Mic Grades, & New Project Listing
Yo!
So, this page is now officially "retired" from public listings, but that won't be stopping me from keeping it updated with progress reports and new roles...well, the latter might be an issue because CCC seems to have a glitch where you can only edit up to 70 roles. You CAN add more...but you can't actually edit them (thus not allowing you to add a profile pic and the like). I can only hope that closing a role clears up a slot, because if not, that might be a bit of a issue as far as my original plans to keep this page as a all-encompassing "master" of sorts.
Either way, I've launched a new, far more truncated page focusing only on the main E1 roles outside Karone, who, despite not debuting until Episode 4, is vital in regards to Billy's casting...which I still need to add some lines too, along with actually finishing Zack's character profile that I never did, because--quite frankly--I just really dislike writing those type of things (novel query letter PTSD).
Nevertheless, let's get on to the real business at hand today...recording quality.
I re-reviewed every shortlisted audition, and compiled together an Excel sheet highlighting any technical hiccups I noticed...which, pretty much everyone got bloody noses. You can view your "scores" at the link below.
Shortlist Grades.xlsx
The criteria is organized around six core issues, from the loudest, most obnoxious interferences, to miniscule defects: Background Noise, Room Reverb, Distortion, Crackles, Plosives, and Pops.
#1. Background Noise: I think this is the most obvious one most people already understand. Recordings should have your voice isolated from any other tangible sounds, so the full richness of your vocals can be captured in the highest quality possible.
To use a clear example, let's listen to Gina Nicolle's original audition for Kimberly Ann Hart.
https://cstng.cc/s/4033881
As you can hear, there's constant hissing going on as she's speaking (on top of room reverb, and other issues...but we'll get to those in a bit). I originally dismissed based on this, but let her know why since it wasn't because I didn't find her actual voice itself unsuitable for the role.
To my total surprise, she re-auditioned within the next hour after doing some clear googling and downloading Audacity with this retake below.
https://cstng.cc/s/4036617
Talk about an impressive turnaround. There are still issues...but someone with a clear willingness and attitude to improve always goes a long way with me.
#2. Room Echo/Reverb: This is another one that's kind of black and white. If your voice in your recording echoes or bounces off your environment, then that means your mic won't be able to capture it with pristine clarity.
For a quick example, let's listen to Itsmarkcooper audition for Zack.
https://cstng.cc/s/4033357
Now, this isn't exactly a true example, as this is a retweaked version of his original audition where he'd accidently incorporated reverb effects into, which you can still hear some of the artifacts leftover.
So while this isn't because his actual recording setup has room echo issues, it still works as a bit of an example of what room reverb/echoes can sound like for illustration purposes.
#3. Distortion: Now, here's where things start getting more technical, if not necessarily complicated. Distortion is when--from my totally not researched or verified cobbled together understanding--when the volume/capture gain of the mics is set too high that results in the recording constantly peaking at the higher volumes, causing an effect that sounds like its "blowing out." Another term that's often used in association with volume/gain set too loud is "clipping"
For a first example, let's listen to Jeff Bower's Alpha 5 audition.
https://cstng.cc/s/3979189
If you listened to that and survived it's attempt to blow your ears out, it's a clear case of clipping. If you examine the wave pattern on the CCC player, you will see how stretched out the audio lines are. A well tuned recording will have a far more restrained variance between the valleys and peaks.
However, this isn't necessarily the only way distortion can occur. Let's take a listen to Megan Feighery's (absolutely totally phenomenal) Rita audition.
https://cstng.cc/s/4002770
While this audition isn't trying to nuke the ears like the previous one, there is still something funky going on with the microphone's gain levels, as you can still notice that "blown out" effect happening, which hampers the vocal clarity at the more impactfully spoken parts, creating something akin to an accidental old analog phone filter in those spots.
Microphone gain really needs to be honed into the sweet-spot where the full clarity of your voice is captured without suffering any distortion side effects.
#4. Crackles: Now, it's gets to be a bit of a blurry line when it comes to defining the exact difference between crackles and pops, but the way I try to separate for the categories sake is that crackles are prolonged instances of noises, "crackles" occurring while speaking where pops are more pointed stabs.
For an example, let's listen to mcb020's Trini Kwan audition.
https://cstng.cc/s/3928679
Listening intently, you should be able to hear the small crackles that erupt randomly while she's speaking.
#5. Plosives: These are a very particular kind of pop generated from how our mouths emphasis particular letters during speech. To quote the definition from google:
a plosive speech sound. The basic plosives in English are t, k, and p (voiceless) and d, g, and b (voiced).
