[DMFA Radio] - Radio Series Project - RoDP work-in-progress Jun 2013

[RushFox]

Wow, this was fun. OMG, I was so psyched, which shows in my recordings. Wow, I have recordings... GLEE!

Okay, on with the show.

http://rapidshare.com/files/31854474/Abel__424-426.wav

This one was kinda awkward for me, even reading to myself. I'll probably do some SAIA ones later, as I like that one much better for Abel. I'll also take this time to apologize for the sound quality, as it is hard to get that headset in the right place.

http://rapidshare.com/files/31857954/Abel-_Abel_s_Story__60-88.wav

This one is DEFINITELY the better of the two. I took a little bit of my voicing and Tapewolf's reading and smooshed it together into something I liked. The breathing noises, though... Well, ya know I tried to get it so it wouldn't do that. That's just Abel's exasperated breathing here, just so you know.

The "do de do" bit was because I was flipping through the comics to the point where Abel's was speaking again. That is the ONLY way I can read this and get the emotions right, as I love Amber's portrayal of emotions in Abel's Story. 

So there you have it. I'll be posting more when I get the time. I had way too much fun with this to stop now! 

[Tapewolf]

I went for the big one because RabidShare goes funny if you try to download two a day.

You've done a good job of sounding miserable.  That's okay, but IMHO there should be more panic in it, I think.  It sounds more like he's seen Devin have a tragic accident than watched him be brutally murdered by a bunch of extremely dangerous creatures who wanted to kill him too.

And as you say, there's a lot of mic wind noise.  I think you need some kind of pop filter or windshield.  This is one of the disadvantages for headsets - the usual talk-over-the-mic-instead-of-into-it thing is very difficult to do.

Good news on the recording front for me. I'm getting a very sexy microphone from the music department over the weekend. The plus points of being a teacher.

Be careful if it's a condenser mic, they can be kind of fragile.  Rumour is they can explode if you blow into them but I ain't about to try it

[rabid_fox]

More good news. My sister, the only female in N. Ireland that I know of that shares my accent (we moved around a lot as children so we're pretty unique in the field) that reads DMFA has agreed most heartily to take on Devin's mother. And boy, she can voice act.

[James StarRunner]

Err... bad news. My site... the one with the DMFA radio 'mirror' is history. There was a billing error during my disappearance that I couldn't resolve in time (due to not having the internet). Once I have substantial time, I'll see about rebuilding it though it's not going to be soon. Sorry folks, carry on.

[RushFox]

I went for the big one because RabidShare goes funny if you try to download two a day.

You've done a good job of sounding miserable.  That's okay, but IMHO there should be more panic in it, I think.  It sounds more like he's seen Devin have a tragic accident than watched him be brutally murdered by a bunch of extremely dangerous creatures who wanted to kill him too.

And as you say, there's a lot of mic wind noise.  I think you need some kind of pop filter or windshield.  This is one of the disadvantages for headsets - the usual talk-over-the-mic-instead-of-into-it thing is very difficult to do.

Good news on the recording front for me. I'm getting a very sexy microphone from the music department over the weekend. The plus points of being a teacher.

Be careful if it's a condenser mic, they can be kind of fragile.  Rumour is they can explode if you blow into them but I ain't about to try it

Yeah, the popping was kinda unavoidable, as well as the breathing thing... I found breathing through my nose into the microphone worked wonders for that problem so it'll be better next time.

As for Abel's Story, I played up as out of breath (I figuring he wanted to get home ASAP) and shaky, but I could have done better (more panic-y) when he was speaking directly to his mum about what happened. I believe this is the first time I've done something like this, so I may be a little rusty.

Anyways, here's a special extra from me and my brother, which we did just for fun after this whole ordeal. Also, it's kinda our first try (ever) at multi-tracking, so you may have turn up the volume a bit to hear the "background" track. Enjoy! 

http://rapidshare.com/files/31925212/Recording_Aftermath__1.wav

Me: Myself and Abel
Brother (Younger): Himself and Dan

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Err... bad news. My site... the one with the DMFA radio 'mirror' is history. There was a billing error during my disappearance that I couldn't resolve in time (due to not having the internet). Once I have substantial time, I'll see about rebuilding it though it's not going to be soon. Sorry folks, carry on.

