Looking for a recommended vocalstrip components and procedure for voice overs

[Roy Z]

Hello friends,

I'd like to record voice overs and would like to set up a vocal strip that would get the best result from the equipment and setup I have and achieve radio like- rich sound.

I have a Roland Quad Capture card and a good quality lavalier microphone. 

Sorry I have a few questions

which components would you recommend using in this vocalstrip? by now I was thinking of these following free VST components :

Gate and Compressor (the Quad Capture's or the free ReaGate by Reaper?) (isn't the Quad Capture is better since it's suppose to be hardware?)
EQ (I'm using the TDR Nova, I like the real time graphic analyzer)
De-esser (SpitFish? any other? )
mono to Stereo effect? (any one from here?)
any reverb at all? from here?)

Any other component that I'm missing? would you recommend anything else? 

Eventually I could get a professional to test and dial in the right values for all the components, but I'd like to have your help first so I would know what could be best practice for voice overs.. So I'd like to know which components I should use and in what order and if you could  add , what would you try to accomplish with any of them.

Thanks so much in advance 🙏

Roy.

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Roy Z

[Glenn Stanton]

do you already own those plug-ins? if not, maybe try the Sonitus plugins and Pro Channel modules which come with CbB first. you may find those work perfectly well for your purposes.

[Roy Z]

Thank you @Glenn Stanton, All the plugins I mentioned are free,

I actually need the audio to go into another program which does support VST so I was thinking I'll find the right plugins and go with that.

But was also thinking if I could use Cakewalk to process the audio (in real-time) and route it to the other program it could also be great as you've mentioned, I just asked this question here.

 

[bitflipper]

What's the other program? I ask because I'm wondering if you couldn't do everything within Cakewalk, i.e. syncing the VO with video.

Voiceover processing uses all the same tools as any vocal track, except that the emphasis is on clarity and intelligibility rather than esthetics. That means accentuating the upper midrange frequencies, noise reduction and heavy compression.

Spitfish works well (at least, I think it still does; it's a 32-bit plugin and some 32-bit plugins didn't make the transition to 64 bits smoothly). I can't think of any other freebie that does a better job (now, if you want to spend $$$, FabFilter's Pro-DS is arguably the best one around). There are also techniques that predate dedicated de-essers you can use that cost nothing.

VOs are almost always mono, but there are "steroizers" that manufacture left-right differences. For example, Meldaproduction has a couple plugins for that, and IIRC some simplified versions are included with their free bundle. Grab that free bundle, as there are GOBS of goodies in there to play with. I'll also second Glenn's recommendation for the Sonitus suite, which has pretty much everything you'll need.

Gates are often used, but a standalone gate plugin usually isn't needed as long as you're recording in a quiet, non-reverberant space. But there is one included in the Sonitus suite.

Compression is important, because you want levels to be very, um, level. The Sonitus compressor is good, and if you like visual aids it has one of the best. However, there may be times when you want a FET-style compressor, but Cakewalk's got you covered there, too, in the ProChannel.

And yes, reverb might occasionally be called for. Usually, it's to mimic a physical space to match the sound in a video. Convolution reverbs are specifically made for that kind of thing. Want to make your voice sound like it's inside a garbage can or a concrete culvert? They can do that.

[Roy Z]

Hi @bitflipper, Sorry for the late reply, I wrote this twice already and it somehow got lost twice, apparently there are no "drafts" on this website but somehow in the third time the message was saved on my PC but was also restored by the forum..

I was checking out all of your recommendations, thanks a lot for them and for your explanations 

I've tried FabFilter's Pro-DS and it also turns out I already have some plugins of the MFreeFXBundle.

The other software I'm recording to is "OBS Studio" which is an open source capturing video-audio software and which I assume you might already know/have.

It has the option to use VST2 plugins, so I'm at a point when I need to decide if I'll be using VST's through OBS or VST's and ProChannel in Cakewalk and route the audio from Cakewalk to OBS.
would you think the Cakewalk option should have some advantages over OBS running VST's? maybe it will because of the sound engine or something? (besides of course the option to use the Sonitus suite..

Right now I'm trying to learn more about compression and getting the sound I want.. still testing.

Thank you so much again for your reply 🙏

Roy.

 

 

 

 

[Starship Krupa]

A favorite freeware de-esser of mine is Lisp.

VO people usually use a leveler like Sonic Anomaly TriLeveler 3 Broadcast Voice Limiter. Sonic Anomaly dropped a bunch of great freeware plug-ins a few years ago and then sort of disappeared, but their downloads are being hosted elsewhere. Their  Unlimited limiter is still my favorite master bus limiter.

For excellent workhorse compressor and EQ, MCompressor and MEqualizer from the Meldaproduction MFreeFX Bundle are my favorites. They can be used for free, and there's a recipe for getting a deal on the upgraded version of the bundle in this thread: 

Check out my buddy Jim Edgar's JustAskJimVO site for tons of tech and performance tips for VO people.