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This is just a rough proof of concept, it's not meant to be used. I can do a proper session (with a pop screen this time, and not in my car) if anyone wants, and direction is MORE than welcomed. I don't like most of these takes, but eh, it's a start. There's also a lot missing, I was working from a list I found on the forum, and what I've heard in the game that wasn't on it. Anyway:

Obligatory -2 semitones pitch shifted:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Announc...hifted.ogg

Dry:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Announc...01_Dry.ogg

This already sounds pretty cool! To really know how it sounds I should test it in-game, but for now the only thing I would say is: the announcer should be a little more calm and less angry Wink

Yeah, I get tugged in different directions with that. This is a put-on voice, the grindy quake-style announcer voice. My natural speaking voice wouldn't work at all for the announcer, I don't think. Toward the end of the recording my voice is warmed up a little more where I can get the vocal size without so much forced grind, I think I like that better. There's also no variance or expression with these, they were just done rapid fire style all at once, just to have something to put up for the moment. Thanks for the insight!

these sound really nice. I actually like the first one a bit better than the "dry" ones. for now, I would try first making a higher quality recording, with your mouth a little further aweay from the mic, then adding some spatial effects, like reverb just to make them sound a little more "real"

great start +1

I have a suggestion: Bring back the "E LEC TRO BITCH!" announcement that existed in 2.4.2 and earlier.

Quote:with your mouth a little further aweay from the mic

Well, for the 'real thing' I'll actually do a proper session with a pop filter, and not sitting in my car in a parking lot (the only quiet place I could find) haha.... Proximity is pretty important, so it'll be close mic'd next time too. You can hear in this demo a couple 'false starts,' (like the number 'one' for example) as I was wearing monitors and was blown away by the pop. Didn't bother cutting it up, just rapid fired these to get some sort of starting point. Gathering a more complete list of phrases at the moment, so the bulk can be done in one session for consistency. Once everything is recorded, I'll start posting a few different treatments. Traditionally, announcers have a bit of single-tap delay, and I definitely agree with that choice. What I'll probably do is post a bunch of clips of one or two phrases from the session with different signal processing, and we can decide what works best, or even go back to the drawing board. I really appreciate the input, guys! I absolutely love this community!

(11-09-2011, 01:42 AM)Lee_Stricklin Wrote: I have a suggestion: Bring back the "E LEC TRO BITCH!" announcement that existed in 2.4.2 and earlier.

+10000

Needs more yoda too

(11-09-2011, 02:03 PM)Mr. Bougo Wrote:
(11-09-2011, 01:42 AM)Lee_Stricklin Wrote: I have a suggestion: Bring back the "E LEC TRO BITCH!" announcement that existed in 2.4.2 and earlier.

+10000

Needs more yoda too

+10000 to this, we need to bring back "AWESOME! Did Yoda show you that?"

(11-09-2011, 05:37 PM)Lee_Stricklin Wrote:
(11-09-2011, 02:03 PM)Mr. Bougo Wrote:
(11-09-2011, 01:42 AM)Lee_Stricklin Wrote: I have a suggestion: Bring back the "E LEC TRO BITCH!" announcement that existed in 2.4.2 and earlier.

+10000

Needs more yoda too

+10000 to this, we need to bring back "AWESOME! Did Yoda show you that?"

Yes Yoda! +∞

I really like the tuned down version. Sounds very Quake 3-esque.

That was the plan, seemed like the aim of Xonotic. Anyone suggest it being done differently, or is the Quake flavor the preferred flavor?

Here's some comparison between more and less grind. This session was done in my warehouse, the acoustics aren't right at all. The room sound is too apparent. Working on borrowing a studio to get cleaner tracks. In the meantime, any thoughts? The grind seems to have its purposes, but doesn't work for everything. Keep in mind these are totally untreated except for the -2 semitone pitch shift. Echo/reverb will come later. Should have a batch of marine player sounds uploaded tomorrow. Sounds like it's still gonna take some work to find the right delivery.

I can post the whole session if anyone's interested, it's got several takes of everything but the 'flag dropped' and 'flag taken' stuff, which were missing from the announcer directory. They're in the CTF directory, and I'll either add them to this set or do them next session. Here are some samples:

More grind:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Cou...eGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Blu...eGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Red...eGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Lea...eGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Lea...eGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Yoda_MoreGrind.ogg

Less grind (more natural)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Cou...sGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Blu...sGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Red...sGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Lea...sGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Lea...sGrind.ogg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/Ann_Yoda_LessGrind.ogg

Odd, I feel the more grind version that you say is less natural more natural Tongue

Though honestly, I realy like the current announcer sounds, I couldn't choose between the current one and "more grind", they both feel enough clean and badass.
Keep them coming!

I prefer the more grind ones Big Grin

"Did yoda show you that" <- Awesome! Smile

Hmmm I can't here any differences between "Did yoda show you that" more grind/less grind.

The Yoda is lacking "Awesome". Sad

-> "Awesome, did Yoda show you that?"

But nice stuff.

Quote:Odd, I feel the more grind version that you say is less natural more natural

I totally agree, the grind is something I've used a lot, the 'natural' option was something I just started messing with in case nobody liked the grind, and it's REALLY forced. Abandoning that one.

I really like the current announcer too, which is why a lot of what I'm doing is modeled after it. I really appreciate all the input, especially if they mean redoing ones I've already posted. I dig the refinement process.

