What exactly is going on here?

[scottboyher]

Here is a small section of an article that I was following for awhile then I got lost? Can you read and translate for me?
It is from a Recording Engineer in Nashville.

One technique Niebank uses to mix vocals is to feed the lead vocal into three separate channels. One channel is pristine, the second has compression added to it, often

Bluegrass specialist Bil VornDick has worked with such artists as Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, Allison Krause & Union Station, Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas.

with an Urei 1176 or an Empirical Labs Distressor — though he's also partial to occasional use of a Dbx compressor — the third with other effects. The first is the main vocal for most of the song, but he'll use the second if the vocal gets whispery and the third if it needs beefing up at points. But it's rare that vocals get any extreme processing, EQ or otherwise. Instead, Niebank likes to use the vocal as the trigger for effects on other instruments. "It seems silly, when someone is singing a heartfelt lyric, to put electronic effects on it," he says. "But I sometimes split the vocal signal off to a pitch shifter or a Vocoder spread left and right, and then send a guitar through the effect, so that it's the instrument that plays the effect, but in such a way that it supports or offsets the vocal. It can give the vocal a neat harmonic twist without compromising the integrity of the vocal performance. It makes it contemporary and often more dramatic, but it still stays real."


http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/oct02/articles/nashville.asp

huh?

 

[giles117]

Makes perfect sense.

Track 1 is a bright track for that sheen or cutting through of the vocal whilst retaining dynamics.

Track 2 is the track that is levelled and made smooth so that when the lead "dynamic" track gets to soft, it takes up the slack.

Track 3

The effected track is the raw vocal with effects so that eq on the first track does not alter the warm chracteristic of the verb. so you have a nice meety verb throughout...

Bryan Giles

 

[scottboyher]

"But I sometimes split the vocal signal off to a pitch shifter or a Vocoder spread left and right, and then send a guitar through the effect, so that it's the instrument that plays the effect, but in such a way that it supports or offsets the vocal. It can give the vocal a neat harmonic twist without compromising the integrity of the vocal performance. It makes it contemporary and often more dramatic, but it still stays real."

This is the part that confuses me.. What is he doing here?

 

[ds21]

just sounds like one of those things that he has in his bag of tricks, to me these kinds of experimental things are what makes mixing fun! just another way to get an effect.

 

[giles117]

Yeah, just another mixing trick. He might be using it to give the vocal more depth/thickness. Who knows...

I suggest you try it. (signal path) and see what happens

 

[TexRoadkill]

Re: Re: What exactly is going on here?

This is the part that confuses me.. What is he doing here?

A vocodor takes the pitch from the instrument trigger, guitar, and applies it to the vocal. It's a pretty weird effect and it was used heavily in the 70/80's for that robot voice stuff.

EDIT-
After rereading that it's not very clear if they are using the vocal or the guitar as the trigger or effected track.

 

[Tonio]

Re: Re: What exactly is going on here?

This is the part that confuses me.. What is he doing here?

It is confusing.... maybe he's using the effect triggered by the guitar track to duck the vox into an effect? does that makes sense?

I dunno, sounds cool though

T

 

[giles117]

The language is what's confusing, There is no indication of the guitar triggering or the vocal triggering, they are using the language of "play gtr through" That is what's confusing.. What is the gtr playing? etc...

Bryan

However after reading this transcript again.

From a producers standpoint, you have the instrument, in this case gtr playing the chords the vocalist is singing to support what they are doing, that is where the effect comes into play, it adds depth/dimension to the part.

But it has to be rpoduced that way for the engineering trick to work.

Really simple. I love doing stuff like that. Vocals and a lead instrument saying the same thing.

 

[ds21]

Ok OK,

I take it this is the part in question?

-Instead, Niebank likes to use the vocal as the trigger for effects on other instruments. "It seems silly, when someone is singing a heartfelt lyric, to put electronic effects on it," he says. "But I sometimes split the vocal signal off to a pitch shifter or a Vocoder spread left and right, and then send a guitar through the effect, so that it's the instrument that plays the effect, but in such a way that it supports or offsets the vocal. It can give the vocal a neat harmonic twist without compromising the integrity of the vocal performance. It makes it contemporary and often more dramatic, but it still stays real."-


1) "likes to use the vocal as the trigger for effects on other instruments"


2) "split the vocal signal off to a pitch shifter or a Vocoder"

3) "and then send a guitar through the effect, so that it's the instrument that plays the effect"

So basically he's switching the vocal and instrument around, in for instance the Vocoder, so instead of using the instrument triggering the vocoder to make a vocal sound like a robot or whatever, the vocal is triggering the vocoder to make the instrument sound like whatever.

it is confusing though.