How can i improve my commentary?

[sunzz]

Hey there, well i know their is alot of pros/experts on this forum with audio and im wondering what effects etc i should do to improve from vocal commentary as i have a weird voice. Not sure if my voice is weird or if i just hate it. Below iv linked a small testclip of me playing the witcher 3, i do swear though so parental guidance is a must! :P. What would you do to make these vocals sound better, to grab the attention of your audience better etc? both these files are RAW

Audacity file of clip
Zippyshare.com - testclip.aup

wav of clip
Zippyshare.com - testclip.wav

[famous beagle]

What mic are you using? Sounds like a good amount of proximity effect.

[sunzz]

What mic are you using? Sounds like a good amount of proximity effect.

im using the blue spark digital usb. Trying to keep the gain as low as possible but still pick me up etc

[sunzz]

What mic are you using? Sounds like a good amount of proximity effect.

what would you recommend beagle?

[famous beagle]

I would think that mic should be fine for what you're doing. To be honest, your commentary didn't seem that bad to me. I don't know much about video game commentary, and I haven't seen/heard many at all, so I don't know what to expect really, but other than what sounds like some proximity effect maybe (it sounded a bit more so with headphones, and I was using a model that are bass-heavy---on my speakers it wasn't as noticeable), I thought it sounded fine.

How close are you to the mic when recording?

Are you very used to hearing your voice recorded?

[ShortySMC]

I wasn't listening in the studio, but even on my macbook speaker here's what I would suggest....

1) Be sure to have a good pop filter at least 1 1/2 or 2" off the mic grill.... and you should be AT LEAST a couple inches off that..... you don't have to be right on top of the mic.....

2) Try tipping the capsule down, or up, or side/side a little bit, rather than aiming straight at your mouth.... a bit more angle will help reduce the S's... sounds a bit sibilant

3) There sounds to be something that gets a bit honky in your voice - but not all the time, it's sorta only through certain parts. While distance, pop filter, and mic angle will help with some of this as well, it seems to be a tone somewhat inherent to your vocal... maybe around 400Hz? Many people have something around 250 and 500.... some just around the 360-400 range.... you could check both ways but I think you're in the 400 area, and maybe even something up around 800).... use a multiband compressor and bypass all but the band you want to target (this lets audio pass the other bands un-effected)... now set the target band (in your case likely 400) to reduce some gain as your vocal is hitting those parts harder. It's the same technique as DeEssing, but in different frequency range. I use Waves C4 or C6 for this... works GREAT....

^^A lot of people just go straight to an EQ for those things.... the problem with that, is that if it is something that is not consistent to the entire performance, then you are still being destructive to the entire performance. With this method, you are only knocking down that unpleasant frequency when it builds up and becomes an issue.... this will keep the vocal much fuller sounding... more natural... less processed sounding....

Anyway, good luck!