Voiceover artist needs preamp advice

[3rd&4thT]

With respect, I did not like doing VO through a Grace 101 preamp at all.

It's a great piece for a lot of applications, but for voiceover it will not help you. If your mic is not an ideal fit for your own particular voice, the Grace cuts you no slack, gives you no place to hide. And many voiceovers spend years trying to find the one mic that fits their voice like a glove. Some never find it.

A straight-wire-with-gain will simply expose whatever lack of perfection is annoying you in the first place. If you're auditioning against 200 other guys on one of those verschluggener websites, why should you show your x-rays while other guys look and sound (Fernando impression) mah-velous?

This business is hard enough without every piece of gear you have actively working for you.

If you do on-cameras and have headshots, they're retouched as a matter of course. Actors pump up at the gym and wear makeup to get the job and get invited back.

If you're making audio for a living, sound your best. If that means preamp coloration a la Trident or Chandler, don't hesitate for a moment, do it. It's not cheating.

Learn your equipment. Clients don't holler about EQ or compression or gating if you do it right.

Audio transparency is an ideal and is great if you can pull it off. If sonic objectivity doesn't work, the hell with it, find something else that does.

3rd&4thT

[TVPostSound]

With all due respect to everyone, save Brent as we have the same agenda.

Tom stated he would send files. I would rather have a voiceover done on an unforgiving Grace or Avalon M5, and let me eq, and compress as needed.

As this business changes, VO talent do more and more work out of their personal home studios, and since they are recording their own voice feel they need to engineer too.

The last talent that sent me files sounded better on the JK Audio That2 phone patch, than the files he sent me. Even the shows producer asked me why he sounded so bad!!!

A 416 on a Grace sounds fine on 90% of the VO talent out there, if the mic is worked right.

[3rd&4thT]

Originally Posted by TVPostSound

With all due respect to everyone, save Brent as we have the same agenda.

Tom stated he would send files. I would rather have a voiceover done on an unforgiving Grace or Avalon M5, and let me eq, and compress as needed.

As this business changes, VO talent do more and more work out of their personal home studios, and since they are recording their own voice feel they need to engineer too.

The last talent that sent me files sounded better on the JK Audio That2 phone patch, than the files he sent me. Even the shows producer asked me why he sounded so bad!!!

A 416 on a Grace sounds fine on 90% of the VO talent out there, if the mic is worked right.

Talent don't just "feel the need" to engineer. It's not vanity, it's not a rogue impulse or a silly whim, it's generally expected of them. And in auditioning, it's mandatory. There's no choice in the matter, no engineer at any point to fix anything.

I said "Learn the equipment." A lot of VO talent haven't got the aptitude, and they're floundering since the old way died.

That doesn't mean we all share that clumsiness. You may have received unadulterated shite from one poor soul, but that's just one example, one anecdote that doesn't make a rule. And what you would rather receive from the talent is not always the determining factor.

If you're a VO going up against 200 others, "sounds fine" on a 416 through a Grace 101 without enhancement will leave you nekkid against giants. You won't have a chance. You might as well not submit an audition.

The people who choose the winner of these auditions are not assuming an engineer will sweeten what comes in. They're going to go straight to the mix if they can, and the less they need to do the better they like it.

I'm a fulltime voiceover. I do nothing else. I make more money at home every month from what used to be our dining room table than I do in outside studios here in Manhattan. That's the way it's been for over 10 years now. This is how I pay the rent. I've got clients on six continents and I'm still trying to figure out who in Antarctica might need a voiceover.

I process everything that leaves the house, not because I'm aching to play around with knobs and settings, or listen to my self over and over again, god no, but because I have to.

No client has ever asked me to resend the audio without the improvements. They're grateful the EQ cuts through their music bed without shrillness, and they don't want to dink around with compression either. This may hurt the feelings of a qualified engineer, but the client doesn't care. They want it fast, they want to pay as few people as possible, they want it to do what it's supposed to do and they want it now.

These are the new rules. I preferred it the old way, to have a friendly, familiar engineer on the other side of the glass. I miss it, but vaudeville ain't coming back. I'd rather not record myself, but if I gotta, I will. And if the client wants it ready for use, that's the way I'll submit it.

