Audio recording

[gravdestroyer]

I just started recording some of my own audio. But it sounds weird especially since I want to make YouTube videos with it. I don't know much of anything about audio recording. Is there any advice on how to edit sound? I feel hesitant about sharing my crappy recordings on the internet. I am using a Hyper X Quadcast Microphone.

[10355723a]

Audio engineering has never been my area of expertise, but I would look into Audacity as it is one of the most widely used free audio editors out there.

[The Flying Sloth]

If you're looking for hardware, the link in my signature may help, 

 

Drop us a sample here and I'll see what's up with your audio otherwise.

[gravdestroyer]

I have attached my audio sample below. I want to be able to record audio like in these videos in no particular order:

 

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4kwxiDlKzs

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHItk0P_dc&t=266s

3:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWcqLe14_5Y&t=186s

4:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLqXkYrdmjY&t=1399s

 

The kind of content that I would want to make would be gaming content and I would also like to get into livestreaming as well. I'm a newbie when it comes to stuff like this so any advice would be appreciated.

[The Flying Sloth]

3 hours ago, gravdestroyer said:

I have attached my audio sample below. I want to be able to record audio like in these videos in no particular order:

 

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4kwxiDlKzs

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHItk0P_dc&t=266s

3:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWcqLe14_5Y&t=186s

4:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLqXkYrdmjY&t=1399s

 

The kind of content that I would want to make would be gaming content and I would also like to get into livestreaming as well. I'm a newbie when it comes to stuff like this so any advice would be appreciated.

The popping on the Ps and Bs is just because you're pushing air into the microphone, use a pop filter and you can get around that, 
Once you have a pop filter, next step is to get the mic as close to your mouth as possible and talk at reasonable to high volume, reducing the gain so that it does not clip, that's how you create something called proximity effect (that bassy sound classic to Youtube).

With those two steps together I think you'll be fine, you won't sound exactly like Babish or any of the other videos because your voice is not the same as theirs but you can get a similar tone with these steps.

Since you're using a condenser mic, background noise is a given so unless you want to buy new hardware you'll have to deal with it unless you're willing to do noise removal with a plugin like RX8 or Klevgrand Brusfri in post.

[gravdestroyer]

Ok. The HyperX Quadcast has an internal pop filter but I guess an external one would be better.

[akio123008]

15 hours ago, gravdestroyer said:

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4kwxiDlKzs

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHItk0P_dc&t=266s

3:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWcqLe14_5Y&t=186s

4:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLqXkYrdmjY&t=1399s

Damn you set the bar high there, although these examples aren't quite perfect they're pretty damn solid.

 

So first of all, as mentioned earlier, use Audacity to record, it's easy to use and free.

 

What I usually do when I record audio is:

 - record audio; don't sit too close to the mic, being a bit further away, say 20 cm just makes the sound much more natural and realistic. Unless you're going for that radio DJ sound of course. I know it can be tempting to be closer so that you can talk quieter, it just doesn't quite work for sound quality. Think of this; you don't see anyone in a recording studio eating their mic right? They're always further away and for good reason.

 

- run a compressor over it. It reduces the volume of the louder parts and makes listening to it more comfortable. A compressor is built into audacity.

 

- export it. I don't do anything else really, the mic has a pretty flat response, so I don't really do EQ. Depending on how you like the sound after steps 1 and 2 you can give it a shot. Key with all this stuff is to keep playing around with it and you'll get better at it.

 

 

I personally like the second and fourth example you mentioned most because of their more natural, clear sound. I can see why people would prefer 1 and 3, but although they sound good, to me they're a bit too voice-over-y. 

 

One last very important thing to consider is the way you talk. Sounding good is not just about editing and equipment. Take your test recording for instance, it's only a test, I know, but if you want better sound, you're going to want to speak louder, with more confidence. It's the cheapest and easiest way to get better audio. Not only does it sound better, it also increases the signal/noise ratio, which basically means, you overpower the background noise, so speaking louder is a form of noise-reduction as well.