Chapter 122: Dove Audio Books

Dove Audio Books was initially founded in the garage of Michael and Deborah's home, but now they also have office locations and exclusive recording studios in New York City.

Driving the rented car, Henry sent Audrey Hepburn to the company's recording studio. Deborah Raffin and the company's recording engineer were already waiting.

The two women greeted each other with a cheek kiss, while Henry, the little assistant, served coffee to everyone, especially the recording engineer brother. "Gigg, low-fat, decaf, right?"

"Oh, thanks, Henry. Without such a cup in the morning, I wouldn't have any energy all day."

After serving the coffee, Henry took out a paper bag, opened it, and asked, "There are sandwiches, hot dogs, chocolate donuts, which one do you want?"

"Hot dog..."

As the recording engineer brother said, Henry took out the hot dog and handed it over. Who knew the other party grabbed the paper bag and said, "No hot dog, I want everything else."

Looking at the lonely hot dog in his hand, Henry was stunned for a moment before saying, "Don't you think the little bit of calorie quota you earned from the coffee is not only lost from this sandwich and donut, but you also owe more damn calorie debt."

"Who told you to pick the delicious ones to buy, you damn kid. Old Man Hood's donuts at the corner are the motherfucking salvation. Annie's sandwiches are the same."

At this time, the two ladies on the side were dissatisfied and said, "Hey, gentlemen, there are ladies present here. Civilized language."

The cowardly Kryptonian apologized directly, "Sorry, Boss."

The recording engineer brother shrank his neck and stuck out his tongue to make a ghost face to end it.

Just as the two men stuffed their mouths with food, the two ladies discussed the recording content for today.

In the end, Audrey Hepburn selected four children's stories, namely *Sleeping Beauty*, *Tom Thumb*, *Beauty and the Beast*, and *Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas*. As stories within stories, she recorded her reading voice.

Deborah Raffin stayed in the recording studio as a producer. But in terms of acting or experience, Deborah couldn't give too much guidance to this Oscar-winning actress senior.

So the way the two got along wasn't like director to actor, producer to singer. Instead, Deborah provided her thoughts from the listener's perspective, and then discussed with Ms. Hepburn whether there were other ways to express a certain line.

Henry and Gigg's mouths were not idle either; while eating, they were also chatting.

Playing a raw tape, both of them had half of their headphones on. While listening to the rock music inside, the two chatted: "Look, the low frequency is best suited for bass and drums; the sounds of other instruments in this frequency band can be cleared and deleted cleanly.

"According to the characteristics of the instruments, highlight their features in a certain aspect and delete the unnecessary ones. Doing this can make the sound in each frequency band sound clean and clear.

"The use of compressors and EQ must be very careful because their functions are very powerful. Basically, we can make the sound fuller, smoother, more powerful, or hide some of the singer's pronunciation errors through the adjustment of these two tools.

"But don't over-compress the audio track just because it's too easy to use. This will make the sound sound intermittent and inconsistent. Because we have to consider the overall integrity and the characteristics of the sound itself.

"As for those effectors, I think they should be used in the final stage to modify and establish personal characteristics. In the recording stage, rather than pondering on the mixer, it's better to consider the configuration of the recording studio.

"Not every sound is suitable for close-range pickup; although we reduced the noise in the recording space, such an audio track will be very dry and boring. Using spatial reverberation can give instruments a sense of space and add a unique tension.

"Even which instrument is on the left, which is on the right, and which is in the center will have a different feeling. This is also why the lead singer is mostly kept in the center position; besides the lead singer's status as the protagonist, the sense of space of the sound cannot be ignored."

Looking at Gigg's messy notes while listening to his explanation, Henry couldn't help but say, "Good guy, don't look at these things written in relevant books. But without actually listening to them, you really don't understand what the words in the books are talking about."

Gigg said proudly, "These things, no matter how many books you read, it's useless if you haven't heard them. And you have to have a pair of good ears, otherwise you can't hear the subtle differences and can only rely on feeling, thinking that this adjustment is good and that adjustment is bad.

"Then no matter how many books you read, you can't understand what those masters say in the books, or you will treat those nonsense liars as the standard. The worst thing is that the person reading the book can't tell whether the writer is the real deal or a fake.

"I have seen many so-called masters in the industry, actually, they are just a few formulas and routines. If the singer's own strength is a bit poor, their works will be unbearable to look at."

Henry's eyes lit up, and he asked with a gossip-listening expression, "So, who is your master? Any industry secrets?"

Gigg smiled and said, "What master, I'm just a wild path. I was a submarine sonar operator; this skill was all trained by finding whale sounds because it was too boring at the bottom of the sea. Have you heard the sound of a whale? I'll play it for you."

Without waiting for Henry to agree or refuse, Gigg rummaged through his tape box. After a while, he replaced the rock music that was playing with the whale sound tape.

Henry put on both headphones and listened carefully to the sound of the largest creature on Earth.

The sound at the bottom of the sea is very special, feeling completely different from the sound transmitted in the air, especially the echo part, layered and layered. Plus the high-frequency sound of the whale, it really has a fascinating feeling.

Pulling up one headphone, Henry asked curiously, "Did you record this on a submarine?"

"How is that possible," Gigg smiled and said, "The sound recorded on a submarine, whether it is in a combat state or not, belongs to classified information. If it is taken out casually, it will be fatal.

"The whale sound you are listening to was recorded by the ocean research institute's survey ship. What you are listening to now is not the most complete sound. Just adjust it with a mixer... eh, wait!"

Watching Gigg control an adjustment key, moving it up and down. Henry said, "Is there a bad contact again?"

"Yes, below -6db, it seems to have no effect."

Removing the panel of the mixer base, Henry looked at the wires like a mess inside with a flashlight.

Gigg, who also squatted down to check, sighed, "If it weren't for you coming to fix it, seeing this mess, I would just want to be like Alexander the Great untying the Gordian Knot, take a pair of scissors and cut all the wires here. This motherfucking thing is older than me."