bad vocals

[tc4b]

What is the first thing you do with bad vocal tracks to hide/improve them? Obviously, replacing them with good vocals would be the thing to do, but it's not an option for me for this one song. A friend recorded a song for his wife for her birthday. The guitars are fantastic, but that's because he's a guitarist, not a singer. So it's a sweet gesture even if the vox suck, but he asked me if I could do anything for the track. I've been screwing around with EQ's and reverbs and compression, delays, choruses (chori?) with limited success. I'm not expecting greatness or magic, I just wondered if anyone had any tried-and-true methods for, sort of, uh... what a photographer does when he puts vasaline on the lens before taking pictures of an ugly person. And yeah, I'd loveto crank the guitars in the mix, but the nature of the birhday gift requires that the words be heard.

 

[kid klash]

If you can't get a decent vocalist to re-record the vocal track, then go with what you got from the original "vocalist"... it's a birthday gift to the guy's wife by the sound of it, and I'm sure she won't mind that he's a poor singer... it's the thought that counts. You can gold-plate a turd, but it's still a turd with gold-plating. Probably nobody else will ever hear it anyway.

 

[Robert D]

Obviously it won't mean anything to her to have someone else sing it, so you've got what you've got. I've done this kind of thing before, where it's a fun recording, and no one's pretending to be something they're not......but while they're at it they would like it to sound good. In this case, I don't see any harm in bringing out the voodoo.
Bad vocals usually suffer from one or more of these things;\

Pitch problems
Timing problems
Dynamics problems
Timber problems

The first three can be surgically corrected. The last one is just what the guys voice sounds like, and anything you try to do about that will sound terribly artificial, except for some Eq. Timing can be fixed by dicing up the vocal in a DAW and sliding the phrasing on the time line. Pitch can be fixed within reason with Autotune or the like, and dynamics can be fixed by a combination of waveform editing and compression. As long as he wasn't straining trying to sing some of the notes, some pretty convincing surgury can be done to make it more enjoyable to listen to. Save the cosmetics like reverb and choruses until after these fundimentals are fixed, and then you can use them to enhance it instead of hide it.
Oh, the other thing to do if you can, before any of the above, is to get him to sing it several times and then comp the best parts of each take into one track. Then proceed with surgury on the comped track.

 

[tc4b]

Oh, the other thing to do if you can, before any of the above, is to get him to sing it several times and then comp the best parts of each take into one track. Then proceed with surgury on the comped track.

We did this. It's helping somewhat. Actually, I have him singing in unison with himself some times right now. It seems counterintuitive, but I'm trying to be creative.

 

[Dags]

We did this. It's helping somewhat. Actually, I have him singing in unison with himself some times right now. It seems counterintuitive, but I'm trying to be creative.

I feel your pain, tc4b. Its always a problem when you're using someone else's material and can't get it re-recorded.
Probably good old Autotune or some other pitch correction utility might help with any stray warbling which may offer some improvement to your pitch problems.

Robert D offered some really good advice:
"Save the cosmetics like reverb and choruses until after these fundimentals are fixed, and then you can use them to enhance it instead of hide it."
If the note is out of tune, then adding reverb only lengthens the duration of the bum note
Incidentally; Isn't there a vocal repitch & retiming program available? Mellodyne, I think?

You can then try compressing the bejeezuz out of the comped vocal track to make it sound a bit more 'even' if the deliveries were all over the place.

I don't know what gear you used to record it, or what tools you have at your disposal, but if the vocals are lacking a bit of sheen, you could try using an exciter plugin or just adding a bit of a curve somewhere in the 15kHz - 17kHz range to brighten them a bit.

Of course, I'm no expert, and I don't even have a studio to noodle around in at the moment to try out some options as I'm moving house soon

Dags

 

[astoebe]

if the dynamics are all over the place, automating the fader while watching the waveform can do wonders...

 

[tc4b]

if the dynamics are all over the place, automating the fader while watching the waveform can do wonders...

Even better if you do it at half speed. Love my protools!

 

[danny.guitar]

Melodyne...

 

[chessrock]

I just wondered if anyone had any tried-and-true methods for, sort of, uh... what a photographer does when he puts vasaline on the lens before taking pictures of an ugly person.