For an extended example (where there are many), let's listen to AizentheDevil's Lord Drakkon audition.
https://cstng.cc/s/3944104
Pay attention to what happens right at the start when he says "That's a matter of perspective." Notice how the P seems to have an extra "pop" to it. If you continue listening on, keeping the words that start with the "plosive" letters in mind, you will begin to notice a pattern.
If you want to further evaluate it, listen a couple more times trying to keep the other plosive letters in mind, and see if you can notice the additional pops from them.
For a starter's kit on a potential solution, mcb020 reported to me, based on advice from a friend, that she bought a pop filter, and also changed the direction of how she speaks into the mic (speaking more from the side instead of directly in front of it), and has noticed a big improvement.
I'm definingly in no way, shape, or form fit to give advice or offer solutions on these matters, but I would say searching the ole Youtube for tutorials can most likely verify and detail what mcb020 is saying.
#6. Pops: Definingly the most rampant issue that's currently effecting everyone to various degrees (because pops are prone to happen in conjunction with all the other issues), but also the simplest to identify. If you've been playing along, you've already heard plenty of popping going on already, but for an extremely specific example, let's listen to Luunwyn's Erne audition.
https://cstng.cc/s/3970174
The "pop" occurs about 7 seconds in after the words "smoothie."
Okay, we're done with the extensively long PSA. Which now begs the question...where exactly do we go from here?
Yesterday I made my rounds sending DM Discords and invites to report to people their current "status," and offering a dedicated place for sharing advice and troubleshooting with other VAs. If I somehow missed you, or you want to join in, just DM me here, and I'll set you up.
So, my intended gameplan for everyone for the next month is this: I want all of you wonderful people to take a chill pill, relax, and work on tinkering and fine-tuning your setups at your leisure. I don't want or need any re-submitted audition lines (as a few asked me because I'm a dummy who should've written this update up first instead of Discording).
We're past that point, and just listening to CCC auditions doesn't really tell the whole story.
So what I've decided to do is work up a "character table read" mock-up split between Rangers and villians--with every character introducing themselves like 'Hi, I"m ____ and so and so," and just having them interact with each other abit, in a totally self-aware Deadpooly way (because why not have some fun with a technical test?)
Consider this an "Acoustics audition," as in it's not so much focused on acting, but for your mics quality and clarity, and that everyone sounds like they're literally sitting together in the same space and not from different planets.
The reason I want to go this route before asking anyone to read from the real Extended Auditions, is 1)if there are any clear mic issues, I don't want to waste anyone's time and efforts on tech after-the-fact, and 2)It allows me to play with the EQ to see what I can do on my end to help with blending each person in seamlessly as needed.
This, to me, seems like the smartest approach in regards to solving any technical hurdles and getting them out the way before proceeding with the more in-depth Extended Auditions. And, if they're are any issues that can be immediately fixed on my end, it allows more time for the VA to sort it out on their end if possible.
I'll provide more detail later once I actually whip the thing up, but for now--just focus on trying to tinker with your setups on drastically reducing the number of "hiccups" going on. Ideally, for production purposes, I want my eventual cast to rate all green on the Excel sheet outside of "Pops,"...because there's ALWAYS going to be a chance for an imperfection or two to happen or slip through, and that's OKAY.
Especially since....I got a bit ahead of myself in the last update when I stated there was "nothing," I could do; which, while true at the time stated, is not anymore, as I did the ole "Fuck it, let's try one MORE Google search," and stumbled upon a program called RX Isotope that actually does remove all these nasty artifacts from botched recordings.
I've briefly tested it on mcb020's Trini Extended Audition, and it seems like the holy grail I was so desperate for, removing the "pops" without affecting recording quality.
Now, I haven't gotten to chance to really dig into her audition to test it extensively to see its full capabilities, but it seems we do have an actual failsafe to fall back on--because like I've said, there's no way to 100% guarantee never having a simple pop or two occur.
But RX Isotope is a failsafe--not a solution. Because, for example, while it might seem like just a little bit extra to clean up mcb's EA...if things stay the way they currently are, and you multiply that to like 10-15 cast members on average per 20-30 min per episode...that time sink starts racking up very quickly--especially factoring in the other hiccups that aren't just pops and maybe are more of a hassle to fix.
So, it's really, really, imperative that everyone takes this seriously (and I already know that most of you do) in experimenting with improving their marks on the Excel sheet for me and themselves--because really, at-the-end-of-the-day, all of our future listeners deserve nothing more than highest cinematic quality possible that we can achieve together (just like actual Rangers!).
This may be an unofficial "fan-project," but it's 2025--those traditional gaps in quality between official and unofficial things don't really exist anymore--if the right effort and craftsmanship is involved.
Okay, seirously--I'm DONE finally "yelling" about acoustics and "noise" for a good long while.
Next time, let's get back to talking about the fun stuff.
Ciao!
