GarageBand question

[LR827]

Hello, TS'ers! Yes, I know it's been a while ... But I hope you won't hold that against me. In my retirement I have discovered voiceovers and narration of audiobooks. I designed a little sound-proof 'studio' in my walk-in closet and have done a few of these. Not enough to live on, but it is fun! I have learned so much about GarageBand, some from online videos, calling Apple's GB help, and a lot of self-learning. There is one thing that still confounds me, and perhaps someone out there can help:

I need to know how to slow down the narration of a track. It is clear (relatively) how to do this with music tracks, but not with a single, mono, voice narration track. I want to slow down the speed of a single word that has a 'pop' or 'click' in the middle, which is something that happens during normal speech. Can someone tell me how to slow down a single narrated word in GarageBand? That would make my day! Right now all I can do is re-record the whole word or sentence, which often does not flow in the exact same tone as the rest of the sentences around it. Thanks in advance, as always!
--Lorraine

[Xairbusdriver]

I’ve never used GarageBand except to update it to stop the Apple nags! But I have done quite a bit of audio editing and recording. (It’s amazing how much a recording can be shortened by removing the “uhh…”, “and uh…” and “umm…” junk!

The simplest way to avoid ‘plosives’ is to avoid holding the mic too close and/or directly in front of the mouth. If you can afford it, a quality mic that fits over your head/ear will solve this problem. The most important criteria is the quality/accuracy of the mic. I’m not talking about an aerobics instructors mic.  

Another, less expensive solution is a wind shield; a simple wire loop made from a coat hanger, covered with a very fine cloth (a piece of a ladies hose?), mounted between the mouth and the mic also is helpful.

Trust me, preventing these sounds is easier, better sounding and more efficient than trying to correct them in editing.

[LR827]

Thanks, Jim -- Good advice -- I do have a professional mic and a pop filter -- but there are still occasional 'clicks' which are just from the structure of the word and how I say it. They are in the middle of the word, so I really need to slow down the word and lower the volume over that tiny spot.

[Xairbusdriver]

As I said, I’m completely unfamiliar with GB’s editing capabilities. The software I used (Sound Studio) allowed reducing the waveform in a selection. The simplest ‘correction’ would be a volume reduction followed by the return to the original volume. The amount a reduction and it’s placement created the removal of the hiss/whistle/pop, all without any change in pitch or speed.

If it is a ‘plosive’ or ‘click’ sound (p, d, t, b, etc.), a thicker screen and moving the mic to one side should help. That’s one of the main advantages of a very small head-worn mike; there is automatically nothing directly in front of the mouth. The other important improvement is that the mic’s position, relative to the mouth, never changes. That can really help when reading from a script or when speaking to a wide audience/congregation. Unfortunately, they are expensive.

[LR827]

A head mic would be very cool -- but I'm not sure I'm going to keep up the voiceover business. It's been a lark, but I plan to narrate my own books and probably give it up after that. It's very demanding. In any case, I found a video that shows how to edit the tempo of a specific region, so I'll see if that works. Then I can identify the exact spot that needs the volume reduced, as you pointed out. Thanks again for your thoughts and advice!
Lorraine

[krissel]

Hi Lorraine, hope all is well.


When you get to narrating your own books and if you run across the same problem, just substitute a word that doesn't have a "pop" when spoken. It's your book so no one can complain.