You could try taking vasaline and smearing it on the mic.

Or you could just smear it all over the floor and roll around in it.

Naked.

.

 

[lumbago]

Present the guy with a turd in a shoebox.

"We asked around, and we think your wife will prefer this."

 

[Erockrazor]

Step 1: Try to make your voice emulate his timbre as closely as possible.

Step 2:Then re-record his tracks .. in tune and on time.

Joking aside , a program like melodyne can fix pitch and timing problems. Might make him sound a bit like a robot if you autotune too much but its for a good cause.

 

[chessrock]

I'm just really concerned about this whole thing.

Do you think it's possible that an off-key vocal rendering could be grounds for divorce?

I know bad birthday presents are, at least.
.

 

[Ford Van]

Obviously it won't mean anything to her to have someone else sing it, so you've got what you've got. I've done this kind of thing before, where it's a fun recording, and no one's pretending to be something they're not......but while they're at it they would like it to sound good. In this case, I don't see any harm in bringing out the voodoo.
Bad vocals usually suffer from one or more of these things;\

Pitch problems
Timing problems
Dynamics problems
Timber problems

The first three can be surgically corrected. The last one is just what the guys voice sounds like, and anything you try to do about that will sound terribly artificial, except for some Eq. Timing can be fixed by dicing up the vocal in a DAW and sliding the phrasing on the time line. Pitch can be fixed within reason with Autotune or the like, and dynamics can be fixed by a combination of waveform editing and compression. As long as he wasn't straining trying to sing some of the notes, some pretty convincing surgury can be done to make it more enjoyable to listen to. Save the cosmetics like reverb and choruses until after these fundimentals are fixed, and then you can use them to enhance it instead of hide it.
Oh, the other thing to do if you can, before any of the above, is to get him to sing it several times and then comp the best parts of each take into one track. Then proceed with surgury on the comped track.

Errrrrrr...it is TIMBRE, not TIMBER. Timber is wood!

And actually, there is software that can help the timbre of a voice a little bit. Roland's VVocal has a "Formant" parameter, and it can really help.

I think Antare's has a product now that does formant adjustments too. Look into either product as a way to improve SOMEWHAT the quality of the vocal. It may be shining a turd, but at least you can handle the turd afterwards, but it still stinks!

 

[Ford Van]

You could try taking vasaline and smearing it on the mic.

Or you could just smear it all over the floor and roll around in it.

Naked.

.

Ahhhhhhhhh...the pro weights in here! Excellent cockrock. Excellent!















































wait for it dumbazz........

 

[Ford Van]

I'm just really concerned about this whole thing.

Do you think it's possible that an off-key vocal rendering could be grounds for divorce?

I know bad birthday presents are, at least.
.

Spoken like the true faggot he is!

 

[chessrock]

Spoken like the true faggot he is!

Spoken like the true homophobic Terrets case you are, Ed.

We don't need another Michael Richards.

.

 

[Ford Van]

Well, at least you are admitting to be a faggot now. That is a good first step cockmock.

 

[chessrock]

Ed, you only started reacting this way (stalking me) after that thread where I bashed people who give away free work.

Then you admitted to giving free handouts to a bunch of anonymous dicks on some internet message board full of losers (this one) ... so it's obvious that my comments hit close to home. And it's okay -- you've obviously fallen on tough times.

Ed, I obviously hurt your feelings, and I'm sorry. Now go mow my lawn and pour me a glass of lemonade. And take your Terrets meds.

.

 

[MCI2424]

Ed, you only started reacting this way (stalking me) after that thread where I bashed people who give away free work.

Then you admitted to giving free handouts to a bunch of anonymous dicks on some internet message board full of losers (this one) ... so it's obvious that my comments hit close to home. And it's okay -- you've obviously fallen on tough times.

Ed, I obviously hurt your feelings, and I'm sorry. Now go mow my lawn and pour me a glass of lemonade. And take your Terrets meds.

.

Why are you taunting the *special people* Chess?

Look at his picture! He needs most explanations dumbed down if you can. He can't help himself. Birth defects and retardation are really sad.

 

[scrubs]

It's Tourette Syndrome, you shitfukkinaholes!!!!