We sorta figured. Do you have a backup of it at all? (I know I keep backups of most of my site, but I'm anal retentive like that, so...) If so, I could do something with it, short term...

[Aridas]

I'm actually not so sure it's been deleted. The info for his package just says "locked", which means if he can somehow pay it off he will probably have it back.

[James StarRunner]

Ya, it seems Aridas was right. I made a call and got it taken tare of. The site is back up and running.

...And a quick attempt at Aniz: http://www.crystaltopia.com/Sound%20Files/aniz.mp3
;

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ya, it seems Aridas was right.

No! The end of the world is nigh!

(just kidding...)

[Tapewolf]

Ya, it seems Aridas was right. I made a call and got it taken tare of. The site is back up and running.

...And a quick attempt at Aniz: http://www.crystaltopia.com/Sound%20Files/aniz.mp3
;

Was that you?  Have you considered doing the Mr. Shadow voice?

[James StarRunner]

Yep, that's me. I never really considered playing the shadowy figure, but I always wanted to play a villainous person (which is why I tried for Ink when we first started). I'm taking a break from work today, so I have time to do it now. Has it been stated yet if the shadow and Aniz are the same person?

EDIT> http://www.crystaltopia.com/Sound%20Files/Shadow.wav

(I sound so evil! )

[Fuyudenki]

Tonight I'll try and add tracks for all the existing 424 recordings to the project so I can spin off copies of each version.  And turn them all on at once for an Abel Chorus...

I was wondering, how's that coming along?

[Goatmon]

Just an update; I was just going over the original abel pages and went about rerecording the dialog, keeping superluser's advice in mind.  Frankly, it was exhausting.  I kept going back over and over and over and over and over, because I wasn't satisfied.  I spent about ten minutes working on the first page, and got sick of it before finishing the second. 

I have no problem redoing lines, but I think it's best if I Just do them my own way.  I mean, I'll gladly take advice and keep it in mind in the future, but I'm not terribly experienced at this, so it's a bit difficult.  I do want to do this, but I think I'll just do it my own way, and try to slowly improve as I Go.  Trying to do each line just right is going to kill me.  x.x

[Tapewolf]

Just an update; I was just going over the original abel pages and went about rerecording the dialog, keeping superluser's advice in mind.  Frankly, it was exhausting.  I kept going back over and over and over and over and over, because I wasn't satisfied.  I spent about ten minutes working on the first page, and got sick of it before finishing the second. 

I have no problem redoing lines, but I think it's best if I Just do them my own way.  I mean, I'll gladly take advice and keep it in mind in the future, but I'm not terribly experienced at this, so it's a bit difficult.  I do want to do this, but I think I'll just do it my own way, and try to slowly improve as I Go.  Trying to do each line just right is going to kill me.  x.x

One thing to bear in mind is that you don't need to get the entire thing done in a single perfect take.  I suspect Superluser was trying to do that too although I'm not sure.  Several takes - even fluffs - are usually best since that gives me lots of material to work from.  I very often splice parts from multiple takes together.

Also, I should have a better mic very soon. A very, very good mic. £350 worth of mic.

That's relative.  For a very, very good mic, you can be talking mortgage deposit money 
£350 is still more than I spent on mine, though.  May I ask what you've got/borrowed?

Tonight I'll try and add tracks for all the existing 424 recordings to the project so I can spin off copies of each version.  And turn them all on at once for an Abel Chorus...

I was wondering, how's that coming along?

I got sidetracked again.  Now, here's something very different.
http://dmfa.it-he.org/dmfa/dmfa424.rar (27MB)
This is the multitrack for #424 in case people want to poke it around.  It's got the Khazan, Kaos, Goatmon, Fuyudenki and Rushfox versions of Abel, and two versions of Jouster (one by me).
You will need Audacity 1.3.2 to load it, 1.2 won't work.  It seems 1.3.3 was released yesterday, so I'm going to try that soon.

