Cheap vocal processing?

[jaebaeli]

I am, like many of you, on a limited budget and am loathe to pay several hundred dollars for a fancy, loaded vocal processor, when all i need is presence--perhaps some reverb sometimes, or chorus--is there a way to get that simple presence without all the other gagetry? I use analog--a tascam MKIII, a Art tube mic preamp, a Behringer studio mic. thanks for any suggestions.

 

[mawtangent]

I have used mostly an ART FX-1 that I got off of ebay a couple of years ago for around $70, it not only has a few reverbs settings but also chorus, flange, delay, and others (30 presets in all, including some settings that combine two or three effects together)... Before that I used an ART MR-1 which only has reverb (16 presets) to chose from... I have also used a Alesis Nanoverb which has a varity of effects and for which I paid around $70 new on ebay a few years ago...on all of these you have adjustments that you can make to the input and output levels and a wet/dry knob to control the amount of effect...I have a Yamaha MT-50 4-Track cassette, I bring a cable out of the aux send of the MT-50, go into the effects box, come back out of the effects box, and go back into the aux return of the MT-50...that way I can add any amount of effect to each track (each track has an aux "knob") during mixdown (I do not record the effect from the effects box to tape when I am "tracking")

 

[eeldip]

how about use eq for "presence"
and use a vocal chamber for reverb.

that'll be free for ya.

if you want a little bit of compression as "presence" hit the tape harder. if you want a little distortion and compression hit it even harder.

more free.

if you want to spend money on effects, a tc m300 is pretty decent at $125 used. that'll give you a few good verbs. a little bit of somewhat decent compression as well. and some other do dads. its pretty fun. also, i would try buying another mic to give your recordings a little bit something something. it will be easier for you to mix and give things "presence" if you use more than one mic. like a 57