anybody identify what this distortion is?

I'm not talking bout the boomy bottom end but the upper mid distortion.
Has it come from the vocalist or am I putting too much signal in?
The mic was an SE2200a II Cardioid, the desk Mackie Onyx 1620 Firewire.
The vocalist was a good 8 inches away and the signal didnt look too hot.

I'm scratching me head a bit, any ideas?

Thanks,
View attachment voctest.mp3Mike
 
I could just be in his voice.
There's all kinds of stuff going on when we sing. You may never notice when someone is just talking, but then you put a mic close to them and they sing....and you pick all kinds of mouth noises.

Hey....try a few other level setting....mic positions....or a different mic.
If it's still there, it's in the voice.
 
If it is the voice any ideas on how to treat it?
I've cut various frequencies but it's a balancing act not to make it worse or lose all life in the vocal.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Steenamaroo,
You think that vocal recording is OK?
If it is I'd be glad to hear it.
Can you expand on that please?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Yup . . . vocal is fine.

There is a slight nasal quality to it (which is very contemporary) and the resonance in the nasal cavity is giving it a very slight buzziness.

I reckon there's not much top worry about.
 
And I'll agree with all of you :eek: :p....that it's nothing to be concerned about.
Like I said, if you isolate just the vocal of a lot of singers that are good singers, you can hear odd little mouth noises. They could be buzzing, clicking, fffffft type stuff...etc.

Add the vocal to the mix, and then don't focus on that tiny bit of mouth noise just 'cuz you know it's there. Listen to it like anyone else would listen to a song. It won't be noticeable.
It's like guitar string noise. There's always some, and there's always an acceptable/natural level that doesn't really ruin things.

That said....and not to leave you hanging...
If you really feel compelled to do something about it....:D...(and it's a good EQ technique exercise)....you can "spot edit" only the points on the track where it's most noticable....but I wouldn't screw the whole track up with correction.
If you don't like the result....UNDO. ;)

Find a spot where it's loudest, cut the track front & back of that spot, then use a parametric with a narrow Q and hard cut. Put a loop region over that slice of the track, play the loop and then move the parametric cut band until you find the EQ point where it removes the noise the most. I would guess it's up there near the "SSSSSSS" zone of the vocal, but it can be tricky and there might also be a harmonic below it....which is why you don't want to screw with the whole track.

Once you hit the EQ spot where the cut removes most of the noise.....put some back.
IOW...boost it back up some. Try to take off as little as possible. Maybe remove only 25% of the noise. If you cut it too hard, it will sound weird. To use a coined term....just kiss it lightly with the cuts.
Anyway...let your ears be your guide....but really, at most you might want to do that only to a few of the worst spots on the track, and leave the rest alone. Also, when you do the EQ cuts....always A/B with the whole mix, and then cut only enough for it not to be noticable WITH the mix. Don't just solo the vocal when you make the cuts.
 
I'm confused. I expected a problem. I don't hear any issues to be concerned about. What are you hearing that we aren't?

Listen to the first phrase "My one and only friend" in the clip...at the tails of the words there is a VERY mild mid-HF buzz that comes in.
As was mentioned, it's common nasal cavity/mouth noise...but here it's so minor that it will probably be 100% insignificant in the mix....so no need for him to screw with it.

Like you said....it's virtually unnoticeable.
I think he just paid to much attention to the solo vocal track, maybe at a higher volume, and now that buzz noise is stuck in his head. :D
I've been there myself....over-focusing on some minor audio glitch until it seems like it's much louder and significant than it really is.....which often happens when soloing tracks and going over them with a fine-tooth comb. :p
 
Back
Top