I make videos in which only one voice speaks, recorded in mono. Unfortunately, the voice usually sounds as if it were coming from inside the listener’s head. That’s not very pleasant. That’s why I use the Haas Stereo Enhancer, which makes everything sound much more spacious. However, I am aware of the problem of the pseudo-stereo effect. Hence my question. Does anyone know what would be better? Perhaps a subtle reverb?
Record it in stereo. If you’re creating the source material, and you do this all the time, use the right tool for the job.
But Ron, don’t you record all speech with a mono microphone? That’s standard practice. And then you want to create a sense of space, how do you do that?
No. I shouldn’t have to keep repeating, there are no one size fits all answers.
And then you want to create a sense of space, how do you do that?
Add more microphones to capture it.
You’re asking How Long Is A Piece Of String. If you want your audio to have spatial depth, record it with spatial depth, using multiple microphones. If you want it to sound like you’re doing the call to prayer from a mosque, then pack it with reverb. If you want it to sound clear and punchy and center of field, use a well placed single mic.
If you want it to not sound terrible, then … get a better mic, or a more appropriate mic, or a better recording environment, or a better voice over artist, or a better recording engineer, or … it all entirely depends on why it sounds terrible and what you’re trying to do. Which you haven’t really told us anything about.
You said you wanted better spatial depth than you can get by faking it. I told you the best way to get that. If you want to keep faking it, it’s going to keep sounding whatever flavour of fake you sprinkle on it. If you hit it with a hammer you shouldn’t be surprised that it sounds like it’s been hit with a hammer.
Use the right tool for the job.
Hello @Ron,
Use the right tool for the job.
And that’s exactly why I’m asking here in the forum.
Which you haven’t really told us anything about.
I film myself and the high-quality mono microphone, Rode VideoMic NTG, is usually about 60 cm away from my mouth. Here is an example: Glück - 2021 - tchncs
I always edit the sound completely with Kdenlive. And I used Haas Stereo Enhancer. I’m now having doubts as to whether this is a good idea. My goal is not to achieve true stereo retrospectively, which is impossible anyway. But with mono recordings, you usually get the impression that the voice is coming from inside your own head. This is due to technical reasons, but it’s often not very pleasant.
My question is quite simple: is there a way to use Kdenlive effects to modify the sound so that the viewer gets the impression that the voice is coming from the protagonist in the video, i.e. from the direction of the monitor? But without the disadvantages of Haas?
Ron, please remember: most of the people asking questions here know considerably less about sound engineering than you do.
edit:
I listened to the whole thing again more carefully: the effect of the voice appearing in the listener’s head only occurs when I listen with headphones. With speakers, there is no problem. And I listened to the Haas effect again more carefully: it sounds rather artificial and unsettling. I’m leaving it out now; it’s better that way.
And the answer is still quite simple, even though you’ve now (significantly) changed the question and the degree of difficulty of the problem …
is there a way to use Kdenlive effects to modify the sound so that the viewer gets the impression that the voice is coming from the protagonist in the video, i.e. from the direction of the monitor? But without the disadvantages of Haas?
Yes.
But to achieve this newer harder requirement, you’ll need many more microphones and your listener will need many more speakers.
most of the people asking questions here know considerably less
It’s not about what you know - it’s about whether you ignore the explanations you are given and keep asking “But which button do I click to make unicorns real?” after you are told there is no such button. There really isn’t any simpler way to explain that.