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

[Tapewolf]

I was going to announce the release, but unfortunately I seem to have uploaded the raw transfer from the tape, complete with 1khz test tone.  So it's going to have to wait another 8 hours or so

[Fragmaster01]

Alright, great question before I finish these auditions: Is there any good way to compress .wavs better? I'm getting a good average of 6 megs per 30 seconds of dialog.
And that's terrible.

[Tapewolf]

Okay, Recipe for Disasters is finally out.  I've created a thread for it in the Tower of Art:
http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php?topic=3477.msg149815
Thanks go out to everyone involved 

Alright, great question before I finish these auditions: Is there any good way to compress .wavs better? I'm getting a good average of 6 megs per 30 seconds of dialog.And that's terrible.

Firstly, make sure it's mono.  22Khz is okay - a full 24 bit 192khz recording is total overkill.
You can actually use RAR to compress them to some degree (it has a dedicated audio compressor), or else look into using FLAC which is slow but lossless.  After that, look at high-quality MP3s.  I do not like WMA files although I can sometimes decode them.

[Fragmaster01]

Kayo, yeh, it's definately on 44Khz Stereo at the moment.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Alright, great question before I finish these auditions: Is there any good way to compress .wavs better? I'm getting a good average of 6 megs per 30 seconds of dialog.

I was under the impression that providing Tape with mp3 versions would be acceptable for identifying the stuff he wants to work with, and then supplying the clean wavs if he wants, was the way to go.

I may be misunderstanding one or both of you, though. ;-]

[Tezkat]

Ideally: Save all your stuff in a high quality uncompressed format (minimum 16-bit mono @ 44.1 KHz--maybe as low as 22KHz since Tapewolf said it was okay, but I personally wouldn't recommend recording at that setting) and then compress to MP3 to send as your audition. Auditioning in WAV format is overkill and wastes everyone's time, but you should keep the uncompressed version on hand in case there are issues (like background noise and such) that we could fix more easily with a higher quality source.

[Fragmaster01]

I didn't think I'd say this, but yay football. The whole dorm is quiet, and I didn't get any background noise over today's entire recording.
This is a couple of select recordings, pretty much picking out a lot of characters in case others are open. Also, I went with saying all the characters lines, not just the ones I was trying to do(better sounding for when I was proofreading the recordings, just one characters lines is boring). That would be why some character's voices like Dan are in there despite him not needing a VA.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=5127d58dd23d39c0ab1eab3e9fa335ca4f16c9ba075cff91

Thoughts on the voices:
Dan: I pretty much put Dan in as a middle ground voice, somethign to base all the others off of.
Abel: Slightly higher than Dan, with a bit more brightness, especially when being sarcastic.
Wildy: Low for a female voice, but with a good range, depending on her mood.
Biggs: I felt that Biggs should have a pleasing voice and let his words speak for his personality; as he is sort of a   smooth talker, I didn't think a more evil or plotting voice was correct for him.
Jyrras: I didn't like the idea of Jyrras having a squeaky voice, but couldn't think of what else to give him. In the end, I gave him a higher voice with a lot more emotion, at the expense of him not sounding very geeky.(No offense to Tezkat, he does a very good squeaky Jyrras, very much like Rob from Avenue Q)
Alexsi: Slightly high pitched, though she only has two lines in the segment she was in, so you don't hear much of it.
Mab: As Alexsi, with faster speech, though again, she only has one line.
Pyroduck: A bit lower voice, though not to the level of the online recordings.
Falina: Slightly high pitched, though with quite a bit of brightness in the voice. Her final lines had very nasty noise no matter what, as my microphone can't take yelling very well.
Azlan: Pretty much a placeholder voice, similar to Dan's, as I couldn't figure out a good voice for him.

Hope you like it!

[Tapewolf]

I haven't yet listened to all of them.  By the way, try not to send too much... Rushfox sent about 50 minutes of voices which I still haven't entirely listened to 

I do like the Abel voice during the 'jerk' scene.  I don't think it fits him, but I do like the slightly evil tint to the voice.  If we weren't already sorted for Ink I'd seriously consider it.

Albanion, I'm not sure about.  If you've listened to my 805 recording, that's what I'm aiming for.
For your info, and anyone else who is curious, this is what Albanion sounds likes, before and after (finding that tape was why this post is kind of late):

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/albanion_raw.wav.mp3

Note the stressing.  Part of this is to keep it intelligible when it's slowed down, part of it is for the menace.  The key syllables are overemphasised, e.g.  "You Shall Know Misery.  You Shall Know Re-Gret."

I'll have to run yours through the same processing and see what happens.

And check out that other guy's recording...

[Fragmaster01]

Thanks for the feedback. I threw up a take 2 of 803-805. It's in the link where the others are.

[Tapewolf]

Thanks for the feedback. I threw up a take 2 of 803-805. It's in the link where the others are.

Not bad.  You've got the emphasis about right.  I'm not sure I like the style of the voice itself though, it's a bit breathy.  I'd be interested to know what other people think too...

[Fragmaster01]

Sounds less breathy in person, but yeh, I know what you're talking about. Yay 30 dollar mics for the breath amplicifation?

[Tapewolf]

Sounds less breathy in person, but yeh, I know what you're talking about. Yay 30 dollar mics for the breath amplicifation?

Are you talking straight into it?  If so, try talking across it instead - that may help, but it may need someone with more experience of speaking and microphone techniques to make a more accurate diagnosis.

[Fragmaster01]

Found the best place to put it to get rid of those popping noises, though the sound is slightly quieter, as I had to put it up at nose level(it's not that bad though, I just compensated by speaking louder).
Take... 3? will be up in a few seconds. Sorry for making you go back and forth.
(Just noticed after going through the nicely long thread: DO you still need an Aniz?)

