Akumaryu
08-02-2010, 11:30 PM
So, since I figured this out on GarageBand through some exploration and hadn't seen anything about it anywhere online, I figured I'd share this with all you Mac users out there who are using GarageBand to record your lines.
NOTE: All these settings should be applied BEFORE you begin recording. This is a live/pre-processing function. It cannot (to my knowledge) be applied to lines after you have recorded them. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Step 1: Start a New Project
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT1.png
We all know this screen. Choose "Voice" for the simplest selections. You should end up with the generic GarageBand window with two instrument choices: "Male Basic" and "Female Basic." You would obviously work on whichever track suits your gender, though the equalization differences are minute.
Since I am a guy, all of my examples will be on the male track. However, you will make the same selections on the female track if you are a girl. Fair enough? ;)
Step 2: Eliminate Pre-set Options
Since GarageBand is mainly used for music, the vocal settings are designed to get a good sound out of singers. However, that means there's reverb and slight delay placed on the vocal tracks. We want to remove those since we're working with speech. So, the best way to do that is as follows:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT2.png -> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT3.png
Whether you've chosen Female or Male, change the selection under the "Browse" tab to say "No Effects." Voila! Reverb gone! Now it gets a little trickier.
Step 3: Tweak the Sucker!
If you click on the tab that says "Edit," you should get a sidebar that looks like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT4.png
This is where the magic happens. Click on one of the empty boxes. It'll allow you to apply an effect to the track. Make sure that all of this is being done under the "Real Instrument" Super Tab. That'll make all your changes apply only to the track you're currently working with.
When you click on the empty box, you'll get a drop down window asking you to select your effect. Scroll down to what will soon become your best friend: "AUDynamicsProcessor."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT5.png
Your window should look like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT6.png
In the small DynamicsProcessor Window, you can drag the dots to affect how the program picks up your words through your mic. I usually have my settings set thusly:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT7.png
And then I will adjust my mic volume depending on how loud my character is. This option is especially helpful if your character is extremely soft spoken. You can turn your mic volume all the way up so that the voice is picked up, and you really don't have to worry much about peaking if you suddenly have to yell, unless you have a REALLY loud voice like me. ^_^;
If you do find you're still getting some peaking, take the dot on the far right and move it down to somewhere between -6 dB and -3 dB. That should give you MORE than enough room to work without having to worry about blowing out your recordings.
And that's it! If you still experience peaking and/or quality problems after that, you can pretty much bet it has something to do with the microphone you are using. A decent quality microphone should have no issues after applying this affect, though, so hopefully this helps everyone out!
There you go! Enjoy, and have fun recording! :D
NOTE: All these settings should be applied BEFORE you begin recording. This is a live/pre-processing function. It cannot (to my knowledge) be applied to lines after you have recorded them. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Step 1: Start a New Project
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT1.png
We all know this screen. Choose "Voice" for the simplest selections. You should end up with the generic GarageBand window with two instrument choices: "Male Basic" and "Female Basic." You would obviously work on whichever track suits your gender, though the equalization differences are minute.
Since I am a guy, all of my examples will be on the male track. However, you will make the same selections on the female track if you are a girl. Fair enough? ;)
Step 2: Eliminate Pre-set Options
Since GarageBand is mainly used for music, the vocal settings are designed to get a good sound out of singers. However, that means there's reverb and slight delay placed on the vocal tracks. We want to remove those since we're working with speech. So, the best way to do that is as follows:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT2.png -> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT3.png
Whether you've chosen Female or Male, change the selection under the "Browse" tab to say "No Effects." Voila! Reverb gone! Now it gets a little trickier.
Step 3: Tweak the Sucker!
If you click on the tab that says "Edit," you should get a sidebar that looks like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT4.png
This is where the magic happens. Click on one of the empty boxes. It'll allow you to apply an effect to the track. Make sure that all of this is being done under the "Real Instrument" Super Tab. That'll make all your changes apply only to the track you're currently working with.
When you click on the empty box, you'll get a drop down window asking you to select your effect. Scroll down to what will soon become your best friend: "AUDynamicsProcessor."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT5.png
Your window should look like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT6.png
In the small DynamicsProcessor Window, you can drag the dots to affect how the program picks up your words through your mic. I usually have my settings set thusly:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/Akumaryu/GBT7.png
And then I will adjust my mic volume depending on how loud my character is. This option is especially helpful if your character is extremely soft spoken. You can turn your mic volume all the way up so that the voice is picked up, and you really don't have to worry much about peaking if you suddenly have to yell, unless you have a REALLY loud voice like me. ^_^;
If you do find you're still getting some peaking, take the dot on the far right and move it down to somewhere between -6 dB and -3 dB. That should give you MORE than enough room to work without having to worry about blowing out your recordings.
And that's it! If you still experience peaking and/or quality problems after that, you can pretty much bet it has something to do with the microphone you are using. A decent quality microphone should have no issues after applying this affect, though, so hopefully this helps everyone out!
There you go! Enjoy, and have fun recording! :D