how can I get a somewhat deep voice to sound more warm and soft

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videodrone

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Do you know of any techniques that could sumwhat help me or assist me????
 
What's your media ? if it's PC based (Like Cakey, CoolPro, SF,etc...)
start by visualizing (audiolizing?) in your mind the vocal sound you are trying to get. I have no idea what that is, or what type of music performance you are trying to capture.

but shooting in the dark, I would start with maybe some compression . some dynamics or compression processing will help smooth out the vocal to a more even professional sound.

consider doubling-up your tracks, and panning to the outside of your L,R channels. it's best if you record 2 passes, but if you're lazy copy one and offset it a bit to get a doubling effect.

I have yet to find a good sounding software reverb plugin that isn't hideously expensive, or has some obtuse engineer interface. But if you work the Cakewalk FX reverb plugins (v2 is better) you might be able to get something acceptable, if it's a subtle effect.

But if you want that professional rich deep reverb effect like Tony Bennett I'm not sure you'll find it at this pricepoint. Maybe consider an outboard rack unit ala Lexicon.
Hope it help. Put more info about your gear & recent technic...

Jaymz.
 
Im using a digital recorder, I only have onbard compressors, what about layering tracks and using a chorus pedal, and then add some reverb,
 
try double tracking it, and having one track singing it regular and the other track singing it with a really breathy soft vocal sound, mix the main track (regular singing) up the center and pan the other slightly off to either side.
 
What mic and preamp are you using? What other ones have you tried?
 
choke up close on the mic and use a whispery tone.

listen to some Luther Vandross and you'll see what I mean.

If you want for it to be throaty then place the mic below your mouth and aim it up.

If you want it to be more airy, place the mic above your mouth and aim it down.

make sure the singer does not point his head up/down to reach for the microphone. if the singer can't prevent reaching turn the lights out (just crack the door slightly if the big bastard is afraid of the dark). it also helps the singer get into his own head and really think about the lyrics that he is singing.

sometimes the answer is to record it the way you want it rather than trying to process it after the fact.

adding chorus and reverb isn't going to make the vocal more warm. don't use effects for warmth. effects are for putting your sound into a space. that space may accentuate the warmth, but the warmth has to be there in order to be effected.
 
At the risk of sounding flippant, the BEST way is to have the
singer themselves sound sound more soft and warm, rather than
rehashing the performance via equipment.
Unless you can't lure them back for a re-take...

Chris
 
i think EQ is a big thing isn't it? I thought that rolling of the lower frequencies is key, so that its not too boomy and doesn't sound out of place in the mix. But then again i've also heard that a lof of the male voice is in the low midrange, 250 kinda hz. So be carefuly!
Roll off 100 and below?
 
Some ways of doing this:

- Using a preamp that has a crappy high-end. Preamps that claim to have "tube" sounds usually has this. Art Tube MP is a good example.

- Using an SM57 mic, which has similar characteristics.

- Have the mouth closer to the mic emphasises the bottom on many mics (called proximity effect).

- A slight filtering, either lowering the highs somewhat or emphasizing the low/mid. You probably need some sweepable filters to do this.

- Compression. Fiddle around and see what you can do.

A phaser or double tracking will also soften the sound, but I wouldn't say it makes it sound warmer. Just softer. It will also muddle it up.
 
I gotta agree on regebro's suggestion to use an sm57 - or sm58. The singer in my band has a deep low voice. I've got tracks of him from a professional studio where he's singing through some fancy condensor. I use an sm58 on his vocals at home. All the other pro recorded tracks sound much better than mine but the sm58 on his vocals is much better - warm and soft. On anybody else I use a condensor.

I'd roll of a lot of the lows too.
 
cool thanks guys, ill definantly give those suggestions a try!
 
"how can I get a somewhat deep voice to sound more warm and soft"

Meat tenderizer and a microwave. Works every time!

-Jett
 
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