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What is the magic of McDull's voice?
To be honest, every time I hear McDull's soft and sticky voice, a little confused and a little aggravated, the corners of my mouth can't help but turn up. It's like freshly baked mochi, sticky and hot, with an innocent nasal tone, and always half a beat slower. Want to learn? Don't be intimidated, in fact, by grasping a few key points, ordinary people can also touch the door.
I've been doing voice acting for a few years now, and I've impersonated a lot of characters, and McDull is definitely one of the most "annoying" and funniest. It's not like those showy characters, but requires you to "take it easy" and even be a bit "clumsy" in terms of realism. At the center of it all is that "nasal resonance", but not the cold kind of congestion! You have to try to let the sound from the back of the nose, close to the palate that part of the gently out of the throat, do not force, a force will change the flavor.
Then there is the speed of speech and pauses. McDull always talks like he's thinking about his life, and will somehow get stuck in the middle of a sentence or drag out a certain syllable, such as "Mom~Mom~I want to eat~Chicken~Wrap~Paper~". Don't be afraid to slow down. The slower you deliberately slow down, the easier it is to find that kind of confused feeling. When I first started practicing, I felt like a sloth in a meeting even after I recorded it, but magically, when I put it on the screen, it sounded right.
Don't rush to record! Let's soften your voice first.
If you go straight to a hard imitation, your voice splits easily. I used to do some "softening" exercises first: I'd yawn a lot, feel my throat open up, and then softly pronounce "hmmm", sliding down from high to low like a sigh. Then try a "humming" sound, imagining that you are a child who is not awake and mumbling that you don't want to get out of bed. The goal is to relax your voice and find that lazy "core".
Focus on practicing "nasal words". Find a bunch of words with "m," "n," and "ng" and repeat them over and over again, such as "mommy." "brisket noodles," and "meng meng da." When you say them, press your fingers gently on the sides of your nose to feel the vibration. It's okay to exaggerate, the purpose is to make the muscles remember the position of the force. Once you've practiced it, you can quietly incorporate these nasal sounds into your entire sentence.
Cell phone + freeware, zero cost to start playing
Don't be dissuaded by professional equipment! I first recorded with my cell phone headphones for fun, and it wasn't too bad. The key is in the environment: find the smallest room you can, like in a closet (no kidding really!) Or wrap yourself and your phone in a thick quilt to maximize noise absorption. When recording, don't put your cell phone's microphone right in front of your mouth, but a little down towards your chin or chest to minimize the "poofing" sound of the spraying microphone.
Free AudacityThis old boy is a real treasure. After recording a dry sound, the first step is always "Noise Reduction": select a blank background sound (that is, the ambient sound you recorded when you don't speak), click "Effect" > "Noise Reduction" > "Capture Noise Sample", then select all the audio and reduce the noise again, the world is instantly much cleaner. Next, adjust the EQ (Equalizer): slightly lower the harsh high frequencies (such as above 8kHz), and appropriately raise the low-mid frequencies (200Hz-800Hz or so), which will make the sound sound thicker and closer to McDull's texture. Finally, add some "room reverb" (Reverb), choose "Room" or "Small Room" this kind of slight effect, the parameter is adjusted down! The purpose is to create a little sense of space, so that the sound is not so dry, like talking in the room, but do not make it into a KTV echo, that would be wearing.
Online Voice Changing Toys: For a quick feel or entertainment, try VoiceChanger.io This is an online tool. You can use it as soon as you open the webpage, select the "Child" or "Baby" type of effect, and then fine-tune the pitch (Pitch) to raise it a little bit (don't exceed +3), and sometimes you can get a little bit of the charm out of it. But remember, the effect of this thing is rather fake, only as a fun filter, you really have to rely on the real voice + fine-tuning later.
Don't just look like him. Find McDull's soul.
The technique is in place, but what's missing is the breath. McDull's charm lies in the "philosophy" of his simple world. Try to find some of McDull's lines. Don't be in a hurry to imitate his voice, but first understand why he said so. For example, the line "There are some things that don't exist, just don't exist, just don't work", that kind of faint loss and resignation can't come out just by pinching your voice. You have to feel a little helpless and a little funny in your heart, and it will naturally come out in your voice.
When recording, think of yourself as a child who is always slow to react, curious about the world and always hitting the wall. Keep your eyes free and your expression dull (no one can see you anyway), and the result will be more natural. It took me a lot of recording before I realized that the more I tried to "act" like a child, the less I looked like a child, but when I let my eyes go a little bit and talked to myself, it worked.
A little more advanced? Try these tricks.
Addicted to playing and want to get more refined? You can focus on the breath. McDull speaks with a weak breath, feeling breathless (but not really sickly). If you practice gently breathing through the abdomen to reduce the burden on your throat, your voice will be more relaxed. Look for "abdominal breathing" tutorials on the internet and follow along, it will help a lot in voice acting.
For equipment upgrades, a hundred-dollar USB condenser mic (such as the entry-level models from Descent and Boa) with a ten-dollar spray shield will provide a measurable improvement in sound quality. Software.Reaper Is also a powerful free DAW (recording software), more complex than Audacity, but more freedom, plug-in support is also good.
The most crucial? Listen to the original more often and compare your recordings over and over again. Where is it too sharp? Where is it not nasal enough? Where is the mood wrong? Only when your ears are practiced can your hands keep up. Don't be afraid to record hard, my hard disk can be filled with ten McDull's fishballs and noodles!