Wow, this really sounds cool.

Could someone plz use this sounds on a not official server, so I could just hear how it sounds ingame? That would be the best way to test it.

Rocket slut ftw!

Very nice sounds, mate. What a great voice for this purpose!

I've been doing sessions lately to hone in on the right voice for the 'announcer character,' and I think I've found what I'm going to stick with. It's a variation on the forced grind style I did originally, but I really didn't think the previous stuff sounded 'announcery' enough. It almost works with just the straight recording without the -2 semitone pitch shift, but most games with this kind of announcer do shift the recordings down slightly just to give it that bit of extra boominess. Anyway, here it is, I am going to go back and redo all the phrases this way. Using a different mic this time, definitely captures the loose lows a lot better. It's a stereo condenser with larger capsules than what I used previously (if you're interested lol).

Once all the lines are re-recorded, I will start adding announcer style echo effects where appropriate. Just wanted to give a quick update on progress. Oh, the phrase here is not currently in the game. It's something I thought would be nice to have if you guys want to use it. 'Flawless Victory,' for use when the player wins a match without getting fragged, or when a team wins with a perfect score.

Let me know if you guys agree that we need the pitch shift. Thanks for all your suggestions and criticism, guys.

Here's the untouched performance, no effects or pitch shift, just straight from the mic:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/flawless_noshift.ogg

And here it is with the -2 semitone pitch shift I've been using. I think it needs it.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40671139/flawless.ogg

More coming soon...

Here's a suggestion. Layer a -14 semitone pitch shifted take under the -2 version at a lower volume (say around -6 to -12 dB) then make it slightly wetter with reverb then the higher one. If it ends up being to bass-y then throw a low cut filter with a small slope from 200 hz down. Of course you'll have to experiment with it.
Also, I'm sure you noticed that much of the current announcer tracks have some stereo elements to them. So there's that to consider for the final mixes. You could try layering different takes together then panning them.

Out of curiosity what's your set up? Programs, equipment, etc.

Yeah definitely, been thinking about layering multiple takes, especially for stuff like 'Awesome,' 'Airshot,' etc. Never thought of mixing a super low shift further back, that's a cool idea! I definitely have to check that out. As far as stereo elements and stuff like that, all this stuff is just an effort to zero in on the right voice, and figure out what works performance-wise for each phrase. Once I've got everything recorded, it's time for lots of post production experimentation. Man, I really like your ideas, that's great stuff.

What I've been doing these on is a Tascam DR-05, using a Sony ECM-MS957 stereo condenser. In the earlier demos (before the 'Flawless Victory' session) I tried the condensers build onto the DR-05. They're pretty nice, but for this application the diaphragms are a bit small, and the Sony is much more responsive on the low end. Used a regular gooseneck pop filter on both. I do my editing in Sound Forge, and the pitch shift comes from Steinberg Waves. I have a new interface coming in for the final sessions, should be here any day now. This way I'm free to audition all the vocal mics I have at my disposal, instead of being restricted to the Sony which is 1/8" stereo, and battery powered. Also, once the Focusrite Saffire 6 comes in, I can use my Focusrite Platinum Trakmaster Pro for the preamp, and get much cleaner tracks. I always used my Delta 1010 as an interface, but sadly working strictly from a laptop, no PCI slot for the host card Sad

Musicwise lately my hardware synths and drum machines have been collecting dust and I've been using Renoise and almost all free VST synths and effects, and a huge library of samples I've made over the years.

I'm definitely going to give your idea a shot and post the results. -14 might be a little too low, but we'll see. Also, now that I've found the voice a bit better, I'd like to quit using the -2 pitch shift to add artificial 'bigness' for everything, but I dunno if I can get away with it. What are your thoughts?

Ooo so you're using actual hardware then. That's pretty cool. I haven't used Sound Forge since 8, but I hear it's now a multitrack DAW. I remember it having some pretty decent basic mixing stuff.

But yeah, the reason why I said -14 semitones is because that's an octave below the -2 you've already pitched shifted it. So you'd get that nice clarity of the prefect interval. Using a 5th(-7) or 4th(-5) might work too. (this would be below the already pitch shifted take.) I would say to avoid layering together other intervals because it will probably start sounding too much like a chord and be too obvious.

Yeah, anything chordlike would sound pretty funky, but yeah now I see what you're getting at, it'd just add some boomy undertones, and since it'd be pretty far back in the mix, it doesn't matter that by itself it'd be less than intelligible. Sounds like a good option for certain phrases. It seems like the regular announcer dialogue should be pretty natural, stuff like 'prepare for battle,' 'blue flag taken,' etc. But it definitely seems like things like 'airshot' and 'amazing' should have a certain special sound to them, as well as powerup announcements. The announcer simply saying 'speed' or 'strength' doesn't seem to fit to me, almost to the point where it seems like it should be left as a sound effect only. But I've got a few ideas for those that I think will work, kind of a word/sound combination that'll hopefully sound like one unified sound, if that makes any sense. I think examples are the only way to explain that stuff, and after the holidays I plan to hit this stuff pretty hard. Definitely looking forward to future feedback, man.

(11-30-2011, 05:30 PM)[CCC]KINGSHOT[CCC] Wrote: Hmmm I can't here any differences between "Did yoda show you that" more grind/less grind.

I can hear it And I prefer the more grind version Smile

It's cool!

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