Voice changing

[GilesTheCleric]

I'm GMing a game, and as hard as I've tried to not have it happen, sometimes several NPCs end up talking to each other or to the PCs at the same time. I'm not very good at making funny voices or changing my voice, and adding "x said" to everything takes us out of first person. So, I've looked around for some live voice-changing software. Unfortunately, all the stuff on Cnet looks incredibly sketchy (astroturfing, false advertising).

Is there a particular piece of software you guys would recommend, for either win7 or mac? I'm playing on roll20/G+ hangouts, if that makes a difference.

Edit: We're not using video, so visual-based solutions are a no-go, unfortunately.

[hymer]

I don't use any such stuff, but I do think it's possible to find little tricks and techniques that can do the job for you.
When two NPCs are speaking to each other, look to your right when you're A and to your left when you're B, for example. When they're speaking to the PCs, you can have one knit his brows while the other smirks, for example.
And as for doing voices, practice makes perfect. You'll feel silly practicing by yourself at first, but once you get past that it really lifts your performance.

[Telonius]

I wold suggest having a few different hats, each representing various NPCs.

[GilesTheCleric]

I don't use any such stuff, but I do think it's possible to find little tricks and techniques that can do the job for you.
When two NPCs are speaking to each other, look to your right when you're A and to your left when you're B, for example. When they're speaking to the PCs, you can have one knit his brows while the other smirks, for example.
And as for doing voices, practice makes perfect. You'll feel silly practicing by yourself at first, but once you get past that it really lifts your performance.

I'll give practicing a try, certainly. I've heard that changing your facial expression changes how your voice sounds -- is this true in your experience? So even without video, making faces might help?

I wold suggest having a few different hats, each representing various NPCs.

I do own many hats, but unfortunately we don't use video when we're playing (two reasons -- we can't see people and the gameboard at the same time, and video crashes my computer). A good suggestion, though!

[Silus]

My suggestion is practice accents =D

It gives the characters a sense of distinction, and it's really funny when you make the BBEG (who has slaughtered countless innocents and lain waste to miles of land) sound like a very friendly, stereotypical Canadian.

[GilesTheCleric]

My suggestion is practice accents =D

It gives the characters a sense of distinction, and it's really funny when you make the BBEG (who has slaughtered countless innocents and lain waste to miles of land) sound like a very friendly, stereotypical Canadian.

Ah, an excellent idea! I've already made it a point to use mixed surnames & given names from many cultures, so this makes a lot of sense in my campaign. However, what to do when EVERY NPC is a canadian BBEG? =P (I run a sandbox, with no NPC bubbles or definite BBEGs. It's fun to watch the party form their own grudges against the personality of different NPCs, regardless of their alignment)

[Airk]

Ah, an excellent idea! I've already made it a point to use mixed surnames & given names from many cultures, so this makes a lot of sense in my campaign. However, what to do when EVERY NPC is a canadian BBEG? =P (I run a sandbox, with no NPC bubbles or definite BBEGs. It's fun to watch the party form their own grudges against the personality of different NPCs, regardless of their alignment)

MOST NPCs don't NEED a 'voice'. Unless you have multiple, important NPCs in one spot, talking to one another, you don't REALLY need to do voices. Sure, it's a good idea to keep the same 'voice' for the same character, but most NPCs don't need one. Unless you're really trying to add color or something, unless an NPC is going to be recurring, you really don't need to do anything with their 'voice'.

Anyway, there are TONS of little tricks you can use to make someone sound different that don't even involve funny accents. Someone who starts every 'thought' with "Well, you see...." or a diffident character who ends every sentance with "M'lord." Roll your R's. Whatever. Heck, there are LISTS of these things.

And even setting those things aside, it's not hard to raise or lower the pitch of your voice, which can be enough all by itself sometimes.

[Lorsa]

There are lots of things you can do with your voice or speech to make it distinct. There's pitch which is what most people think of and the easiest to change, but there's also resonance which can be changed by the facial expressions you talked about.

While I'm not an expert in resonance modulation while talking, I have been taking some singing lessons where I learnt to switch from using deep throat to nasal and everything in between. So maybe you can practice with singing first where it's much easier to hear the difference and then transfer that to speech?

Apart from pitch and resonance there's also speech patterns. Different people use different types of words and have different intonations. That can also be used to tell them apart.

Last but not least, don't forget body language. More than 70% of all human conversation takes place non-verbally after all.

