Vocal Effects??????

[tombuur]

Sounds like good advice Mountainmirrors. It's been very hard for me to learn exactly that. Even for live music you should care little about the guitar sound you get when playing alone.

We tend to test effects, amps and whatever on our own, but what matters is the mix. And when the whole band is playing it doesn't matter if a guitar lacks low frequencies, particularly not a rhythm guitar. It may sound ridiculous played alone, but not in the mix.

 

[stonepiano]

I was talking with local legend Chessrock about vocal effects and he said the same thing as mountainmirrors in terms of doubling.

He mentioned trying a "whisper" track for that ethereal intimate effect.

 

[mallcore pop]

So apply a high-pass filter at 100 hz to your guitars and vocals. Maybe even 150 on your vocals. That usually crisps the vox right up.http://www.mountainmirrors.com

if needed. . . but make sure that you're not unnessarily thinning them out!

 

[Mountainmirrors]

A cut at 100 hz and below on a vocal or guitar is very hard to detect.
But - your bass guitar and drum will sound incredible because there's no "fight" for the mighty low range. Especially on a speaker system that can't make up its mind who should win.
And your vocals will slice right through. They will come to life in ways things like BBE's and exciters can't do.
A Capella vox will be different, of course.

 

[mallcore pop]

A cut at 100 hz and below on a vocal or guitar is very hard to detect.

Sometimes, on a single track, but it adds up. If you highpass everything except kick/bass, you can end up thinning the mix, especially lead vocals and hard-panned guitars (but 100Hz is quite reasonable).

I highpass stuff too, so all I'm suggesting is not to automatically highpass everything, just to free up some headroom. . .

 

[Mountainmirrors]

That's a good point too, Mallcore.
Just because it works for me doesn't mean everyone's ear's gonna be happy happy with the result.
It's sort of a "standard trick" I learned a few months ago that I consider to be a blessing to know. It's made for much better mixes for me.
It's funny you mention the "whisper" ghost track, stonepiano.
Supposedly that gives a great "air" to a vocal when turned down to a subliminal volume behind the main vocal...has anyone tried it?

Very Best,
Jeff
http://www.mountainmirrors.com

 

[mallcore pop]

Yup, works great, try double-tracking the whispers and hard-panning them . . .

Highpassing is a solid technique, I do it a lot with busy mixes, but you need to be careful not to lose the "weight" from the individual tracks. I think we're on the same page, though.

MP