Removing the room

[Codmate]

I've just been given a short recording of a spoken-word piece.

It's just one male voice speaking on the recording.

The problem is that the voice-artist was too far away from the microphone and the room the recording took place in was far too echoey.

Is there any way to remove the room's natural reverb from the recording, or at least dampen it somewhat?

The person who recorded this would rather not re-record as it will cost them money and they are hoping I can come up with a 'quick fix'.

Many thanks

 

[MadAudio]

Hmmm. I don't think much can be done with this. You might try a noise gate. I once attended a seminar at the AES a few years ago on "deverberation," but the results they showed then weren't very impressive.

Is there any way the voice-over person can go back to where it was recorded and say, "Hey this audio is unusable because you recorded it badly," and maybe get a free session?

 

[Codmate]

Well really it should be re-recorded; but unfortunatly this might not be possible due to time-constraints.

Somebody's suggested playing with the free 'Dominion' plugin from http://www.digitalfishphones.com/ so I'm going to give that a go.

I'll report back later with samples and let you all know how I get on.

Thanks

 

[ecktronic]

Definetly record it again man. Even if it isnt recorded in a studio. You could get good results even with an ok mic and a tape recorder. Just make sure their are no peaks and that the vocalist is right up at the mic almost eating it!

 

[tylerxxx]

yeah, i'd say just bring him to your house, and give him a good recording.

 

[Codmate]

Well, I tried my best - and yes, you can remove some of the reverb tails with Dominion, but ultimatly it just sounds a bit weird.

The recording is buggered frankly and needs doing again.

If the reverb wasn't so extreme I think I might have been able to clean it up far better with Dominion, so it's worth bearing in mind. It does seem like an excellent tool in general.