasant, to listen to a voice like this for a few minutes, it may not be desirable for longer periods of time. It may not be a good idea, for instance, to have someone with this voice type to read an entire audio book, especially if the book is, for example, a romantic novel, or children’s fiction. For that type project, you may need more of a theatrical voice-over.

A vocal talent suitable for reading a novel has to be able to hold people's attention for long periods of time—hours and hours if need be. They must be able to use their voices to create a certain ambience, to make narration sound different from dialogs, and slightly distinguish between characters without sounding silly, unless, they need to sound silly. They have to have the sort of voice that is not grating, yet not so soothing that it puts people to sleep. They should be able to evoke feelings of warmth, or of anger, or fear. Whatever is appropriate in the course of the tale, or radio drama podcast.

Selecting a voice talent is much more complex a thing than simply choosing between two types of voice-over artists. It's not a simple case of saying, “Well it's a commercial for screwdrivers, so I'll take any one of you four over there".
It's important to consider each voice actor's style and personality, because each will make the project sound completely different if, even if they have the same basic talents.

These are but a few things that should be considered when looking for voice over talent. It is just like hiring someone for any type of job—two people are going to do the same thing a little bit differently. It is important to think about the basic characteristics of the voice actor carrying out your project: gender, voice type, age, to name a few. It’s always a good idea to audition a few voice talents, and having them read your script. Additionally, it is wise to consult with a vocal producer, who may be more familiar with the vocal talents’ within their pool, and their abilities.
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The Importance of Mastering
by Sagi Eitan

Mastering, sometimes mistaken for mixing, is the audio step that comes just before releasing the final product, and is the critical, and final creative step in the process of making an audio recording. The mastering process is an art form that uses special, high-quality audio gear in conjunction with one or more sets of critical ears to help you attain the particular sound and “feel” that you want.

In addition to the concept of capturing the pure artistry of a production onto hard disk, CD or other medium, one of the many goals during the course of recording a project is the idea that the final product will have a certain sound. This sound might be “clean”, “punchy”, “gutsy”, or any other sonic adjective that you’re striving for.

Good mastering can help the project:
• Sound “right”. This is often accomplished through the careful use of EQ and overall EQ matching. This process takes not only the right set of processing gear, but also experienced audio engineers, that intuitively know how the project will sound under the a wide range of playing conditions.

• Play-back at the best level. Levels are set to the highest possible level that the medium will allow before distortion. Compression is often used to maximize this level, but over compression leads to audible artifacts that can affect the “sound” that you worked so hard for. In some cases, light compression or even no compression is a definite alternative.

• Match in level & arranging tracks in final sequence. In addition to getting the best overall level; it’s often important that levels match from song - to - song.

Equipment that deals with the art and technology of balancing these aspects of creating a finished “master” is available in many different guises. Top-level mastering engineers will use specially designed EQ, dynamics and level matching gear to accomplish the abovementioned goals.

It’s very important to take a long hard look at the experience level of the one who will be doing the mastering job. Professional and experienced mastering engineers can make the crucial difference between an outstanding sound recording project and a mediocre one.
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Equalization – The Basics
By Mony Raanan

Equalization is a process where the sound engineer increases (gains up) or decreases (gains down) signal levels of specific audio frequencies. Most of the sounds we hear are complex, meaning they contain audio signals at many different frequencies. Since adjusting frequency levels requires a specialized tool, the EQ (short for Equalization) was created.

The human ear can generally hear sounds ranging from 20 Hz. to 20 kHz. Of course, as we grow older, our hearing ability diminishes, and this audio frequency range shrinks as well.

EQ can be used to enhance the recording of an instrument or a voice over. However, it cannot, and should not be used to fix a poor recording. When unhappy with the sound recording, the sound engineer will initially want to check the microphone placement, or use another microphone with different tonal characteristics.

Generally speaking, when using EQ, a good engineer will rather cut or gain down audio signals at certain frequencies rather than boost them. A recording sounds more natural when unwanted sounds are reduced, rather than boosting the desired frequencies. The reason for this is that when gain is added to certain frequencies using EQ, it is essentially using the EQ tool as a pre amp. Since EQ is not designed to work as a preamp, boosting frequencies will add unwanted and unnatural artifacts to the recording.

Human hearing is most sensitive to midrange and upper midrange frequencies. Because of this sensitivity, large boosts in this range can make a project sound harsh or shrill.

Equalization tools can be hardware-based, but over the years, software-based EQ applications have increasingly taken over, and are used as a plug-ins, or add-ons to a recording platform.

There are many different types of equalization tools. The two most common interfaces are graphic and parametric equalizers. A graphic equalizer consists of a bank of sliders for boosting and cutting different bands (or frequencies ranges) of sound. The number and width of filters depends on the application.

A parametric equalizer consists of control knobs used to adjust the gain, bandwidth and center frequency. Some EQ tools do not have a control for the bandwidth as it is designed to be fixed. These are called quasi-parametric or semi-parametric equalizers.

Below are some commonly found basic EQ presets:

• Low Shelf filter – functions like a bass control knob on a stereo system. Low Shelf filters adjust the level of signal at the set frequency and all frequencies below it.

• High Shelf filter – functions like a treble control knob on a stereo. High Shelf filters adjust the level of signal at the set frequency and all frequencies above it.

• Gain – Adjusts the level of signal at the set frequency, and some surrounding frequencies. The Q setting determines how many surrounding frequencies are affected.

• Q (or Q factor) – Also called Resonance or Bandwidth. Sets the amount of surrounding frequencies that will be affected. The width of the Q is usually expressed in terms of octaves.

Boosting an instrument’s harmonic frequencies will add what many engineers call presence, clarity or brightness. The lower frequencies are used for punch or presence; the higher frequencies are used to accentuate clarity or brightness.

At Voice Crafters, we usually start with a set EQ template when recording voice overs, and adjust the settings depending on the timbre of the talent’s voice. Typically, we lightly boost the mid-high frequencies, and use a low cut to reduce the muddiness of the vocals.

Of course, the most important tools when fine tuning the desired frequencies - are our ears. Being able to adjust the right frequencies to bring a vocal performance to life takes years of experience and know how. Therefore, it is important to be selective when choosing the right facility and technicians for your project.

There are many other tips, tricks and parameters that come into play when using the available EQ tools. This article only summarizes the basic principles of equalization. More advanced EQ topics will be covered in future articles, so please check this section often.
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