James, do you think you could add it to your mirror site?  I don't really have the quota to keep it around indefinitely.

Does anyone have a better door-closing sound?

Finally, here are the takes by Fuyudenki and Rushfox (almost one with NO Abel line):

http://dmfa.it-he.org/dmfa/dmfa_424fuy.wav.mp3
http://dmfa.it-he.org/dmfa/dmfa_424rf.wav.mp3

[Fuyudenki]

I listened to that with all the voices on.  Sounds kinda funny.

Also, I should mention to anyone who hasn't listened yet, everyone except Rushfox and I have had their volume dropped to zero in the file.  If you want to hear anyone else, you'll want to individually change the volume.

Also, I found my inner Abel voice, and did another take.  I think we'll all agree this one is about 1000x better than my last run.(it also sounds more like the Abel in my head.)

here it is!

[rabid_fox]

Tapewolf - won't know the name of it yet, the music department in our school is rather well funded though and these microphones were bought for a recent production they did. They're nice articles. I should have it over TT week to redo my Devin lines and, if it all works out, add in the bits at the end I left out before.

[Tezkat]

Yeah, if you need someone who doesn't sound masculine, I'm probably not the guy you're looking for.   

Well... I'd bet that fans would still want to be gay for an Abel with your voice, so there's always that...

The problem is that Abel has many lines (such as the skirt bit and some of the shopping trip) that sound rather silly without a slightly girlish read.



Here are a few clips from "Life is Wonderful" with Jyrras and the version of Abel that I did about a year ago before Kaos got the part. It's not one of the super-camp Abel voices I had tried earlier, but it's pitched fairly high and has a bit of a gay lilt. I had posted another version of #648 previously and then decided to redo it in response to comments that my Abel wasn't edgy enough. I wasn't satisfied with how it turned out, but I haven't exactly come up with any improvements for the voice since then, either.

A lot of the clips also have funny outtakes at the end, cuz that's just something I do.

Best. Jy. Lines. Evar. (#631-633)
They really do have a card for everything. (#639)
I made an outtake of an outtake. How sad is that? (#648)
(If you don't know what they're talking about, clicky.)

For some reason, there's a lot more room echo than usual in those recordings. Maybe my room was cleaner than usual when I recorded them...

Yeah, the popping was kinda unavoidable, as well as the breathing thing... I found breathing through my nose into the microphone worked wonders for that problem so it'll be better next time.

Is it the type of headset mic that you can bend away from your mouth slightly so you aren't breathing directly into it? Angling the mic out your breath stream should take care of a lot of the problems in your recording.

Yep, that's me. I never really considered playing the shadowy figure, but I always wanted to play a villainous person (which is why I tried for Ink when we first started). I'm taking a break from work today, so I have time to do it now. Has it been stated yet if the shadow and Aniz are the same person?

EDIT> http://www.crystaltopia.com/Sound%20Files/Shadow.wav

(I sound so evil! )

Hmm... everyone seems to be going for a rough, thoaty voice for this guy. Maybe I should post my pirate version after all.

It's unlikely that Aniz is shadow guy. Watching the goal for which he put up with 25 years in an eyepatch be torn apart by rampaging demons probably wouldn't make him very happy. But then, you never know...

I got sidetracked again.  Now, here's something very different.
http://dmfa.it-he.org/dmfa/dmfa424.rar (27MB)
This is the multitrack for #424 in case people want to poke it around.  It's got the Khazan, Kaos, Goatmon, Fuyudenki and Rushfox versions of Abel, and two versions of Jouster (one by me).
You will need Audacity 1.3.2 to load it, 1.2 won't work.  It seems 1.3.3 was released yesterday, so I'm going to try that soon.

James, do you think you could add it to your mirror site?  I don't really have the quota to keep it around indefinitely.

Mirrored on my site... I'm nowhere near my bandwidth cap.

Also, here's a quick mix with my Abel, sans BGM (was that supposed to be included in the project files?).

