Vocal effects

[dnl88]

Could you please give me a few effects that sound good on vocals and give the styles and circomstances to use each effect in?
for example(ill take the guitar for example for the example and not vocals)

distortion : rock,hard rock... during heavy parts of the song
overdrive : classic rock or hard rock during calm parts...

something like that but for vocal effects. This might also be a good way to tell other people the effects youve found go well with vocals and everyone will get something from this thread.

[tollbooth]

hey dnl88

these are some of the special effects i like - i'm not going to cover general vocal processing (doubling/plates etc) as these are well covered elsewhere on older posts and some of the guys here are fantastic at offering advice on good vocal sounds.

but for what it's worth.

i know its been a bit overdone now, but i still like the whole lo-fi sparklehorse-y type sound. i found myself using it on a track only the other day.

another very cool technique (if you have a vocalist who can do it) - works best on slowish, dark maybe even goth-type tracks.... two vocal tracks - main vocal quite close, low and intimate; second vocal a bit wilder, far-away-from-source reverb, an octave up from the original and with lots of the bass end taken out. try it - if done properly, it can be the SPOOKIEST effect ever - i git the idea from a track by Marillion called 'Cathedral Wall' and tries a variant on one of my own tracks, and it just sounds fantastic.

i like auto-panning on dance vocals - particularly those sample-type vocals etc

on psychadelic tracks, i've just got into using multi-mode filters to give vocals that sweep in and out of the track. phasers work well too, but filters that have an LFO and sweepable centre frequencies bring lots of movement into a section.

the important thing about any extreme effect is really not to overdo it.

Google under 'Cher+effect bloody everywhere+autotune+talkbox' - i really wouldn't mention that one anywhere - and if it was a subtle way of asking, then good job you hid it!!!! ;-)

autotune CAN be used quite creatively without overdoing and without using it as a correction tool. you can even use it double vocals if pushed.

best thing is to find open minded artists and have fun and experiment. processing vocals is one of the things i find most enjoyable, i love what you can make the human voice do.

ever seen the film 'Fifth Element'? that film features one of my favourite pieces of vocal resampling - it's when the blue diva is doing her performance at the space resort. it's a wonderful piece of music. sounds a bit dated now, but still good for its time.

have fun! let us know how you get on!

[KevinDrummer]

Originally Posted by tollbooth

hey dnl88



you can even use it double vocals if pushed.

How? I've got auto-tune, and doubling doesn't seem very doable to me.

[LemonTree]

the best vocal effect is a natural voice

[turnitdown]

Just a 1Khz boost of 12db is kinda neat, in an "special effect" kinda way!!

[tollbooth]

hey kevin

where possible, i always get vocalists to double track themselves where possible, but if i'm mixing or they can't etc etc etc etc then i have used autotune to double up - here's how i do it - there may be other ways, but this has worked for me in the past..

copy and paste your vocal into another track.
open an autotune plug for the new track
define your key and register
detune the scale very slightly
now here's the nifty bit to stop it just sounding like a pitch shifted vocal - you add the human variation back in!!!
if you already have autotune running on the originl track, take a note of the track and retune settings.
in your new track, make sure the track and retune settings are slightly 'lazier' than on your original track.
you'll have to gauge how much by listening, but i have got it to do a passable impression of double tracking before now.

have fun

best regs

paul d