EMO/Rock Voice Help. Vocal Processing

  • Thread starter Thread starter dsynthuhsize
  • Start date Start date
D

dsynthuhsize

New member
I recently purchase a new MXL V69 mic, and Studio projects C1- to complement my mice collection. Here is my problem.

I am trying to get a good sound out of my dynamic, loud voice. To here you can check out a recording at
(V69) or
(computer mic) or
(computer mic)
(I did not have the vocal booth setup with that recording)

Lets start with the setup:
1. Vocal booth, auralex foam covering 100 percent of 112 wall space. 4 LENRD bass traps and 2 inch foam.
2. Cords Mogami cabling
3. Sound card : EMU 1820
4. MIC: v69 MXL
5: Effects: Waves Audiotrack compression and Rverb

I can get a pretty good recording, but my question is this..

How can I improve my sound? Namely,

1. Will the V69 work? Should I use another mic?
2. Any other effects I should mess around with?

Your help will be very much appreciated!
Anyone.

Thank you,

Benjamin Reece
 
this sounds nothing like emo

it sounds like christian contemporary music mixed with hootie and the blowfish.

RonC
 
I think a lot of the newer punk/emo bands double the vocals. That is, sing the exact same part twice. Sometimes there are a lot more vocal tracks. I think that is the key to the sound you are looking for.

Any of your mics should work. Maybe sing it once with the 69 and then once with the c1 and mix it together.
 
Thanks for the reply.

Those songs are not meant to showcase any emo songs, and emo is not really a sound, but more of a presentation. In my opinion.

And I just have not recordeed any "harder songs"

I will try the double tracking. Let me know if you have any other mixing tips.

Further suggestions are welcome!


What do you guys think about my voice btw? Rough critisism!

Who does it sound like?
ben
 
Ben,
As for whether the C1 or V69 is best for your voice try them both and let your ears decide.

Have a listen to this song I recorded for a local band. It's in the same ballpark as your work. If you like the vocal treatment I'll tell you exactly what I did. The same type of thing would probably suit your voice.



Pete.
 
I like it alot! His voice is similar to mine, except better :) Oh well, I am still maturing in my voice (20yrs)

Please let me know the process you used. Also, what would you do for a like a "harder" song.


Thank you,

Benjamin
 
Ben,
I recorded the vocals using an AKG C4000B into an SPL Mike Man pre amp into an ART DI/O A/D converter and went S/PDIF into my Roland VS-2480 from there.

The main vocals were treated as follows in the mix :

Compression
Ratio 8:1
Attack 10ms
Release 500ms
Maximum gain reduction -12dB

EQ
HPF at 125Hz with 0.71Q
+1.5dB at 1.25kHz with 1.50Q

The reverb is a "Vocal Plate" type set as follows :
Room Size 26m
Time 2.0s
Pre Delay 90ms
Diffusion 65
Density 80
Early Reflection Level 50
Effect Level 100
Low Frequency Damp Gain -2dB Frequency 150Hz
High Frequency Damp Gain -3dB Frequency 10.0kHz
High Cut Frequency 8.0kHz
Direct Level 0

I don't often compress vocals this much, but with the singer's Rob Thomas alike voice it sounded exactly right. I also wouldn't normally use quite so much reverb on the main vocals, but the singer dictated to me the amount and sound of the reverb he wanted when I was mixing. It actually suits the song very well.

The settings I use for everything are specific for every song that I mix. Exactly what I would do on a harder song would depend on the song although with the same singer and for the same CD I would be tempted to start with similar compression settings, but the EQ and reverb would depend very much on the other instruments and the sound of the song.

For a faster song I'd probably reduce the vocal reverb time. Also the more pre delay there is in the reverb the further forward in the mix the sound will seem to be which can be useful to get a more intense sounding vocal. If the song has dense instrumentation I would tend to use a less dense reverb so as not to crowd the mix.

Pete.
 
As for the "vocal booth" it's a 10' x 9' x 8' room with a duvet pinned to the wall 1 foot behind the mic, another duvet attached to mic stands 5 foot in front of the mic and another duvet on a clothes rail to one side of the mic to create a roughly 6' x 7' duvet enclosure.

This way I can also use the room for its intended purpose (a bedroom) with a 15 minute conversion to remove the hanging duvets, microphone, headphones, cables, stands, etc. and re-assemble the bed!

As for my mic cables they're whatever I got thrown in free when I bought a mic or anything else at my local music shop. I don't think I've ever had to specifically buy any XLR cables!

Pete.
 
Pete,

I will reply more later, but that was the best advice I think I have ever been given!

Thank you so much for sharing with me those tips.
A question

1. What threshold did you use on your compression?

The reverb always confuses me on faster songs. What do they do? It sounds like they use none, but I know they do. So confusing...anyways. Thank you SOO SOO MUCH!!!

ben
 
The threshold I used for the compression is irrelevant because it depends on the level of the original signal and so would only apply to that recording.

For example - if one vocal track peaked at -12dB and another at -1dB and I used compression with a threshold of -10dB on both, then one track would be compressed and the other wouldn't although I used the same compression settings. To get the same amount of compression on both tracks you have to set the threshold appropriately so that you get the same amount of gain reduction on both tracks.

The most important thing is to use your ears to guide you as to how to set the compression for a particular vocal. With the vocal solo'd you should be able to hear the difference when you adjust the different parameters of the compressor. Let your ears guide you to what is right for a song.

Yes, I forgot to mention about reverb that sounds like no reverb. Use a reverb that is not too dense or too long or too short (somewhere between 1 and 2 seconds seems to work for me). Basically something natural sounding that doesn't draw attention to itself. Different voices will suit different reverbs in different songs so you may have to try a few. When you add the reverb to the vocal in the mix gradually increase the level of the reverb until you can start to hear it, then take the reverb level down by a few dB.

If you get the right reverb then when you solo the vocal you'll be amazed by how much reverb you've got on it, but you won't notice it when it's in the mix.

The same thing applies to using distortion on a vocal. If you get it just right you'll notice increased presence in the vocal, but not the distortion.

Here's one I did many years ago on a Yamaha MD8 using a Line6 POD for vocal distortion.



Pete.
 
Pete,

Thank you so much for your valuable tips! I really am very thankful for all your help!
I really just need to experiment more, I believe.
Anyways, you have a good night and thank you so much! I have printed this out.

Ben
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top