One guy, 31 character voices! Query...

PKB · Post by **PKB** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:41 pm

Hi Folks.

I am getting ready to undertake a rather ambitious 3D movie project. The script is written, the 3D models are in development, all is ticking over well, except for one thing... Voices.

My script has 31 main characters in its story! I'm just one guy. What I want to know is, how flexible is GoldWave's audio effects when faced with this challenge? I have played around with the demo version of GoldWave and I'm impressed at the alterations that I can do to my voice. I can, of course, do some verbal alterations to my own voice too, but I have my limits, there are only so many different ways I can twist my vocal cords to produce a different tone of voice, hence the reason I'm looking for audio editing software to help me out.

I'm one guy with 31 main characters to voice for. What I want to know is, is GoldWave up to that task? Can it help me develop 31 distinct character voices, with a little help from my own vocal abilities, successfully, or will I end up with 31 characters all sounding like me?

I'd appreciate any input from folks who have worked with GoldWave in this area in particular, but all input is very much appreciated. I don't know of any other audio editing software that seems to offer the amount of effects and alterations that GoldWave has, but if anyone does know of another package I should take a look at, I would appreciate that too.

Hope to get some guidance here.

Paul.

DougDbug · Post by **DougDbug** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:08 pm

...and I'm impressed at the alterations that I can do to my voice.

What effects are you using so far?

I'd suggest Pitch Shift, the Equalizer, and maybe you can do something with harmonics and overtones. There are some Harmonics presets under the Expression Evaluator tool. The presets probably aren't exactly what you want, but it's a starting point. Some sub-harmonics and non-harmonic overtones & "undertones" might also add "character" to a voice. (The expression evaluator requires math, and an understanding of the mathematical representation of sound.)

I've never done this, but my feeling is that the effects you get with software won't be as effective as what you can do with your own voice. For example, your friends can probably identify your voice over the phone. However, if you "disguise" your voice, they might not recognize it. You can "electronically" alter your voice quite a bit, and it will still sound like you. If you alter it too much, it will sound un-natural and un-human. However, I do think GoldWave can contribute to the overall effect....

but I have my limits, there are only so many different ways I can twist my vocal cords to produce a different tone of voice,

Yeah, 31 voices is a lot! Assuming there are female characters, it would be really helpful to get at least one real female voice. And, try using some accents and changing the speed/rate of your speech.

For each character, I suggest you make a sample-reference file so you don't forget what each character sounds like. And, make notes of the GoldWave settings for each one too.

PKB · Post by **PKB** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:59 pm

Hi Doug.

Thanks for the reply, appreciate it. I've currently being testing out the pitch and robotic and echo effects GoldWave offers. Pitch does seem to offer some very interesting results, almost taking my voice in a totally new direction. With some help from my own vocal skills, I can produce a good few new sounding voices, but 31 is quite an epic undertaking and I haven't done that amount in my testing.

Thanks for the tips on how to make some vocal changes myself, a lot more testing to be done so I'll give your suggestions a try and see how I fair.

I may just invest in GoldWave. It seems to be the best software for this job and has a lot of power on offer.

Paul.

Post by **GoldWave Inc.** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:07 pm

Try some of the presets in the Flanger and Mechanize effects. Also check out the "Similarity pitch up" and "Similarity pitch down" presets under the Effect Chain Editor tool. Those combined with the Equalizer effect give a good range of possibilities, though not always human sounding.

Chris

PKB · Post by **PKB** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:01 pm

Thanks very much, Chris. I'll do some more testing on this but I think I'm already sold on GoldWave.

Paul.

Stiiv · Post by **Stiiv** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:54 pm

Two words: Mel Blanc. (God rest his soul.)

If you have Goldwave, you have the tool you need...for inspiration, see above....& find even more inspiration listening to Seth MacFarlane, Billy West, June Foray, Phil Hartman...& so on.

Good luck with the project!

PKB · Post by **PKB** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 5:31 pm

Thanks for all the help, appreciate it. I've invested in a copy of Goldwave.

Paul.

TinPanFan · Post by **TinPanFan** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:24 am

This is especially for Stiiv (but everyone else can share it, too).

You mentioned June Foray, who has for years been one of the giants of voice. Think Rocky Squirrel, Natasha, and dozens more.

In the 50's and 60's she was part of Stan Freberg's team when they created some of the best and funniest spoofs of - well, everything. Dragnet (with Stan doing Jack Webb's nearly comatose lines - "just the facts, ma'am."), the great Daws Butler, Peter Leeds (remember him as the "Banana Boat Song" bongo player? "Too piercing, man, like it's too loud.").

In the 90's I lived near Los Angeles for a few years and joined SPERDVAC, the old-time radio society. There were (and still are) monthly meetings with guests who had a hand in making radio what it used to be - a vibrant, varied arts platform.

Stan Freberg addressed one of those meetings, and at a SPERDVAC conference I met Peter Leeds and June Foray. My son Stephen, who was around 12 at the time, came with me and spent ten or fifteen minutes talking with the very gracious June.

Right now I'm looking at the insert to the 1990 "Capitol Collector's Series" Stan Freberg CD, which has autographs from Stan Freberg ("Stephen: Hang on to your great sense of humor."), Peter Leeds ("Keep on playing the record."), and June Foray ("Hi, Steve." - with a heart and arrow drawing.)

Priceless.

DewDude420 · Post by **DewDude420** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:19 pm

I hadn't seen it mentioned, so i'll mention it.

The Creative LAbs series of both Audigy and X-Fi cards have some amazingly power DSP's in them...and can do some crazy vocal-morphing (pitch shift) in realtime. I used it a couple years ago when i made a parody-commercial for Shake-N-Bake and needed to morph my voice into a little girls...but it might be worth looking into that to add some additional characters to your movie...again, not always real sounding...but i found it fooled some of the people (plus it does that really cool pac-man voice Bloodhound Gang used in the song Mope.. "hey pac-man, what's up?" "me you idiots, i'm high on crack!")

The Audigy and Audigy2 both have about the same DSP processing effects, the A2 being a bit higher quality. The X-Fi is even more powerful but most of that is dedicated to sample-rate conversion..it still has some nice effects.

And sometimes, you've just gotta keep multiple programs around...I right now have Goldwave, Adobe Audition and Izotope RX out (izotope being a recent discovery that i've gone ga-ga over it's CPU intensive noise reduction) so...sometimes that's the way you'll get the results you want.

PKB · Post by **PKB** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:03 pm

Thanks for the extra input, much appreciated.

Paul.