vocals to sound like a fuzzy radio?

[kanga]

hi folks,
just wondering what frequencies need to be manipulated to get vocals to sound like they're coming out of a fuzzy little radio, anyone any experience of this?

i'm using protools le so it's been really awkward trying to work it out in the mix but i've just today bought a 31band graphic eq...

Seán.

 

[Todzilla]

I've had great success using a carbon particle mic that I yanked out of an old telephone. I wired it up, put it through a preamp. It hummed mercilessly, but I just notched out the hum with a parameteric and went with it. It sounds great/awful!!

Check it out on the third verse of the song "Life on Earth." (

).

You can overuse it really quickly, but it sounds so much better than hideously notched EQ on decent equipment.

Good Luck!

 

[ntnguitarist3]

u could also try a free plug in called izotope vinyl, that should prob do the jobs

 

[Todzilla]

Yeah, but then you don't get to smash an old phone.

 

[Parker Lewis]

tape folks...

I've been playing around with this sound lately as well....my best result has been to use a sure green bullet (520) and plug it in through a guitar amp (in my case it's an old marshall that's crackles quite a bit found on a garage sale). I then mic the amp and add some compression at mixdown.

I used this to fill out a song that was just voice and ukulele, I recorded to vocal tracks with this method panning one hard left and one hard right and it seemed to fill up nicely.

 

[johnsuitcase]

You can get a sound along those lines by reamping the vocal track through a small practice amp with the distortion cranked up a bit, and the bass and highs rolled of. Mike it from a few feet back, playing with the placement until you hear what you're looking for.

I've heard of people using a DI box in reverse to reamp a signal, though I've just used the output from my motu828, and adjusted the levels accordingly.

 

[Layla Nahar]

I
Check it out on the third verse of the song "Life on Earth." (

).

reminds me of XTC and thomas dolby

 

[strat0tele]

Cut all frequencys except treble. Use a little distortion

 

[gtrman_66]

Yeah, but then you don't get to smash an old phone.

YEAH!!! Smash it, break it, break it!!!!!!!!

 

[Dogman]

YEAH!!! Smash it, break it, break it!!!!!!!!

Way cool image dude. Just too cool.

 

[gtrman_66]

Way cool image dude. Just too cool.

 

[hasbeen]

reminds me of XTC and thomas dolby

I was thinking the same thing! And a bit of Pet Sounds thrown in there as well.

Really interesting style you have there Todzilla. Out of curiosity I checked your website as well. A verrry iinnnteresting monnstterr!

I aim to check some more of your music as soon as I have time.

 

[Roch]

Toys

I have used my kids fisher-price casette player with sing-along mic. Hold speaker up to mic and sing into toy mic. If you crank it up, and can stand the noise, the end result is crazy.

Roch

 

[kanga]

i've tried the crap amp technique

i've tried the crap amp technique, but there's too much feedback in the end, too much hum from the amp..., i want it to sound more like elliott smith/iron and wine, lofi, and surely you'd be CUTTING all the treble, not boosting it?

i have a 31band behringer eq, an fmr rnc compressor and m-audio dmp3 preamp all running into protools le... surely there's a hifi way to get a lofi sound with a high quality result?

 

[GamezBond]

why not solder an actual telephone or something and make it so it has a 1/4 output or soemthin?

 

[Brightside]

I've had a decent result doing this:
Roll off lows & highs
Boost somewhere around 1-2K (to taste)
Add a little distortion
Compress

Sweep the eq & experiment with the bandwidth & you should find something you're happy with.

Scott

 

[Nick The Man]

I've had great success using a carbon particle mic that I yanked out of an old telephone. I wired it up, put it through a preamp. It hummed mercilessly, but I just notched out the hum with a parameteric and went with it. It sounds great/awful!!

Check it out on the third verse of the song "Life on Earth." (

).

You can overuse it really quickly, but it sounds so much better than hideously notched EQ on decent equipment.

Good Luck!

did you record that yourself? its perfect

 

[ecktronic]

Put the vocals through a smallish amp maybe a 1x12. and record the amp with an sm57 and sm58. You could also record the vocals normaly and mix the two together. Lots of possibility for different great sounding vocals.

 

[up-fiddler]

You can get a sound along those lines by reamping the vocal track through a small practice amp with the distortion cranked up a bit, and the bass and highs rolled of.

Try miking the neighbor's dog when he's asleep and mixing it in with the vocals.Should give them a bit more bite. Dave Morehouse