Tips on fixing a unpleasant voice

M

Melvin McSnatch

New member
I've been doing a recording for a pop-punk style band and I can't figure out how to record this guy's voice. He has no low tones but he wants to scream like Kurt Cobain. I can't EQ the problem away. I've tried moving him closer to the mic (both SM48 and AKG Perception 120) but there's no noticeable bass boost. I've multitracked it for double the ear piercing splendor.

Is there anything I haven't tried?
 
+1
Maybe it's time for singer/band to hear how bad the voice really is.

You can give us a short demo how bad it is.
 
What I've seen some studio engineers do in the past is do the voice modulator effects to masks some people that were .... lets say... off somewhat. You'd be suprised what tweaking some effects can do for both the song and the singer.
 
If the rest of the band can't tell how bad he is, then there's no hope! Mix the songs like it sounds, in fact bring the singer's voice right out front, give it back to them, see what they say.
 
Try having him layer the vocal with another track sung an octave down.

Both of those miss are kind of thin sounding, do you have access to any thing else?

Compress the hello out of the vocal after eqing out the 2k.

Punch the singer in the throat until he stops being the singer.
 
Farview said:
Punch the singer in the throat until he stops being the singer.
Click to expand...

60% of the time, it works every time :D

with all the tools available in modern day DAW's you can fix pitch, phrasing and rhythm, and any particularly horrible frequencies, but you can't fix a bad tone. if someone with a billy corgan style voice tries to sound like barry white, no amount of studio trickery is going to fix the problem.

As always, the standard recording rule applies; crap in = crap out
 
Why would he want to sound like Kurt Cobain? That has already been done. Tell him to find his own sound. If he can't then he has nothing to offer to the world. Kick him out of the band and find a better singer.
 
I've been through this kind of thing one too many times myself. Just mix the song as best as you can. If the band don't like it, give them an hour's time with you to fix it or have the guy redo it. It isn't your job to tell them they need a new singer. If they know what they're doing, they'll dump the guy and get somebody else.
 
It'd be great to hear a sample....sometimes a crappy singer just doesn't get the recognition of being a crappy singer though :D
 
Not my singer, so I have no say in who stays or goes. In his defense, he's 17 and his testicles haven't fully descended quite yet.

I agree the Perception 120 is a rather thin sound, although it makes me sound like the god damned Mormon Tabernacle Choir when I do harmonies with and without the bass cut. But it's really not working for this singer. I had the opposite problems with me on the 48. Not enough highs, very low and dark. I have an SM57 to try out, but my expectations are low that it's going to sound decent to anyone's taste.

One of the problems may be that the recording starts sounding very compressed, like an mp3, when he's screeching away. I'm pretty sure it's the high rasp in his voice, not the recording itself. But listening back, I wonder...
 
From what you describe it sounds as if he's using nothing below the throat, vocally. If that's the case, then I give him 5 years before he needs surgery.

But like others have said, if you could post up a raw example of his voice, it might be easier to advise.
 
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