[GilesTheCleric]

MOST NPCs don't NEED a 'voice'. Unless you have multiple, important NPCs in one spot, talking to one another, you don't REALLY need to do voices. Sure, it's a good idea to keep the same 'voice' for the same character, but most NPCs don't need one. Unless you're really trying to add color or something, unless an NPC is going to be recurring, you really don't need to do anything with their 'voice'.

Anyway, there are TONS of little tricks you can use to make someone sound different that don't even involve funny accents. Someone who starts every 'thought' with "Well, you see...." or a diffident character who ends every sentance with "M'lord." Roll your R's. Whatever. Heck, there are LISTS of these things.

And even setting those things aside, it's not hard to raise or lower the pitch of your voice, which can be enough all by itself sometimes.

What, you mean your NPCs don't ever talk? I'm curious to know how you run your interactions with them.

That list is quite handy, thank you. I'll try to apply some of these to my NPCs.

There are lots of things you can do with your voice or speech to make it distinct. There's pitch which is what most people think of and the easiest to change, but there's also resonance which can be changed by the facial expressions you talked about.

While I'm not an expert in resonance modulation while talking, I have been taking some singing lessons where I learnt to switch from using deep throat to nasal and everything in between. So maybe you can practice with singing first where it's much easier to hear the difference and then transfer that to speech?

Apart from pitch and resonance there's also speech patterns. Different people use different types of words and have different intonations. That can also be used to tell them apart.

Last but not least, don't forget body language. More than 70% of all human conversation takes place non-verbally after all.

Hmn, applying my singing skills to changing my voice I hadn't considered. However, as mentioned in the OP, I don't have a webcam available, so body language won't be able to apply, alas.

[veti]

A problem I always have, when I try this kind of multi-character voice acting, is remembering to switch at the right time. The number of times I've had a BBEG speak a line in the voice of the squeaky fey sidekick, or the noble dragon sounding just like the whiny hostage... sometimes I feel I'm appearing in MST3K.

Nowadays I have the same problem when reading aloud to my kids. It doesn't get any less embarrassing. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any software that can help me...

[Millennium]

I'm going to assume, for the moment, that you live in the US. If this is the case, then the odds are good that you speak English, and that you resonate your voice somewhere in the middle of your mouth, right up against the roof of it.

Visualize this. Hold a clear picture of it in your mind as you speak. And then, while still speaking, try to push it forward, toward that ridge that's just behind your top teeth. Don't try to do anything else with your voice at the same time: speak normally, except for this one thing. Go slowly, because it can take a little practice, and you want to listen to the effects that it has on your voice and the way you speak. Practice until you can speak clearly this way; it usually doesn't take very long.

Once you've got this, go back to the center for a bit, Then try to pull it backward, towards your throat. This one is harder, if you're not already used to speaking this way, because your tongue will have a tendency to trip over itself. That's not dangerous, but it means you need to go slowly again. For the time being, this is only going to put a couple of tricks into your repertoire. But it should help give you some insight as to how changing your voice can work.

[Airk]

What, you mean your NPCs don't ever talk? I'm curious to know how you run your interactions with them.

No no no. -_-

They TALK. They don't need a "voice". Which is to say, for the vast majority of NPCs, it's FINE if they just sound like you talking. No one really cares that the innkeeper doesn't have a funny accent if he's a bit character that they're never going to talk to again. Save the 'voice work' for characters who matter.

Of course, I say this, and then realize that there probably isn't a single NPC in the game I ran last night who DIDN'T involve me changing my voice in some way, but this is always just something that comes naturally to me - I don't even think about how I do it. I just sortof think "Okay, I need a voice for King Bard." and something firm and steady comes out. Even the random guard and the barge captain had distinct sounds. But you don't have to do this. It's PERFECTLY okay for you to just talk like yourself for most NPCs.

I DO try to avoid having multiple NPCs talking to one another however. That's a lot of work.

[Anxe]

You could cover your mouth while talking as one NPC. That doesn't take any voice-acting ability. You could stick some M&Ms in your mouth for another NPC. I'm sure there's other stuff you can think of. Chewing on a pencil while you talk. Holding the pencil like a cigarette. The players might not see, but they should modify your voice and possibly get you more in character to modify your voice further.

[Lorsa]

No no no. -_-

They TALK. They don't need a "voice". Which is to say, for the vast majority of NPCs, it's FINE if they just sound like you talking. No one really cares that the innkeeper doesn't have a funny accent if he's a bit character that they're never going to talk to again. Save the 'voice work' for characters who matter.

