Problem with Jarring Reverb/Compression on Vocals

  • Thread starter Thread starter fozzy1987
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fozzy1987

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Hi, I'm in the process of recording some vocals for my recordings. I'm singing into a Shure SM57 with a foam cover (close-micing from around 2-3 cm - a few pops are inevitable, but I can deal with that), straight into a Boss ME-50 effects pedal, which is then being fed directly into the input channel on my Tascam 488 MkII 8-track. The problem I have is that when I sing above a certain decibel level - and it's not much - I get a horrible jolt through the headphones (hard to describe the sound exactly, but it's as if the notes are spiking out of the reverb range, resulting in a harsh, high-pitched echo ringing out).

I picked up the effects pedal second-hand without a manual and appreciate that it's not exactly ideal for the task in hand, but I'm working on a pretty tight budget so just have to deal with it. I've tried adjusting the reverb levels, as well as the sustain and level settings within the compressor (on this latter point I'm largely clueless, so some help or advice on getting improving these settings would be hugely appreciated), but nothing seems to solve the issue. The music I'm recording is largely acoustic, jangly guitar pop - in the vein of the Go-Betweens, Felt, Girls et al - so the getting the precise amount of reverb on the vocals, as with any music, is pretty essential. Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance,

fozzy1987
 
You're plugging a low-z microphone into a high-z instrument level input on a guitar effects pedal.

That's about 99% of your problem right there.
 
Do you need to have the reverb recorded as you sing ? I have the 488 MK1 and that's the way I used to do it. Until I worked out how I could add the effects afterwards. I very rarely recorded with effects after that. I'd record the vocal or whatever, then bounce it with the effect. That way, you control exactly how much goes where and you'll not get spikes or suchlike.
 
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