Which effects you use for vocals ?

P

Pykon

New member
Hi @ll!

My question is: which effects (apart from compressor/gate, eq) you use for vocals in the mix?

I'm used to adding some reverb to de-center the vocal line in the mix, but how to achieve the goal when I need more intimate - so non-reverbed - sound?

Please name the particular effects/plug-ins.

I'm a sonar-man, in 7 pro I have some smart effects library, so show me the way to experiment.

mike
 
It very much depends on what kind of sound you are going for. Good use of a compressor, coupled with a decent mic, decent mic technique and small dashings of EQ will give good results. There are not "pro" plug-ins that automatically make bad vocals awesome.

Obviously pitch shifting and pitch correction software is avaliable, but that is a different question entirely.

Someone posted a cool topic about a trance effect, where you copy the vocals twice, pitch shift 1 copy up 12 cents and 1 down 12 cents, and pan them hard left and right respectively, leaving the original centred. Gives a nice dance music sound.

What sort of track are you mixing for?
 
I use a mix of Smartelectronix tubescreamer, Ninja cross-delay, Zephod color filters, a ton of overdrives and tape/vinyl simulators. As for what you'll want to use, it depends on the style of music.
 
Pykon said:
My question is: which effects (apart from compressor/gate, eq) you use for vocals in the mix?

I'm used to adding some reverb to de-center the vocal line in the mix, but how to achieve the goal when I need more intimate - so non-reverbed - sound?
Click to expand...
There is no direct relation between amount of reverb and amount of intimacy. There are a million extremely intimate-sounding vocals out there where the reverb is heavy.

There is no one answer to you question; it completely depends upon what sound your shooting for, the genre of music it's done in, and what the mix itself is asking for and - most importantly - whether or not the vocalist can actually sing or not.

Personally, the better the vocalist, the less I'll want to ruin the performance with crap like EQ and compression. But usually some level of mild-to medium compression will be needed just to get the vocal to sit right and sound right in a mix. If the vocalist is a screamer accompanied by a hair band running full bore with no dynamics, then it'll probably want heavier compression to compete against the wall of sound.

G.
 
Well, You are telling nice ideas that I'm aware of, so let's come to the second part of my previous question:

how do You de'center the mono vocal line? As far as I prever the vocals to be as dry as posible to maintain its natural timbre, what kind of effect apart from reverb/delay can be used to expand mono, centered voice in the mix?

Some people use stereo enhancers/expanders, but these alghoritms mostly need some differences between channels (and these can be achieved with delay/verb that I'd like to ommit...) to be able to anhance the sound.

The dual-channel pitch skifting technique that one of You mentioned earlier makes the sound too "digital", as well as moving one channel some miliseconds forward.

So what are You tips for widening mono vocal track without verb/delay?

m
 
Pykon said:
The dual-channel pitch skifting technique that one of You mentioned earlier makes the sound too "digital", as well as moving one channel some miliseconds forward.

So what are You tips for widening mono vocal track without verb/delay?
Click to expand...
If delays and choruses and similar techniques sound too mechanical to you, then your best alternative - actually, the best alternative anyway, IMHO - is to record multiple takes of the vocal and layer them. You can adjust panning and gain as desired for effect, from stacking them on top to spreading them, from equal volume to subliminal effect.

An interesting effect can be to actually combine the methods; double-track the vocals *and* delay the second one slightly, but that's not something I'd use too often, it can be easy to overdo.

G.
 
That's good idea, but a hard task to record two takes of vocal with axactly similar pitch. Mixing two identical vocal lines is in fact a natural chorusing, but any subtle differences in pitch are hardly emphasized and interfere.
Once I tried to use v-vocal but since then I avoid any vocal re-tuning soft and prefer to spend some extra time with singer to achieve the goal.

Seems there's a lot of (sweat...) work coming! :-)

I'll try what You've said recording in stereo with XY mics as well.

m
 
It usually turns out different everytime, but I like to start with recording the vocalist 2 or 3 times. I have one main right up the middle, and the two 'support' vocals panned slightly to either side and much lower volume. Low enough where it doesn't sound doubled or tripled, but thicker.
On the backing vocals I add light reverb (hardly noticable). On the main reverb I like using a slapback (really quick) delay. Helps it sit in the mix better without sounding so 'roomy'.
It's a good start for me.

Tony Laughlin
Audio Engineer/Promoter
www.grooveboxmusic.com
 
I see you're not intersted in using delay, but here's something you might try anyway...

I've been using the Sonitus delay plug quite a bit to bring the vocalist out front in dense mixes. It also works well when the singer simply doesn't have a very strong or assertive voice and needs some help.

I learned this from someone in the MP3 clinic years ago. I'll look for the post when I get home and post particulars, but here are the basics:

- set the tempo to twice that of the song
- set delay A for 1/2 note, delay B for 3/4 note
- bring mix levels up till it's smacking you in the face, then back it off.
- Crossfeed and feedback are set rather low, more details later.

You usually won't need any addtional verb with this appoarch.
 

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Pykon said:
Hi @ll!

My question is: which effects (apart from compressor/gate, eq) you use for vocals in the mix?

I'm used to adding some reverb to de-center the vocal line in the mix, but how to achieve the goal when I need more intimate - so non-reverbed - sound?

Please name the particular effects/plug-ins.

I'm a sonar-man, in 7 pro I have some smart effects library, so show me the way to experiment.

mike
Click to expand...



If you have the mics, you might try using an M-S configuration (figure-eight at 180 degrees with cardoid at 0 degrees). Slpit the signal from the figure 8 (several ways to do this) and reverse the phase of one of the signals. Center pan the cardoid and Pan each "side" of the figure 8 to either side of center. The further the panning the wider the vocal.

You could aslo play with delaying and/or advancing each side of the figure 8 and/or just add reveb while leaving the center (cardoid) dry. Basically, the possiblities are endless, YOU simply have to try everything and anything YOU can think of that works for YOUR situation.
 
Eventide - makes the vocals big and wide. Used on tons and tons of albums. Search for Ford Van's vocal trick if you want to do it w/o a H3000.
 
Pykon said:
Mixing two identical vocal lines is in fact a natural chorusing, but any subtle differences in pitch are hardly emphasized and interfere.
Click to expand...

It's the most common, natural, and I'd say "best" way to double vocals. It's done more often than any other "technique".
 
flatfinger said:
Folks Know intrinsically what the voice sounds like , so over compressing a vocal just sticks out horribly !! Whatever you do, don't sqeeze the shit out of it .
Click to expand...

LOL. No, in general, folks don't have a fricken clue what heavily compressed vocals sound like. Wanna hear some? Turn on your radio, tune to any station playing anything from the last 40 or so years, and you'll hear it.

The OP said he wasn't looking for compression suggestions, but one of the best things you can do to vocals is slam the crap out of them with a compressor. That is, unless you are going for a 40's vibe...........:D
 
NL5 said:
but one of the best things you can do to vocals is slam the crap out of them with a compressor.
Click to expand...



I'll have to give that a try soon , thanks for the tip !!



Of course , you're right, the OP did'nt want compressor suggestions , so , my bad .:o



As you were
 
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