[Fuyudenki]

I made an outtake of an outtake. How sad is that? (#648)

OH, that was funny.  "Why must I be the emotional punching bag of this comic!?"

But then, I always think breaking of the 4th wall is funny.

Also, here's a quick mix with my Abel, sans BGM (was that supposed to be included in the project files?).

I noticed that.  I suspect it was supposed to be included, but honestly, I like it better without the BGM.  That scene is supposed to be silly, not dramatic.

Likewise, IMO, Fa'Lina isn't evil in the "evil overlord" way that she's being read in the test strips.  She always reads in my head as not really caring, sarcastic, authoritative, and finally, *glee!* "Mmm, Muffins!"*insert Sailor-Moon sparklies here.*

[Sunblink]

After just realizing that my webcamera has a microphone setting which is halfway decent, do you guys still need someone for Cindy?

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[RushFox]

Hee hee, I finally figured out how to use this thing! Of course, that means I have new material as well.

First off,

A re-take of the first three Abel strips...

http://rapidshare.com/files/32282489/Abel__424-426_2nd_Try.wav

And as promised, a bit of the SAIA arc, from Abel's Intro to Dan to the Wardrobe Montage... (I didn't do the actual montage, sorry!)

http://rapidshare.com/files/32283559/Abel__506-509_and_511-512.wav

Nothing on Abel's Story yet, as I'm waiting for a time when I can be alone, so I can overact as much as I want without any interruptions (mostly family telling me to shut the frig up...  )!

Tezkat, that was friggen hilarious what you did with voicing Abel there, especially the outtake!

[superluser]

One thing to bear in mind is that you don't need to get the entire thing done in a single perfect take.  I suspect Superluser was trying to do that too although I'm not sure.

No, those were the best takes, spliced together.  There was an extra 10 minutes of bad takes, especially 508, since I ad-libbed a word that was supposed to be cut out into every place that there was an ellipsis so that it would sound like Abel was actually saying more, but Dan was fading out, and I forgot to do it on some of the takes.

I also forgot to write down notes on the emotions for the script, so that will probably help a redo.

The ``finally all clans agreed to remain neutral while in the academy and a magical barrier was created to close it off from the outside'' bit was quite a mouthful.

If you notice, the young Abel takes often have repeated lines because when I went back, I wasn't sure where the takes started and stopped.

[Goatmon]

I'll get the original lines redone pretty soon, btw.  I just picked a bad time to do it last night, as I was tired and pushed myself a little more than I needed to. 

[Tezkat]

Also, here's a quick mix with my Abel, sans BGM (was that supposed to be included in the project files?).

I noticed that.  I suspect it was supposed to be included, but honestly, I like it better without the BGM.  That scene is supposed to be silly, not dramatic.

I think it might be missing because, analog geek that he is, Tapewolf likes to mix the music directly from tape.

I wouldn't do that scene completely without background music. However, I do agree that sometimes an overly dramatic background track can detract from the comedy. One of the things about DMFA is that there are a lot of heavy, dramatic moments punctuated with one liners and funny situations. Ideally, the music should frame those situations nicely without overpowering them.

For instance, I might leave in the music during Fa'Lina's monologue and then cut it abruptly at Abel's intro (Example). Maybe you could even add something like a record scratch sound to highlight the transition. Interrupting the music mirrors the interruption of Fa'Lina's train of thought. But that's just me... I'm not the one responsible for the music.

You may also note in my mix that there are some very prominent digital noise removal artifacts in Fa'Lina's dialogue. (It's a kinda echoey metallic distortion, if you don't know what to listen for. Audacity's DNR is particularly bad in that regard.) You can't really hear them in the version with music. Background music can hide of many problems stemming from poor recording quality.

After just realizing that my webcamera has a microphone setting which is halfway decent, do you guys still need someone for Cindy?

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Unless somebody sent files directly to TW or James, I don't believe we have a Cindy yet.

Regardless, we haven't even started on those sections yet, so you're welcome to try out.

Hee hee, I finally figured out how to use this thing! Of course, that means I have new material as well.

