Vocal Meisters...Please Do Me A Favor ???

mark4man

mark4man

MoonMix Studios
People...

I'm still having what I presume to be "trouble", with the vocals on one of my tunes from our upcoming CD release. I've used 3 different mics (Audio-Technica AT4050, Shure KSM27, AKG C 535 EB) & 2 different pres (UA 2-610, Grace Model 101); & continue to wind up with "harmonic distortion?" at certain lyric lines & passages. I've had one ME tell me he heard it; & one ME tell me I'm nuts...(that there's nothing there.)

So...I've posted a .wma & an .mp3 of 4 sections from the composition...on my test server; & I'd like the vocal experts here (or anyone with a good ear...for that matter) to give a listen & tell me what the h_ _l they think it is:

http://www.moonjams.com/musiclinks1.htm

The clips consist of 4 sections...the 1st one starts with the song's intro; & then fades out & into #2 (with the rest fading out & into the next, etc.)

In Section 1, listen for the lyrics/passages:
"feel you", "life", "angry sea", "sail into", "rainbow" & "feel you've"

Section 2:
"worry about", "last" & "time"

Section 3:
"have" & "worry about"

Section 4:
"matter how", "ya'", "star lights", "guide" & "high and"

The problem areas consist of a scratchy, grainy sound, similar to harmonic distortion. It's not proximity effect...I was very careful to stay away from that. I didn't overdrive the pre's; & the signal waveforms all look normal. Does it sound "distorted"...if so, what kind? Does it at least sound "musical"? Does it sound "normal" for a high velocity vocal take? (It's also there to a certain extent in the raw, dry takes; & only exacerbated a little by the reverb processing.)

Would you guys release it...if it were yours?

Could use some input.

Thanks very much,

mark4man
 
I listened to the MP3, and hear some form of distortion/ problem. Not real bad, but it's noticeable. I am no expert, but the signal sounds too hot, or you were too close to the mic for the amount of emphasis you put into these particular sounds. They seem loud, and that could be clipping a bit, or some distortion when they were recorded. Distortion at the mic maybe?
Just my thoughts....
Ed
 
Thanks guys...

I had a thought: When I listen to the dry vocals, I notice (as I said before) that it's there to some degree; & that processing somewhat exacerbates that grainy sound. Without going off topic too far ('cause I would like to solve this with the gear I presently have)...but right now...the only two decent verbs I do have are my hdwe. unit (Lexicon MPX-500) & Real Verb Pro (part of UAD-1.) Could I help myself by going out & getting a top-notch in-the-box verb plug...maybe a convolution type?

Thanks again,

mark4man
 
On second thought...

I think you may have helped me more than you know. In putting together a series of files to listen to just music & dry vocals...I discovered that...

Let me back up a little bit...all of the vocals on this CD project...as recorded raw...lack a bit of luster. They're all pretty much flat response w/o high-end sparkle; & sound dull (& somewhat low in gain) in the mixes. So to compensate...what I do is to clone the raw track; & back the clone off to around -7.5dB or so...to make the presence in the mix a little more robust. Then I apply a brightness EQ curve I devised, in Cambridge (to both tracks in the pair); & on just the first track (the one at 0dB), I also apply an airy EQ curve from EX-1.

[& I'm uploading a screenshot of the track pair & the plugs in a little while, so you can see these settings.]

THEN...I pipe that signal out of the DAW, thru the reverb hdwe. & back into SONAR.

Well, I guess the combination of settings on the two plugs aren't as dandy as I thought they once sounded...because in listening to just the EQ'd tracks, without verb...they have a "hollow, ringing" type sound...like they're rattling around in a bottle. The whole vocal line sounds too edgy (notwithstanding the fact that those settings are helping to push the questionable clips over the top.) Check it out:

http://www.moonjams.com/musiclinks1.htm

[Screen shot is up, now],

mark4man
 
Now, the dry vocal tracks don't seem to have any problem. That would lead me to believe that any artifacts were introduced after tracking. If the eq you have set up is boosting the signal at all, that mys be the problem. Since you seem to be boosting some frequencies up about 7 db, start by setting the overall volume in the eq down by some of that. You might start by dropping the eq preset volume by 7 db, but that could make the overall volume of the track too low. This you will need to just experiment with. I always try and use subtractive eq myself, as the recorded material is usually pretty loud, and then if it is a few db to quietr, I just raise the overall volume of the track a few db.
Ed
 
Jesus man...I was too busy enjoying the voice to hear anything wrong with the recording.

Your last post reminded me of this. It's a bit of a variation of what you're doing...

One thing I found while experimenting with this is that, for some reason, I find it works better if I BOUNCE the track as opposed to CLONING it...Don't ask me why, and it might just be my imagination, but I thought it sounded better when I bounced rather than clone. You can always experiment with both. Check out THIS article. The whole article is interesting, but I think you'll find the 4th paragraph "The Motown 1960's Exciting Compressor" the most interesting.
 
Wow, I just saw the screen shot...I'm amazed you're able to boost at 5k by 7 db. That's right around where a de-esser would usually cut. I never boost at all, I always subtract when I eq, so it's not what I'm used to seeing. But going by what I heard, you're doing something right, that's for sure. I have a feeling that if you are getting artifacts, like Dogman said, it's probably post tracking. I'm no guru here, just giving my opinion which may be way off.
 
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