My voice sound to "REAL"

[Mr_Silent_One]

Sorry if I offended anyone for the intense capitalizations on my last thread . Lets try this agian.

Iight, I have Cool Edit Pro 2.0, using a Behringer euro Rack 802 Mixer, and a Project Studio B-1 Condensor Mic.
My problem is that when I record, my voice sounds to "REAL", like if I was right behind the speaker singing. What is the problem, reverb? compressor? or hard limiting? What must I do to make my voice sound like its in the music?

Make as many suggestions as possible so that i can narrow this stuff down. Any advice would help. Thanks

andrew.banuelos@carson.army.mil

[Jimbo Jones]

Hey Mr Silent One,
It really depends what's bugging you about the sound.
If the volume levels are all over the place, then use compression.
If your voice sounds too close to you, or sounds like you were singing in a small closet, then try adding some reverb.
And remember, less is more.

If you need advice on how to apply the reverb or compression, just let me know.

Peace,
jim

[Mr_Silent_One]

yes i need help on compression, does this soften my voice because it sounds like im right behind the speaker singing, sounds to "real". i was told alot of things like reverb but i know that reverb has an echo effect. so what is your suggestion and how do I use it?

[Dakota]

Compression basically makes everything closer to the same loudness. Hard limiting is an extreme version of compression.

But don't forget about eq. Eq and compression alone can work wonders for vocals. There is never a quick fix to problems like this. You're just going to have to experiment. Just don't overdo it, be subtle. And always save a copy of the original track.

[wockachucka]

Doesn't hard limiting just chop off the tops of all the peaks?

I'd start by turning your vocal volume down in the mix a bit. If, when it gets to a reasoanble level, it's inaudible, you may need compression, but.....

It's more important for the take to be a good one. In Cool Edit you can watch the waveform as it's recording. This is a good tool, it will teach an inexperienced singer how to project their voice into the microphone at a constant level. If the singer isn't too experienced, coach them by having them watch the waveform as they sing. The singer needs to learn some mic control if the vocal track is going to sound good.

Good mic control is evident when a waveform already "looks" compressed when it hasn't been. Always teach this to the singer if they don't already know.

That said, there's a great "cheat" in Cool Edit. Under Effects -> Dynaimics Procvessing, there's a compression preset called "VocCompFastAttack" which really kicks ass. I can't get my thousand-dollar Waves plugs to do what it does. It's a great trick for leveling out a vocal take that needs help. Check it out.....

[Dakota]

Correct, hard limiting does chop off the peaks. Where as compression rounds the peaks off a bit. Correctly applied, this warm distortion of rounded peaks can add warmth to a mix. But with too much of this effect, it's just distortion. So don't overdo it. Hard limiting is the extreme case of overdoing it.

[Jimbo Jones]

Originally posted by Mr_Silent_One
yes i need help on compression, does this soften my voice because it sounds like im right behind the speaker singing, sounds to "real". i was told alot of things like reverb but i know that reverb has an echo effect. so what is your suggestion and how do I use it?

OK, i think i understand what you are trying to do here.
try a little something like this...
-play the track by itself, watch the meters, what is the average level of the track,
what are the levels of the peaks?
-use the dynamics processing plugin under the amplitude menu
-in the graphic display set a point just slightly above the average level,
then compress over that. if your average is, let's say -10 dB,
then set it to compress everything over -10.5 by 3 to 1, or 4 to 1
-preview the track
-mess with the threshold, ratio, attack and release times and listen back each time

hopefully, this will get you started with compression
if you want some theory, search this board for the word "compression" and you will be reading for days!

[Mr_Silent_One]

Thanks for all the advice peeps. Ima print this all out and experiment with this info. Once agian, Thanks.

Andrew Banuelos
AKA Mr. Silent One

[chrisharris]

you know...you might try posting a clip of your recording here or in the mp3 mixing clinic too. It's so hard to describe sound with a keyboard, lol. If we could hear it, maybe we could offer some more opinions.

From your description, it sounds to me like the track's just too dry and possibly too loud, but I'm totally guessing without hearing it.

Reverb alone (used sparingly) can really help a vocal sit in the mix, but the longer I record, the dryer my vocals are getting. LOOOOONG ago, I used to track through a little Lexicon FX unit b/c I was too lazy to record the vocal dry and then route it later...now I record everything except some guitar parts totally dry, and I'm learning that if you can get a mix to fit together with NO REVERB, then it makes the whole job a lot easier. Reverb may make the mix more spacious and lush eventually, but the key is to get that vocal to fit without any FX (except compression) at all. From there, it's easy.

[Dakota]

Don't forget EQ!