The new takes are much better, but I'm afraid there are still a lot of popping and breath noises. Maybe try placing a finger or a pen between your mouth and the mic when you record. I don't know how well that trick will work with a headset, but it should still dissipate some of the air before hitting the mic.

[Tapewolf]

And as promised, a bit of the SAIA arc, from Abel's Intro to Dan to the Wardrobe Montage... (I didn't do the actual montage, sorry!)

No problems, I was planning to skip the montage anyway.  It's too visual and to be honest, I thought it was rather silly.

Also, here's a quick mix with my Abel, sans BGM (was that supposed to be included in the project files?).

I noticed that.  I suspect it was supposed to be included, but honestly, I like it better without the BGM.  That scene is supposed to be silly, not dramatic.

I think it might be missing because, analog geek that he is, Tapewolf likes to mix the music directly from tape. [/quote]

No, it's missing because Audacity included it as an external reference instead of merging it into the project which 1.3 is NOT supposed to do.  I've added a FLAC version of the soundtrack here:
http://dmfa.it-he.org/dmfa/095d.flac

Audacity should be able to read that directly although you'll have to import it as an extra track.  If you decompress it to .wav format and put it in /mnt/spare/ you should be able to load it back in without editing the project.  You might be SOL if you're using Windows.

I wouldn't do that scene completely without background music. However, I do agree that sometimes an overly dramatic background track can detract from the comedy. One of the things about DMFA is that there are a lot of heavy, dramatic moments punctuated with one liners and funny situations. Ideally, the music should frame those situations nicely without overpowering them.

Right, here's the deal.  Fi's just died and we cut to a mysterious location where their controller has, without shedding a single tear, decided that it's part of the cost of doing business and is making plans to replace them before the body's even cold.  (Yes, I know Fi's escaped, but that's not happened in the strip yet.  The original title of the composition was "Fi's Requiem", by the way).
Then Abel comes in (cue Abel's theme, actually taken from "Vampires in Reverse" on Mythical Creatures but now used each time Abel enters dramatically).
They start talking about how Abel has driven three roommates insane (music shifts to something less cheerful at this point) then Fa'Lina decides that the hero of the comic strip should be his next, uh, victim.  (So we keep looping the theme).
Then Fa'Lina chucks Abel out, and sits down to plot.  The music swells to a dramatic end, firstly because we're about to do a scene change, and secondly because it provides an amusing contrast with what she's actually doing (i.e. eating muffins).

You may also note in my mix that there are some very prominent digital noise removal artifacts in Fa'Lina's dialogue. (It's a kinda echoey metallic distortion, if you don't know what to listen for. Audacity's DNR is particularly bad in that regard.)

Yeah, it's better than anything else I've come across, though.  And as you say, background music hides the recording problems quite nicely 
If you've got access to CEDAR, you may find a gig of WAV files suddenly heading your way 

After just realizing that my webcamera has a microphone setting which is halfway decent, do you guys still need someone for Cindy?

Yes.

Hee hee, I finally figured out how to use this thing! Of course, that means I have new material as well.

I've tried the first one.  As Tezkat says, it's still got a number of noise problems, and I do think you've missed the emphasis on Abel's lines.
"_I_ look cuter in skirts..."

[RushFox]

Hee hee, I finally figured out how to use this thing! Of course, that means I have new material as well.

The new takes are much better, but I'm afraid there are still a lot of popping and breath noises. Maybe try placing a finger or a pen between your mouth and the mic when you record. I don't know how well that trick will work with a headset, but it should still dissipate some of the air before hitting the mic.

It works, but my voice comes out really quiet, because of the blockage. I remember some of Kao's lines being real quiet (especially for Abel's Story), so it may not be a problem.

Here's an example...

http://rapidshare.com/files/32353203/Abel-_The_Wardrobe_Montage.wav

Yes, that's the Wardrobe Montage. It was too fun to pass up! 

Heck, this whole thing is too fun! Maybe I'll do some different voices, even if I don't get the "leading man" here. This is my main focus for right now...

