I just taped a stand-up set for a comedian I like a lot. She needs something to submit to the suits at Comedy Central so she can get a special. Because of the layout of the theater and my limited equipment, I ended up taping her from a close distance, but didn't patch into the house PA. As a result, it looks great but sounds not-so-great. I need to remove the echo of the theater so that her enunciation improves - to make it sound like I recorded audio from her microphone.
I have the software (FCP, Soundtrack) to do this but am very ignorant in this area. Is there a filter I can use to improve it? Compressor?
If anyone out there is an audio engineer, I'd greatly appreciate some advice. PM me and I'll PM you the footage in question. Thanks.
I don't have Final Cut Pro but can offer a couple audio suggestions. Unfortunately it is somewhat difficult to eliminate reverb in recorded audio, which is what you probably have lots of on your recording. Reverb=room sound.
First, do not use compression. Compression makes quiet parts loud and loud parts softer; compressing the dynamics. You would actually be bringing up the noise floor by using compression. Try to see if there is an expander plug-in. That would raise the voice and, hopefully, lower the noise/room sound.
I would start by trying out the pre-sets, finding one that is closest to the sound that you are looking for, taking note of the parameters and then playing around with them.
Secondly, I would roll off some low end starting at 100hz. Most room sound is found in the lower end of the spectrum.
You definitely want to keep vocals in from 100-150hz. That is the low end of the vocal.
Reduce in the 200-300 hz range. That is the most dense range and removing a little in that area sometimes brings about clarity.
The human voice is most present from 5-6k. You might want to bring up some EQ in that range but be very careful with your EQ. Too much and the voice will sound unnatural.
And 10k-12k adds a little brightness on top.
But again I would like to stress, it is always better to remove bad frequencies then it is to add. Listen closely, small changes of 1db will be noticeable.
Future reference for live recordings:
1. Feed directly from the board
2. One (or two if you want stereo) microphones facing the audience for a live sound. You'll want the laughter and applause.
Good luck!
