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#38264 - 01/03/01 09:22 PM Vocal performance effects
Anonymous
Unregistered


I would greatly value your knowledge in the area of vocal effects for live performing or "home recording". I am a frustrated wanna -be singer with some wonderful sounds and some that I wish I didn't hear from my voice. I know nothing of any technical equipment and have little budget.
If you were to direct someone like me to equipment in mics and effects so I could create something interesting with the goods I possess, what would they be?

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#38265 - 01/08/01 03:19 AM Re: Vocal performance effects
inocybe Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 12/13/00
Posts: 30
Loc: Belgium
You can do a lot of things to a voice but I'll try to put all devices in order of importance.

1. Mic (+plop screen) (I'm not an expert in this comparment and it's very important for vocals, seek some help with persons who know.)

2. Reverb: smooths out the voice, don't overdo it.

3. Compressor: Some compression and a noise gate will make your recordings sound better.

4.De-esser, or Parametric EQ to get rif of the sssssssssssssssszzzzzzzzzz.

Some other, but not necesairry items: Vocoders (for those Robot type things and sounds à la underworld), Pitch shifters (those high voices and looow voices (daft punk ' teachers')), Auto-tune (to sound in tune if ya can't sing in tune (anything by the 'spicegirls')), vocal distortion, delays, flangers, ....etc...

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#38266 - 01/26/01 11:40 AM Re: Vocal performance effects
Leon Offline
Member

Registered: 04/14/99
Posts: 585
Loc: British Columbia
To echo inocybe...Reverb is okay but too often it is overdone. A good, and generally inexpensive delay unit can give you an excellent presense. Depending on what you're using as a recording unit, some have great on-board effects. I can't speak for the computer based systems as I don't use them. I find it's too easy to be lulled into a sense of false authenticity. Again, not knowing what you're using, it's difficult to say. Home recording obviously is much different from live stage. Some of the digital recorders are excellent. The Korg D8 & D16, The Roland VS series, Boss. A lot of it will come down to budget of course. You mentioned some sounds you didn't care for. What kind of strange noises are you finding?? Have you developed a system of breathing exercises. It's important to properly prepare. A pop screen is a good idea. You don't have to use a top of the line mic either, but again, avoid the Radio Shack specials.
Personally, for my home studio, I'm using Beta 58, sometimes my EV457, through a Boss digital delay, and compression within my D8. Should you get yourself an effects unit / enhancer of some sort, try to find one with editable parameters as opposed to pre-sets that you have no control over and just have to accept the way they sound. The more control YOU have, the better your sound will be. You don't need a rack the size of a Marshall Stack to attain a good sound. If you've got a good contact at your favourite music store, seek them out and tell them what you're wanting to achieve. You'd be surprised, they're not all in it just for the commission. Good Luck.

[This message has been edited by Leon (edited 01-29-2001).]
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