My voice over sounds way too low and gets overpowered by the music and the atmos sound. I am going to re-record the voice over and make it louder, but I'm still worried the music and atmos might overpower it too much. Any Solutions apart from having the music and atmos sound really low?
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voice over sounds too low and is overpowered by everything else
- Thread starter ajedproduction
- Start date
What software are you using to mix this? You can apply a compression filter to the voice over, this will let you boost the overall levels without blowing out the peaks. You can also apply a low pass filter to the music to reduce the higher frequencies which are more likely to clash with your voice.
Ahhhh... You're one of those "louder is better" types, aren't you?
Actually, if you're going to apply any EQ at all, you should lower the upper-mid frequencies of the music, which is the same frequency range that most voices occupy (at least the "cut" portion of most voices frequency range). This leaves an EQ "hole" for the voice to occupy where it isn't fighting the music.
When it comes to audio it is usually better to reduce things (lower the volume or carve a hole with EQ) than to add things. You can always increase the overall level of the mix in its entirety if you need to.
What you should really be doing it starting with the VO; after all, that's the important part. Get it sounding great; then add the music.
So, you advise crushing the transients out of the voice over and making the music dull and lifeless instead of just adjusting the level of the speakers which are almost certainly not calibrated anyway?
Absolutely. I also generally suggest that when seasoning food you should add enough salt until the other distracting flavors are masked. Moderation is for dilettantes; those who are serious about this stuff know you always turn the knobs to 11 and don't look back.
Shame, I think the OP was asking a serious question, no call for responding by trolling.
Trolling? Hardly. I answered the OP with a couple of honest suggestions for things they could try. You extrapolated my suggestions to their worst case scenario, and I simply responded to you in kind.
*Cough*
Anyway.
What kind of music is playing in the background? This will affect how you treat it. Also if you have a composer you can work with them for this part to find out if they can mix the music to leave a natural gap rather than you artificially creating one with post-EQ.
Anyway.
What kind of music is playing in the background? This will affect how you treat it. Also if you have a composer you can work with them for this part to find out if they can mix the music to leave a natural gap rather than you artificially creating one with post-EQ.
No, I didn't extrapolate anything and the scenario I gave is inevitable, NOT the worst case! As soon as you add compression you are crushing the transients, that's the whole point of compression. Also, the frequencies which make the dialogue more intelligible are between 2kHz - 4kHz, so applying a LPF where it will make much difference (2kHz - 4kHz) will remove most of the high frequency from the music, leaving it dull and lifeless, even if you only apply a 1 pole filter. This isn't worst case, it's inevitable!
The first solution I gave is by far the best as it doesn't reduce audio quality in any way. Next best solution if that doesn't work well enough is the suggestion by Alcove, to make a slight EQ hole, using a peak EQ. There are very specific situations where you would apply a LPF to the music at such a low frequency (or even lower) but this isn't one of those situations. Likewise, only under certain circumstances would you use compression on the dialogue to make it louder and again, this isn't one of those circumstances.
G