FX for vocals?

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foomangoo

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Using Cool Edit pro 2.0

I am planning on putting vocals down dry, then putting fx on em later. what are some good settings to use for a good vocal sound?

I usually like a little reverb and some delay to fill em out a tad, but I would like them to sound less "amatuerish".

Any helpful hints for vocal fx would be GREAT!
Thanks!
 
Well, if you're asking about 'good settings for vocals' then the first thing you need to know is that 'good settings for vocals' aren't generic. There are no presets. You have to experiment with each and every vocal to find out exactly what it needs so that it sounds good in the context of the song it's in. But here are some guidelines to follow:

* EQ's probably the single most important thing you'll do with the vocal (or any other track for that matter). Try running a highpass filter to get rid of all the lower end below the lowest note you sing. If you sang the song in a crummy room, try cutting a couple dBs in the 300-400 Hz range, about an octave wide. If it's a busy mix and it's hard hearing the vocal cut through all the stuff, try reserving the octave around either 4K or 5K just for vocals, and boost that no more than 2 dB. If it still needs some air, try a boost up around 10 K or 12K, but go easy on it.

* Don't compress it if you don't have to. Instead, go through the whole track zoomed in on the peaks and pull them down with a volume envelope.

* Reverb: general rule of thumb - tinker around with room size, predelay and tail until you get a sound you like. Then cut the amount of reverb you've given it it by a third to a half lol. Really.

That's a start, but keep in mind that the vocal exists IN RELATION TO everything else in the mix. If you change something in the vocal, you're probably going to have to change things in the rest of the mix, and vice versa.
 
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