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GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
ThatNickGuy said:
All right, here it is in all its awfulness. Please be aware that I'm just using a cheap headset mic, so the sound quality is probably bad.

Also keep in mind that I plan on adding visuals. I'm picturing it like a mix of video essays with some little cartoonish art like in Extra Credits or Yahtzee (between showing the comic art at times).
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Believe it or not, it's not all that bad. In fact, it sounds extremely similar to a lot of the stuff that Tasteful Understated Nerdrage does.

I think working with a headset mic is working against you though - not because it's a cheap mic, but because it encourages you to speak quietly, given how close it is to your face. Headset mics are generally highly sensitive but close proximity, whereas most microphones used for actual voice work are lower sensitivity/volume but placed at a distance. They make you project from the diaphragm, as if you're trying to have a conversation with someone across a large room, so you speak loudly, project, are more emotive with your inflections, but then the mic "turns you down" a bit so the listener isn't deafened.

That said, it also sounds like it's getting most of its frequency response in the upper range and softening the bass. But that's easily tweaked in Audition or most other audio processing programs.

But I think probably using a mic standing on the desk would help you project and inflect better, because the intimacy of a headset mic can easily give someone to lowering their voice, which makes for a reduced tonal range.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

GasBandit said:
Believe it or not, it's not all that bad. In fact, it sounds extremely similar to a lot of the stuff that Tasteful Understated Nerdrage does.

I think working with a headset mic is working against you though - not because it's a cheap mic, but because it encourages you to speak quietly, given how close it is to your face. Headset mics are generally highly sensitive but close proximity, whereas most microphones used for actual voice work are lower sensitivity/volume but placed at a distance. They make you project from the diaphragm, as if you're trying to have a conversation with someone across a large room, so you speak loudly, project, are more emotive with your inflections, but then the mic "turns you down" a bit so the listener isn't deafened.

That said, it also sounds like it's getting most of its frequency response in the upper range and softening the bass. But that's easily tweaked in Audition or most other audio processing programs.

But I think probably using a mic standing on the desk would help you project and inflect better, because the intimacy of a headset mic can easily give someone to lowering their voice, which makes for a reduced tonal range.
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Yeah, I know they tend to use a desk mic, usually with some kind of sound...dampener or something? I don't know the technical terms. I've seen some that have kind of a screen over it that absorbs a lot of that unnecessary noise. This isn't my area of expertise.

Some of my inspirations for videos like this are, say, Super Bunnyhop or Nerdwriter. And a little bit of Extra Credits, Movies with Mikey (the insightful side, not the manic/comedy side), and maybe Lindsay Ellis.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
ThatNickGuy said:
Yeah, I know they tend to use a desk mic, usually with some kind of sound...dampener or something? I don't know the technical terms. I've seen some that have kind of a screen over it that absorbs a lot of that unnecessary noise. This isn't my area of expertise.
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I deal with it every day :D

You're probably thinking of windguards and puff guards, which you probably won't actually need unless you end up with a REALLY expensive mic, the kind you suspend from a metal ring with rubber bands. No, really, that's what they do in radio. It's called a shock mount. But you won't need one, or any of that other stuff. It'll probably be enough just to have a mic that functions well at a larger distance, so you don't have to read like you're whispering in the ear of a loved one.

A lot of people who do youtube videos like the Blue Snowball mic. I used one once, and it seems ok. It's 50 bucks.



I myself use a Audio-Technica ATR2100, which costs a little more at $65.

Amazon product

This one might be more affordable, since I know cash is usually tight. It's got really good reviews. I wouldn't go for anything cheaper than $20, though, you're often just wasting your time there.

Amazon product
 
Squidleybits

Squidleybits

They taped us once at work doing mock interviews at work so we could learn how we look and act during our interviews. It was painful, but as time went on, seeing and hearing exactly how we were doing really did help us improve.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
I deal with it every day :D
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When I record, I have a Behringer B1 that I route through a tube-enabled Presonus TubePRE preamp.
But that's overkill for what you want to do. We've had a handful of threads already where people have asked for help picking out a mic, most of the time the "sweet spot" seems to be at or just over $100 if you want a mic that has room to grow. For those starting out, it almost always comes down to one of the Blue Snowball mics.

While I was looking around, I also found this guy's YouTube channel, where he does things like this:



You might find some of his other videos useful, also. I haven't gone through them, but it looks like his channel is geared towards people who want to do podcasts. All you have to do to learn is survive listening to his voice for some hours' time.

