Tuesday VO Tech Tip: A Useful Tool Set

Voice actors I work with periodically want to strip things down to the studs and start over. Perhaps they aren’t booking, or they feel like there might be some foundational flaw. It might cause them to evaluate software – “…maybe it’s time to ditch Audacity and move to Reaper…” – or invest in a boutique preamp or more expensive microphone – chasing the idea of some perfect sound that will cause producers to swoon

These types of seismic changes can feel good. They can make everything feel fresh and new. However, those types of wholesale revisions often introduce more new variables than they solve. In many cases, major changes simply obscure the real issues. When we finally scale the learning curve with new software and gear, the view may be exactly the same as before.

What if we avoid the stem to stern refit? Often a few small changes will create a more significant benefit. Efficiencies are found through refinement. After all, we should have a deeper working knowledge of those tasks we repeat. Omitting a needless step which occurs numerous times per day can clear a lot of cruft out of the process.

Putting robust and understandable tools together is a powerful place to work. In the Audio Editing class I teach, no one step is particularly complex. But, it’s the combination of those things which create an efficient workflow.

A simple example of this would be in Izotope’s RX software. Using this app in standalone mode often causes needless vertical scrolling through the effects distributed through “Repair”, “Utility”, and “Measurements” toolsets. I’m often using the Mouth DeClick or Voice DeNoise effects (under Repair), but often use the EQ, Loudness Control, or 3rd party Plug-in effects (under Utility), and of course need to check the Waveform Stats (under Measurements). The problem is that they are nestled between many other effects I never reach for, but cause them to shift off the page. You can either collapse and expand the sections, demanding more clicking and scrolling, or leave all the toolsets open which creates a very long list to move through.
However, there’s an oft-ignored solution – you can actually create your own custom tool list with just those items you need. Hiding those unnecessary tools means no more time spent flipping up and down the overly long list. What you need are right out in the open and easily accessible. You can always go back to the default set or grab them from the Module menu if you need something not in your group.

There are many ways to leverage this idea. It’s why I encourage voice actors to save Presets and use Stacks, Racks, Macros, or Module Chains (depending upon their software of choice). It’s always those little distractions we discount that take up much more time than we think.

Have you tested your studio’s audio quality to make sure it meets professional standards? For a free review of your vocal recordings, please use the upload tool on my Audio Review page.

Please share! please feel free to share or link to this resource using one of the buttons below. If you would like to receive these weekly posts directly to your email, you can sign up here.