Sweetening up audio
 

I have some boring audio (male speaker) that I would like to fatten up to get more resonance and depth - any suggestions?

This is a job for EQ. For more body and resonance, boost the fundamentals. These should be somewhere around 300 Hz, depending on the speaker.

One approach is to apply a very narrow, tall peak, and sweep it until you find the critical frequency. Once you've found it, widen the bandwidth, so it's not too resonant, and adjust to taste.

You can also pull out really low frequencies to ensure you're not flopping the speakers about, and to tame p-pops.

You can also boost the "sizzle" from 5k to 15k. Not too much, or you just get noise and hiss.

Make sure not to cut too much around 1200. That's where the consonants live.

Many prefer to use EQ to cut, rather than boost. Sharp cuts are acceptable. Sharp peaks sound resonant and are annoying.

You can add a bit of reverb to smooth out the voice, but err on the dry side. I typically add no reverb to voices.

If you want a bigger than life sound, a great trick is to clone the track and compress the heck out of it. Mix to taste. The uncompressed track might sound thin, but has crisp dynamics. The compressed track will sound full, but lacks punch. By mixing them, you can get the best of both worlds.

I have heard of this before...but never tried it. Can you define compress the heck out of it a bit more. What type of settings would I be looking for??
Thanks
Mark

I typically go with 20 & 20. That is 20:1 compression and a -20 dB (or, maybe -25 dB) threshold. The result is really full, and really dull. Mix in the uncompressed audio to get some of the sparkle back. I then put the two through a single bus with a scooped EQ.

I don't do this for typical dialog. This is for a bigger-than-life movie trailer sound.

Thanks Jon. I have a project starting next week that I'll try it on...
Mark