How to match same actor's voice but different microphones

P

prexdealer

Well-known member
Hi,

I tried searching all over the web trying to find a way to take two files and make one sound like or close to the other.

I asked the actor to do some ADR (he needed to be louder and more scared) and he couldn't meet so he just emailed clips he did himself. The problem is though it is him - the scream and other dialogue just don't sound like the rest of the audio. I am trying to help my editor who doesn't have experience with this (I know sound mixing is a different speciality - but I am on a budget).

I have Sony sound forge and just downloaded audacity. I also have sony vegas. In my searches on the internect FCP X has a cool function where you can take two audio files side by side and make one mimic the other one.

I know it is my own doing - rookie mistakes, but hoping someone might be able to chime in. Just trying to get the clips to sound like it could be him - right now it doesn't sound like him when compared to the other dialogue.

Many thanks.
 
EQ and reverb are your best bet, but even then it might not be enough if the distance to the mic and the acoustics are very different. There are some programs that can make a "sound profile" of one file and then automatically adjust an EQ so another file resembles it, but I honestly don't know how effective they are (and since the performance differs, that may be an obstacle).

I think your best bet is to either experiment like crazy, or ask the actor to redo it so the mic, distance and environment is more similar to the original, or send it to a professional.
 
Thanks, I am getting that feedbck from a lot of people. Just scheduling and timing are not working out.

Being not so bright, I thought it might be an easy solution.

Maybe I will look into an artistic way to have the scream, maybe slow it down etc?
 
It depends a LOT on why they don't match. If he recorded in a dead room and the set was live then reverb might help. If the reverse is true it will make things worse.

One thing that sometimes helps is EQ matching. I'm not sure who is making one of these now, mine is from a defunct company. It's an EQ that compares two sound clips and creates an EQ curve to try and make them sonically the same. It works pretty well sometimes and not so much others. VocAlign will help get an ADR line to match the original timing wise.

You might be able to help your self with the scream by putting in some surprising or loud sound just as it starts. Hard to say what might work but a momentary distraction will help mask the vocal change.
 
You could take a look also at the "graphics" of the mic...Where you can see at which frequenties it goes down and up....
and then see if you can match it (the manual of the mic....)
 
You really need to do it with the same mic. in the same acoustic (or as near as possible).

So you really need to get over to him and re-record.
 
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