Audio by Matt Duncan

Your voice has work to do but the job isn't finished when the recording is done. Editing, cleaning and enhancing can take just as long, if not longer, and there are other elements of your project you need to work on. What if you could hit "stop recording", send the files somewhere else and receive the finished audio back?

I have worked on video voice-overs (from YouTube to corporate settings), podcasts, audio instructions and music productions. In all those years I've had to make do with whatever was available and learn to develop an ear for what is possible. Sometimes the best performance happens in sub-par conditions. You can find a few examples in this playlist.

Let me help you with your project!
Voice-overs for YouTube et al., podcasts, vocal cover songs, "Let's Play" audio, instructions, audio books etc.

 

Voice Editing

Humans make mistakes and even the best voice actors usually try several takes before getting it just right. Trimming down your recording can be a very tedious process and if you're not careful, the wrong edit will introduce clicks, pops or create an unnatural shift in your tone.

I can take care of the following things for you:

  • Remove mistakes
  • Trim silence
  • Produce one smooth take
  • Separate overlaps between two speakers (multitrack recordings)
  • Reduce latency between speakers in multitrack skype recordings
  • Split the recording into separate files / segments
  • Synchronize to a video

In some cases I can even fix mistakes mid-word, if you cannot ask your voice talent to do another recording. This is very much dependent on the individual cases though, so please bring those up when contacting me.

Rates:

  • $0.50 per minute of raw audio
  • Minimum: $20

Clear, Clean Tone

The right equipment and an optimal environment can make a good voice talent shine. But just because you don't always have access to those, your recordings don't have to sound cheap, muffled or harsh. No-one can make a phone mic sound like a large diaphragm microphone, because the best sound is always created right at the source. However, today's audio technology can clean up a lot of problematic recordings.

Here's what I can do for you:

  • Clean-up
    • Dim background noise and electrical hum
    • Edit out isolated noises (car honks, door slams) where possible
    • Level out spikes in volume (screaming, moving too close to microphone)
    • Reduce room reverb (include a recording of a clap for improved results)
  • Clarity and tone
    • Reduce sibilance (harsh s-sounds)
    • Volume leveling and achieve a general loudness
    • Overall tonal balance
    • Match recordings from different mics

Rates:

  • $0.50 per minute of (already edited) audio
  • Minimum: $20

Music

Adding a musical bed to voice recordings is a common practice to create atmosphere and flow. But you don't want them to fight for attention, your voice should always have the upper hand! You can turn down the music, but go too far and it's almost as if there was no music present at all. For the best results, the music steps into the background when needed. Think of the announcer at a carnival ride but less extreme. In addition, the voice occupies a certain frequency range which is usually very crowded already in most contemporary musical compositions. This is where most clashes happen.

Let me create the best combination of voice and music for you:

  • Carve out a space for your voice to sit in
  • Music volume ducking while speaking
  • You will receive two versions with different volume to pick from
  • Intersperce or fade music in and out (intros, outros, transitions)
  • Provide your own (already licensed) music
  • Or pick from my own library (fee depends on use case, commercial intent, video platform etc.)

Rates:

  • $0.30 per minute of music
  • Minimum: $15

Tips for a good voice recording

Feel free to contact me if you need help setting up one of the more technical aspects of these or to provide a sample for me to judge.

I also offer general audio and video editing services. Just use the same contact form and describe your project.