Of course, I say this, and then realize that there probably isn't a single NPC in the game I ran last night who DIDN'T involve me changing my voice in some way, but this is always just something that comes naturally to me - I don't even think about how I do it. I just sortof think "Okay, I need a voice for King Bard." and something firm and steady comes out. Even the random guard and the barge captain had distinct sounds. But you don't have to do this. It's PERFECTLY okay for you to just talk like yourself for most NPCs.

I DO try to avoid having multiple NPCs talking to one another however. That's a lot of work.

While this is true in general, I think the OP's specific problem is playing over voice comm online and thus really needing that voice differentiation to avoid saying "X says" all the time.

I am really poor with accents myself, but I do think I'm at least decent at voice modulation, speech patterns and the like. Never had any complaints that it sounds ridicolous or funny at least. Maybe I really should ask if it helps any at all but at least it helps me.

[hymer]

I've heard that changing your facial expression changes how your voice sounds -- is this true in your experience? So even without video, making faces might help?

I didn't realize you didn't have video, so I wouldn't put too much in most of my suggestions - except the practicing, which really worked for me.
I'm sure changing expressions also does something to your voice (just try it - many facial expressions has the throat and larynx move so you feel it), but I doubt it is clear enough that you can actually use it on its own without the expressions. It would probably still be the normal voice of the GM the players know.

[jedipotter]

I'm GMing a game, and as hard as I've tried to not have it happen, sometimes several NPCs end up talking to each other or to the PCs at the same time. I'm not very good at making funny voices or changing my voice, and adding "x said" to everything takes us out of first person.

You just need to change the way you speak and the words you use.

"We boot hiked it through the long trunks for seven sun slides before we found the thrice cursed trail''

"We rode through the wildlands from midday to well past tea time before we found the hidden trail.''

Ok, so what one was Gornt the half orc fighter, and what one was Bron the human noble? Can you tell? Think your players might be able to tell?

Exclamations are great. They are easy to give to one character, then people will always know it is that character speaking. For example, take : Zoiks!, Imperious Rex! , Great Ceasers Ghost!, or Heavens to Mercuatroid!. Can you name the fictional character that is well know for using them?

[Airk]

While this is true in general, I think the OP's specific problem is playing over voice comm online and thus really needing that voice differentiation to avoid saying "X says" all the time.

I don't really understand; Why does playing over voice chat make it any more important to give nameless NPCs a specific voice? What's wrong with just talking as them? I feel like I must be missing something.

[hymer]

I feel like I must be missing something.

It's for when there is more than one NPC in the conversation. It's important to know if it's the shopkeeper or the encroaching thug who is telling the PCs to leave, for instance; the shop keeper is within his rights, the thug just wants to keep the PCs from interfering. And it's best if the players are never in doubt who is saying what when, mostly for atmosphere purposes.

[Airk]

It's for when there is more than one NPC in the conversation. It's important to know if it's the shopkeeper or the encroaching thug who is telling the PCs to leave, for instance; the shop keeper is within his rights, the thug just wants to keep the PCs from interfering. And it's best if the players are never in doubt who is saying what when, mostly for atmosphere purposes.

Sure, but I think this kind of situation was already covered. MOST of the time, neither of these NPCs needs a 'voice'. (Though if you can't manage to differentiate these two via the shopkeeper calling the PCs "Good sirs" and the thug calling them "Youse guys."...)

[BWR]

i've found that for the most part, just saying "X speaks with Y accent, full of Z+ idiosyncracies" will often do better than trying to actually produce it yourself. Some people can do it well, others can't for the life of them. I tend towards the latter. Some times I will give a brief example but switch over to my normal voice for the rest of the conversation

[Airk]

i've found that for the most part, just saying "X speaks with Y accent, full of Z+ idiosyncracies" will often do better than trying to actually produce it yourself. Some people can do it well, others can't for the life of them. I tend towards the latter. Some times I will give a brief example but switch over to my normal voice for the rest of the conversation

This can be a useful thing for communicating information about NPCs, but it really does NOT solve the OPs problem of trying to differentiate two NPCs who are talking in the same scene. (Though again, I suggest that you try to avoid this type of scene when possible.)

Yes, if you are trying to communicate that NPC X is from a particular place, you're probably better off saying "He has a thick Brooklyn accent" (or "Heavy Kansai-ben" or whatever) than you are trying to DO one (especially in the parenthetical case) but for keeping NPCs straight, you need some difference that is apparent all the time, not just at the start of the conversation.

Edit: And to go back to my earlier suggestion about "Good sirs" vs "Youse Guys" - stereotypes and hamming it the heck up are your FRIENDS here. Be over the top, not subtle. We're talking "Cartoon gangster" here, not Marlon Brando.

Edit Edit: That said, be careful of your racial stereotypes.