Edit: Aww Tapewolf, I just posted this and... You can't use it! Ah well, just use it for hearing my voicing, I guess. 

[Sunblink]

Okay, so I tried out Cindy's voice today. I'm pretty much willing to redo this as many times as you guys like, so if it isn't the best I'll try at it again.

http://rapidshare.com/files/32356037/CindyRecording2.mp3

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Fuyudenki]

Tapewolf, just in case you've missed it, I'd like my new take on the DMFA pages 424-426 to be the one used for my audition.  The old one just sucks, 'nuff said.

Also, in case you missed it, I uploadeda trio of .wav files in a .zip folder for Pip's 495.  I can provide more scratch material for you to work with, if you'd like.

Hee hee, I finally figured out how to use this thing! Of course, that means I have new material as well.

The new takes are much better, but I'm afraid there are still a lot of popping and breath noises. Maybe try placing a finger or a pen between your mouth and the mic when you record. I don't know how well that trick will work with a headset, but it should still dissipate some of the air before hitting the mic.

On the topic of trying to kill pops and hisses, I actually took post-It notes and stuck them around my mic.  They deflected the air, and stopped the popping and hissing nicely, but at the cost of a lot of volume... and they didn't stick very well.

Something like that, though, just a shield of some sort to deflect the air away put really close to the mic.  Paper seems to work especially well, as it's very solid, while still being thin and light-weight.

[Tapewolf]

Tapewolf, just in case you've missed it, I'd like my new take on the DMFA pages 424-426 to be the one used for my audition.  The old one just sucks, 'nuff said.

I dunno, the new one is a better performance but it's full of weird digital artifacts.
I also seem to have disabled MP3 support in Audacity so I can't study it to find out why it sounds that way until I get this fixed.  Do you still have the original WAV version, by any chance?

**EDIT**
Did you run the noise reduction on it?

Also, in case you missed it, I uploaded a trio of .wav files in a .zip folder for Pip's 495.  I can provide more scratch material for you to work with, if you'd like.

Yes, I've got those.  I must admit I forgot to check them, though.  They seem to be good

Keaton, the voicing is good, the recording less so.  Again, I can't pull it into Audacity until I've recompiled it.  Without looking, I'd guess you're overloading slightly, so you might want to turn the input level down a notch or two.  Also, is that fish in the background?
You might want to give the bedsheet trick a go to kill off the ambient noise in the background, as I'm not sure the noise reduction system will be able to cope with it as it is.  I do like the voice though.

[Sunblink]

Keaton, the voicing is good, the recording less so.  Again, I can't pull it into Audacity until I've recompiled it.  Without looking, I'd guess you're overloading slightly, so you might want to turn the input level down a notch or two.  Also, is that fish in the background?
You might want to give the bedsheet trick a go to kill off the ambient noise in the background, as I'm not sure the noise reduction system will be able to cope with it as it is.  I do like the voice though.

Hmm. I'll see if I can try again tonight and reduce the input level... I'm new to this, so I'm unfamiliar with the controls of Audacity and my microphone thingy. Also, yes, you probably heard my fishtank filter in the background. XD And thank you, I'm glad you liked the voice.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Fuyudenki]

I dunno, the new one is a better performance but it's full of weird digital artifacts.
I also seem to have disabled MP3 support in Audacity so I can't study it to find out why it sounds that way until I get this fixed.  Do you still have the original WAV version, by any chance?

**EDIT**
Did you run the noise reduction on it?

It's possible the artifacts are due to me muting out certain areas where my headset was rattling, which didn't happen during previous cuts.  I didn't perform any other modifications on the audio, though.  I can generate a .wav version from my MP3.  In fact, I'll go ahead and do that.

Also, of course, I can re-record the lines and try not to get any headset rattles.

[edit]Here it is!  I don't hear any artifacts, it may be the 32Kbps bitrate that I encoded it at, though that doesn't make much sense either.  I could try a re-dub under audacity 1.2, which is what I used for previous ones.(This was recorded under Audacity 1.3.2)[/edit]