Vocals| Reverbs vs Delays

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

i've been workin on my vocals and im gettin the process down pretty good..i just cant decide if i shud use reverbs or delays?
so what is a delay actually? does it actaully delays the vocals? cuz whenever i used it my vocals would be a little late.
i never used reverbs before...are they better to use? does it fill out the vocals more?

please help

[dobro]

Reverbs and delays are in the same quadrant, but they do different things. A delay is exactly that - it takes the original signal, and then creates a second, delayed signal. If you keep the delay under about 25 ms, then it'll sound like a single sound, but if you increase the delay to about 30 ms or more, you'll hear a distinct echo of the original sound. Take it up to about 60 ms, I believe, and you get a kind of slapback effect - really outrageous, but nifty on certain sounds.

Reverb's way more complicated - in addition to the original sound, there are hundreds (maybe thousands, I dunno - I never counted) of different echoes, all of which are different depending on which wall they bounced off before they got to the ear of the listener.

I put reverb on just about every vocal I do these days (in tastefully modest amounts of course ), but I almost never put delay on vocals cuz for me it's sort of a special effect for vocals. I put delay on guitars more often, though.

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

so reverbs are best for vocals and delays are best for instruments?

[ikon]

depends because elvis used the slapback delay effect on all his vocals...man sold billions

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

hmmm ok, so ill justr have to experiment between the two

[technominds]

I usually use both... reverb creates that distance and then the tiniest amount of delay spreads the vocal a bit, i always make sure there is a left and right time difference... alot of pop records have this as standard!

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

yes ive been experimenting and i still have problems...anyone got sum good settings to start me off for my vocals
ps ima rapper

[ikon]

i usually mix down my main vocals into double mono then go into delay and pick the preset left spacial 2 and adjust acording to my taste....then record my overdubs and pan on about 50 left and one about 50 right and put a 4-15 ms on one of them...give a pretty fresh sound...i am a rapper

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

^^^ yeaa imma try suttin like ya technique

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

Originally Posted by ikon

i usually mix down my main vocals into double mono then go into delay and pick the preset left spacial 2 and adjust acording to my taste....then record my overdubs and pan on about 50 left and one about 50 right and put a 4-15 ms on one of them...give a pretty fresh sound...i am a rapper

yea dat worked pretty good man thanx

[ikon]

npz, glad i could help

[ItzCashew]

Whats a good setting for vocal reverbs?

[mrT]

Originally Posted by ItzCashew

Whats a good setting for vocal reverbs?

the one that sounds right... that simple

[Anfontan]

To me reverb is gonna give some distance in stereo mix, if the sound is too much in your face, reverb will back the sound off just a bit. The more intense the reverb, the further it gets pushed back in the mix.
Background vocals sound good with some reverb, keeps them at a distance from the lead vocal.

[Obstacle1]

I prefer to use the reverb function on CEP rather than the delay as the latter seems to f*ck up the timing. It depends on how 'big' the other tracks are (in terms of sound) as to how much reverb is needed but i tend to use the pre-loaded "Natural reverb" setting for my vocals and then adjust the Dry to Wet ratio as needed. Obviously, the dry signal is the original sound and the wet signal is the reverb effect. so the more wet u add, the more reverb is present. I tend to shift the 'wet' to about %15 - seems to give a nice presence to the vocals.

Hope this helps.

[.:Wyze Loc:.]

yea, right now ive started using the multitap delay on my vocals, i also use minor reverbs and another custom set delay

[Nick The Man]

just try experimenting with it .. whatever you like best or .. just do what you think fits the mood of the song

[hoursend]

I've used both, but for very different things. I'll even use the chorus effects (seldomly) for certin vocal parts. I think everyone who already stated it in the thread has been right: Expirment and use what soudns good to YOU for the effect YOU want.