[RushFox]

I haven't yet listened to all of them.  By the way, try not to send too much... Rushfox sent about 50 minutes of voices which I still haven't entirely listened to 

I SEE WHAT U DID THAR.

Glad to see I was able to leave a legacy of sorts. Never done that before! 

I'm still sore about losing that part, but I'll be willing to try any parts on the next big project if you need it. I have learned from last time and I'm definitely putting a limit on my recordings this time, for sure...

[Tapewolf]

Take... 3? will be up in a few seconds. Sorry for making you go back and forth.
(Just noticed after going through the nicely long thread: DO you still need an Aniz?)

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/test/voices.wav.mp3

I think when it comes down to it, the problem is that you're talking in a gentle, soft, slightly evil voice when what we really need (IMHO) is a hard, commanding edge to what he is saying...

To use synthesizer parlance, it would be nice if you could reduce the attack time.

I've lost track of whether we got an Aniz

Here's our other contender for Albanion:
http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/test/DMFA_Albanion_Tryout.wav.mp3

The work of a master always is truly awesome to behold.

Now this is editing... I dread to think how long it took to get right!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WQxFcUq7LrI

[Cogidubnus]

I've lost track of whether we got an Aniz

*coughs* I have recorded a snippet here and there, if you are still looking...

[Fragmaster01]

Tapewolf:
Personally, I must say, I loled at the HARD, COMMANDING EDGE. I believe I've managed to get a bit of said HCE in there, though thank you for pointing out that's what you wanted, as yes, I was working towards a different sort of voice. It's posted as TakeMuffin(I'm quite bored, you see).
And along those lines, I'd like to know your thoughts on an Aniz try I put up. It's in the same link as usual.
I went with the idea of Aniz being rather amoral, and generally uncaring about what he does towards others. Hence, his isn't so much a dark evil voice as a rather unlikable voice, one who talks without any hint of remorse despite the subject matter. Hence, it doesn't quite have the HCE of the Latest albanion take, but I hope it is what you are looking for.
Note: Aniz audition is uncensored!

Cogidubnus:
I'd look forward to hearing those, might I have a link?

[Cogidubnus]

Cogidubnus:
I'd look forward to hearing those, might I have a link?

Page 14. The last link provided is the best one.

[Fragmaster01]

Very nice, definately deeper than mine. Thanks for the link.

[Tezkat]

I didn't think I'd say this, but yay football. The whole dorm is quiet, and I didn't get any background noise over today's entire recording.
This is a couple of select recordings, pretty much picking out a lot of characters in case others are open. Also, I went with saying all the characters lines, not just the ones I was trying to do(better sounding for when I was proofreading the recordings, just one characters lines is boring). That would be why some character's voices like Dan are in there despite him not needing a VA.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=5127d58dd23d39c0ab1eab3e9fa335ca4f16c9ba075cff91

You have an interesting voice. I think you could have been a good Abel. Not sure about all the other characters yet. I haven't listened to everything yet. I'll comment more when I have the time to go through them all.

I've lost track of whether we got an Aniz

Heh... we had at least half-dozen auditions for Aniz, but I seem to recall they kinda petered out without us picking a favourite.

Tapewolf:
Personally, I must say, I loled at the HARD, COMMANDING EDGE. I believe I've managed to get a bit of said HCE in there, though thank you for pointing out that's what you wanted, as yes, I was working towards a different sort of voice. It's posted as TakeMuffin(I'm quite bored, you see).

Hmm... the muffin take won't download for me. The problem seems to be specific to that file, since it let me grab all the other clips.

[Fragmaster01]

Yeh, I got someone else getting that problem too, though giving him the exact link seemed to help, so...
http://www.mediafire.com/?dtzm2m9nyvm
Hopefully you can get that one.

[Tapewolf]

Yeah, I like that one.  It helps if you can keep it all at the same pitch though...

[Tezkat]

Yeh, I got someone else getting that problem too, though giving him the exact link seemed to help, so...
http://www.mediafire.com/?dtzm2m9nyvm
Hopefully you can get that one.

Thanks, that worked.

Oh, and by the way, we've standardized the pronunciation of Jyrras's name as "gyrus" for this project.

[Fragmaster01]

Thanks for the feedback, as well as that note about Jyrras' pronunciation.
I'll try and work on keeping the pitch, though not today(I've been at work since 6:30.)

[James StarRunner]

I'm so disorganized right now... What's the next thing I should work on?

[Tapewolf]

I'm so disorganized right now... What's the next thing I should work on?

Dan's voices and thoughts for the Church arc.  IIRC you did the first lot, but we still need the rest.

[Naldru]

I don't know if you've seen Songs for the Wild-At-Heart.  I came across this by accident and thought the people here might find side 2 interesting.

[Fragmaster01]

Judging by the copyright on the page, I'd have to say that those would be Tapewolf's.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Given Tapewolf mentioned them here on the forums, and linked to them, yes, we're aware.

Or, at least, most of us are. ;-]

[Tapewolf]

I don't know if you've seen Songs for the Wild-At-Heart.  I came across this by accident and thought the people here might find side 2 interesting.

Yeah, it was developed in parallel with the first radio project episode.  What can be described as an incestuous relationship, since the score from the album went into the project (in some cases straight from the album master) and the voices from the project were sampled for the album. 

Originally it was going to be called 'The Legend of Daniel Ti'Fiona'.  I was hoping to be allowed to use Amber's artwork, but she didn't like the idea.  Frankly I think that album was a bit of a mistake myself now, but it does have some good stuff on it.

For the curious, this was the original cover:
http://dougtheeagle.com/lodt/lodt.pdf

I'd be interested to know how you found it accidentally