30 sec of your time, de-esser problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter A1A2
  • Start date Start date
A1A2

A1A2

New member
I want you to be harsh on this, no mercy for a newb! lol...please tho

http://nowhereradio.com/a1a2/singles

here is my first attempt with recording vocal since I just got a new mic.
The lyrics are mainly Floyd's (I just kinda sang out random words for my tune and they just happened to be their lyrics, so I didn't bother to write the lyrics since it's only a test)

Major concern:

1) really gotta work on my singing!!
2) De-esser?? I don't own a de-esser, but I tried ppl's suggestions here and rolled off some dbs at 5-10khz, but, it didn't help....so, anything else I could have done with SoundForge? or when recording vocal? or buying an outboard de-esser?
3) Should I compress a bit over the whole song? It sounds a bit "not tightened/together" enough...


Please be harsh like....say... BRUCE! ha, I love that modest guy
 
echo

oops, the song is called "Echo", second from the top of song list. Please check it out
 
boy...that is a crispy mic....like maybe a cheapie condensor from radio shack?? There's no low end to it. It also has a lot of reverb/delay effect on it...which is ok, but that may exaggerate your sibilence problem too. How close are you to the mic..?...I would think 4-8 inches would be good, if you're not there. You need to mention other items like how the mic is getting to your final outcome (board, preamp, etc....) because that can all add to the problem...or be the problem in itself. Starting the guessing game, I would venture that you're using a lousy mic.
 
I dunno if you would consider my setup a "RadioShack based"....

C1->behringer m2004's pre->RNC-> Audiophile->ACID

about no low end, I guess I am the one to blame tho, I rolled off all low ends, boosted highs all the way up. Processed HARD on doubled vocal tracks left/right, and left the 3rd vocal track untouched/centered(however, very low volume)
my attempt was, getting 2 vocal tracks all the way up in the air and back there, while 3rd one sits right in the middle, dry. That's why I did what I did. Guess I need to bring the untouched track louder to achieve more mids, right?

Is it a bad idea to roll off the mid and lows on any vocal? I tried to have the kick drum sit in the low end field, acustic guitar/unprocessed vocal in mid, and background vocal+sliding guitar in high. What do you think about my approach? Bad concept?

mixmkr, I honestly appreciate your input tho. I am looking for honest suggestions, thank you very much
 
I rolled off all low ends, boosted highs all the way up.
Click to expand...
That's your problem right there. I personally wouldn't boost highs at all. As a matter of fact, when I track, I don't EQ anything. I record flat to tape and make EQ decisions later.
 
Track Rat said:

That's your problem right there. I personally wouldn't boost highs at all. As a matter of fact, when I track, I don't EQ anything. I record flat to tape and make EQ decisions later.
Click to expand...

I agree 101%...except, I'll ocassionally (lightly) EQ during tracking. Anything excessive...(like more than a smidgun:p ), I'm probably not getting the *right* sound out of my source (ie drums, ac gtrs...etc).

btw, aia2...your setup should give you excellent results. Watch that excessive knob twiddlin'!

also...sometimes that "HARD" processing can start to make some funny sounds too.
 
oh, i actually recorded flat, I just screwed up big when mixing them. This is like the first time I take EQ into consideration for mixing....

Anyways, just from what you hear, can you guys please tell me what's missing? mids in vocal? anything else?

Thanks
 
return your knobs back to ~zero~ when mixing, and then *lightly* adjust them to suit your ears. Your vocals had NO low end ( some mid-range, too).

Now...not to say overuse of EQ can't be creative at times...but when trying to faithfully recreate something, you can wind up on the wrong path with BIG EQ changes....especially on vocals. (when people want that telephone sound, for instance...they'll do the extreme adjustments that you did...but just at different freqs.)
 
A ..............as a general rule.......from this recording idiot (me):)


if you roll off the lows never boost the highs and vice versa

that will create a frequency deficit in your track ie...telephone effect or whatever ....like mixer said.....

Changing either the lows and the highs slightly is usually enough to cause significant and noticable differences........

EQing is a monster.....don't mess with it that much or it will kick your ass :)................


-nave
 
ok, after reading all of your posts, I realised that I really needed to cut some highs and bring those lows and mids back. It was a hard task since I wanna keep the angelic voices, meanwhile keeping them sounding like human (am I making any sense here?)

After an hour of EQing struggle, I did another attempt, please check it out again and compare the two.
http://nowhereradio.com/a1a2/singles this one is called "echo2"

hey, thank you guys alot, I really would not have noticed this problem if none of you ever point it out to me.

by the way, how do you normally achieve this "angelic" voice??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top