--Patrick
 
fade

fade

Staff member
GasBandit said:
As a radio guy and youtube video maker, I also recommend over-emoting in your dialog. You have to pretend you're reading/speaking to a grouchy child you're trying to cheer up. You will feel ridiculous doing it, I know, but you really have to chew the scenery to seem interesting in a recorded medium.
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As someone who makes tons of stupid movies, I'd say this is generally true of acting, too. Partly because what you feel is over-emoting is really not. Failing to emote enough gives you that "locally produced TV ad" feel.[DOUBLEPOST=1511276030,1511275941][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, as much as it pains me to say something nice about Gas, you're really lucky to have a radio resource to advise you on this.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I'm on this pre-surgery diet to shrink my liver (and to get used to what things are gonna be like after surgery)... and I am HURTING. All my limbs want to curl up like a spider, I'm cold at normal temperatures, I'm dizzy and lethargic. Basically the same thing that happened at the beginning of my last major weight loss effort 12 years ago, so I recognize what it is and that it will pass - but for the next couple days I'm gonna feel like I'm dying >_<

Thanksgiving's gonna be even less fun than usual.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Aaagghh ha ha ha my legs hurt so much and I can't stop peeing, you guys. It's like every hour on the dot, gotta whiz.

I know why, I know what, and I know it won't last but jibbers crabst it sucks in the short term.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

I'm not working (aside from one shift a week), I've gained weight, I've given up on my writing, I'm spending the majority of my days in front of the computer, and my crippling insecurities make me think doing this yoga teacher program was a huge mistake. Which means it's another thing I attempt and fail.

It's no wonder I'm depressed.
 
Frank

Frank

Gonna have to put the trip the lady and I were going to go on in December until the new year.

She's working in the states until Christmas.

It's bad enough we don't live in the same city, but now she's in another country.

FUCK.
 
Cog

Cog

It was funny when Denbrought told Vero that I have good character. I think that was the first time someone said something like that about me. I'm very antisocial and cranky. As we say here "I'm a dog of very few fleas". But after everything that has happened, I'm worst than ever. I feel that more sooner than later I'm going to do something or say something to the wrong person and I don't feel I can control myself. I want to get out of here.
 
Denbrought

Denbrought

Cog said:
It was funny when Denbrought told Vero that I have good character. I think that was the first time someone said something like that about me. I'm very antisocial and cranky. As we say here "I'm a dog of very few fleas". But after everything that has happened, I'm worst than ever. I feel that more sooner than later I'm going to do something or say something to the wrong person and I don't feel I can control myself. I want to get out of here.
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To be fair, we get to see a different side of you than everyone in meatspace. Regarding your brain state, you're aware of it, which puts you ahead of most people's game when it comes to dealing with this sort of stress. Are there any "recharging" hobbies for you, such as gaming, reading, tormenting your cats with laser pointers ... that you could be mindful about prioritizing (and able to)?
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Still depressed. Don't much see the point in anything anymore. Instead of doing anything productive - job hunting, exercising, writing, even reading - I wasted the week playing Stardew Valley.
 
Cog

Cog

Denbrought said:
Are there any "recharging" hobbies for you, such as gaming, reading, tormenting your cats with laser pointers ... that you could be mindful about prioritizing (and able to)?
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I can't relax at home. My family is a minority in my house. I have living with me two sisters in law, two parents in law, one in a wheel chair and using my daughter's room, and two nieces.

And that is only at home. I work for the goverment. Can you imagine the kind of bullshit I have to deal with everyday?
 
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PatrThom

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
I shared your philosophy until my wrists started killing me. I found the Kinesis freestyle keyboards are the easiest on my wrists and it really helped heal my RSI.
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Someone just did a review of the Kinesis Freestyle Edge, in case anyone else is interested.
The reviewer said:
2017 is coming to a close before long. I'm not getting any younger, and neither are my wrists.
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What's most impressive, to me, is just how programmable it is. I mean, it's ridiculous.

--Patrick
 
Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Some days at work I feel like the cashier in that Animaniacs episode where Wakko goes to a dollar store and keeps asking the cashier how much each item is.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Last week, while I was out on my lunch break, I noticed a food truck near my workplace that sold some very nice-looking burgers. They smelled heavenly too. But I'd already had my lunch that day, and was heading back to the office, so I didn't get anything from the food truck that day. However, I resolved to give it a try the next time I saw it.

This week, I've been out every day looking for that food truck, and I've never found it again.
 
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