Don't think for a moment that because one talent is incompetent at engineering, that all talent is. After several thousand paying gigs, some of us turn out pretty good product. It may not be a string quartet on Didrik DeGeer mics, but it'll do.

3rd&4thT

[tombrom]

Hi Guys,
I think you are both right.
Grace/416 - for engineer to do the work (i.e. sending files).

Something with eq/compression etc. for auditions sent directly to client
(with no studio in btw). i.e. YOU are the studio/talent/engineer.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Sorry if I haven't pm'ed everyone who helped out.

T

[TVPostSound]

That doesn't mean we all share that clumsiness. You may have received unadulterated shite from one poor soul, but that's just one example, one anecdote that doesn't make a rule. And what you would rather receive from the talent is not always the determining factor.

It's been more than one.

The talent I record, don't need to audition.
"The Voice of God" knows best, he sends me his VO untouched over ISDN.

[3rd&4thT]

Originally Posted by TVPostSound

It's been more than one.

The talent I record, don't need to audition.
"The Voice of God" knows best, he sends me his VO untouched over ISDN.

God has many voices. I've known at least two dozen others, and have been hired for that specific job description myself more than a few hundred times, often without having to audition. I've been one of many Gods for decades, and we all have our different ways of doing things. Yes, Don sends 'em out flat, but that's what Don does, not what God does.

You'd be amazed at the number of celebrities and top-tier voiceovers who still have to audition from time to time. Don's in a class by himself at the moment, and I doubt you discovered him. You shine by reflected radiance.

Like it or not, every month there are more and more announcers and fewer and fewer post houses. You've got to respect the trend and learn the new rules as they evolve.

One thing is constant in this business: every so often someone kicks over the card table and yells "New Rules!" But no one will tell you what the new rules are. Either you figure them out, or you're unemployed. This is one of those times.

3rd&4thT

[Tom Orrow]

LA-610 is the best vocal chain you can get for the money ($1100) on ebay. Almost every studio uses the LA-2A and the pre is great for voice. Also has adjustable shelving. For a mic I like the Neumanns. The BCM 104 is surprisingly good for VO. The TLM103 works great for most people and U87 is awesome. Get a used 610 and BCM 104 for around 1700 and you will have a pro sound to tape every time. Ohhh....and make sure your "room" doesn't sound like shit.

[Yoda117]

Originally Posted by TVPostSound

With all due respect to everyone, save Brent as we have the same agenda.

Tom stated he would send files. I would rather have a voiceover done on an unforgiving Grace or Avalon M5, and let me eq, and compress as needed.

Let me second this comment. Unless an audition specifically requests it (and yeah, I ask), I'm sending a clean file. Hell, most of the places I audition for automatically add a bit of EQ and processing to the clips... why would I add some more?

Should a VO know how to do it? Yes. But most don't and I've seen too many folks who lost out on a booking because they botched their audition by over processing their audition track.

I guess my message is that unless asked for, and you know what you're doing, it's not worth it. If you don't know whether an audition allows it, either ask, or send one with and one clean (I've been thanked more than a few times for sending both in with auditions).

[Player1]

You might want to consider getting a great mic before spending a lot of money on a mic pre. You'll have more results from a great mic than a pre. Concentrate on clarity and richness to match your voice. You can pickup a used Blue Kiwi for about a grand and it works great on voiceovers. Just my thoughts!

[tombrom]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all your help.
Here's the update - I bought a Kiwi Blue and a Sennheiser 416.
Both are fantastic but I prefer the Kiwi for most stuff - its totally awesome.

It has propelled me into another league. I am getting 5 star ratings with regularity on an internet voice site.

It has also given me the confidence that I can deliver what I want to deliver.

I got a Trident 4T - sorry to 3 and 4t I went to Guitar Center and they had a new one for $575, so I couldn't say no.

Not sure how to operate that compressor though........I'll leave you guys in peace. Thanks everyone - I am over the moon.
(Anyone want to buy a Rode NT2000??? ehe)

[mbvoxx]

3rd&4thT is correct - 35 yrs of prof VO here to ditto those sentiments.
Argh! The stories I could tell you