Syntrillium M.D.
Location: USA
Posts: 5124
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 Posted - Tue Feb 06, 2001 9:39 am |
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Hello Sean. There is no 'automatic' way to do this. You can use the volume envelopes in multitrack to fade up/down your music bed and do the same for the voice over. Or, you could use one of the dynamics processors to 'duck' the voice and/or music (but that would have to be applied destructively). I would suggest using the envelopes. THey're fairly easy, and this way, you can tailor it just right. When you are done, go to Edit>Mixdown>All Waves to create a stereo 2-track version of your music bed and voice.
---Syntrillium Support
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Teddy G.
Posts: 241
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| Posted - Sat Feb 10, 2001 5:38 pm |
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To add a little more. Some experience suggests caution when fading the music bed in and out up and down MANUALLY under a VO for radio or TV use. If the VO is properly recorded and the music bed is properly recorded, both will already include some compression and limiting with a somewhat restricted dynamic range(this is radio and tv here, kids, trying, as best we can to get the message accross to folks who are IN TRAFFIC, in their cars and their heads, not symphony hall!). Also this is why multi-track is so helpful, to get things "right" in the individual tracks before mixing-down. In any event, the BG volume would be virtually pre-set, just slightly down from the VO all the way through. With some BG, even this is not needed and both tracks are run full-up, just short of clipping. The stations compression will always be "grabbing" the hottest part, which should ALWAYS be your VO unless there are parts where there is no VO or you want the voice somewhat obscured for an effect(explosion "taking you out", for instance)or you really want that Monster Truck effect to blast! Inotherwords, let their way overdone "magic LOUD machines" take care of most of the fade-in/out. A way of "checking" your levels is to listen at very(very) low volume to your mix(a small, limited response speaker may help)((actually, a "Crap" speaker, designated as carefully controlled "crap", is used for just this sort of thing at the big studios))(((Auratone was the biggest name in nicely made "crap" speakers at one time))). You should always hear the VO cleanly, If BG covers up any of it, your basic VO to BG parameters should be changed, likely all the way through. I have had the most problem with spots with heavy brass instrument BG where some manual compensation has had to be done, but, again, careful! Once it hits the stations those little corrections can sound like you were turning the volume control on and off...
I should state that I'm no more a fan of drastic compression than anyone, but, I do remember radio before good comp/limiting.
For an example of what it may have sounded like in those days, listen to A Prarie Home Companion, on NPR. Alright, maybe it's not so true anymore, but the dynamic range of the show, particularly Garrison's spoken parts, was so wide("non-tampering" in the interest of quality, of course!) that it was virtually impossible to listen to the show in a moving vehicle as Garrisons' voice would vary from not there at all to SCARING you into another lane!
Some Comp/Limiting is good? I think so. But I use as little as possible as more always seems to be added down the line.
Edited by - Teddy G. on 02/10/2001 5:40:10 PM
Edited by - Teddy G. on 02/10/2001 5:53:22 PM
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