Character Voice Sound Design
How to create organic character voices for video games with just one simple plugin
*Please note that this blog post may contain affiliate links*
Video game character voice design: The traditional technique
One traditional technique to design character voices for video games is to layer the same line of dialogue multiple times and then add plug-ins to process the layers. Common effects to use here are pitch shifters, choruses, flangers, filters, etc.
This method works well for a reason! The voices you can create this way can sound very dynamic and interesting.
Recently however, I discovered a technique for character voice design using only one voice layer. This technique will work well if you have to design dialogue lines or character voices. It can even be used to create creature voices or monster sounds.
So, let’s get into how this technique works.
A new technique for video game character voice design
For this technique, you only need to use one vocal track. Instead of layering sounds to get a dynamic voice, you are going to send the sound into a group bus (let’s say group A) and pan it left and then send it over to another group bus (let’s say group B) and pan it right.
Now, you might be saying that panning to the left and right is not a great choice for character design because you need the voice to be positioned in one place. You’re right! You can’t have it panned left and right or else the character’s location will be confusing. But stick with me here!
Next, you’re going to want to experiment with whatever plug-ins you have and get the voice to a place that you are happy with. I recommend trying pitch shifting, chorus, phaser, flanger, filters, and distortions. There are no rules, just experiment and have fun.
Once you’ve done that, you are going to channel group A and group B into a new group bus (Let’s say group C). Now, you’ll want to insert the plug-in ReCenter by Boom Library on group C.
For those who may not know, ReCenter is “a stereo processor that constantly analyses an incoming stereo signal and dynamically rotates it to the center or a given angle without altering the stereo width.”[1] https://www.boomlibrary.com/sound-effects/recenter/
Routing our group A and group B through Recenter now “recenters” it and it does so in a unified and organic way.
Here are a few setting recommendations. In Recenter, you’ll want to make the bass mono and select multi-band. Depending on your sound, you may want to lessen the width to have the vocals sound more centered.
This technique nicely gels the two sounds together into one voice. What’s cool about this is you can do some weird stuff by experimenting with different plugins on both group A and group B.
Design character voices with this new technique
I am not sure why this technique works so well, but it makes for some really interesting, organic character voices that are cohesive.
You’ll need a plug-in like ReCenter for this to work, but I think it is well worth it because it is simple and sounds great.
You can watch the full tutorial video on how I used this sound design technique to create cool character voices on my YouTube channel.
Do you have other methods for designing character voices? Is there anything I missed? Leave your questions and comments down below and let me know!
If this was valuable to you, consider sharing it to help others!
