Need Vocal Production Tips

How to do this, that and the other. Share, learn, teach. How did X do that? How can I sound like Y?
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Okay, I am going back to singing lead vocals again. As you know, unless you have a really good voice, a dry recorded vocal with nothing on it sounds really flat. So what I want to compile in this thread is a list of vocal production tips ranging from simple to exotic. I will try anything to get my voice to sound cool, fat, rich, thick, whatever. I have just about every FX plugin you can think of so nothing is off the table. Hit me with your best. And maybe this thread can help other people who do vocal recordings get the most out of their less than professional voices.

Thanks.

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I've tried quite a few "doubling" effects, including Microshift, but my favorite is this preset I tweaked for Munison:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4h61fts60gg7 ... reset?dl=0

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Bodhisan wrote: Sun Dec 02, 2018 10:08 pm I've tried quite a few "doubling" effects, including Microshift, but my favorite is this preset I tweaked for Munison:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4h61fts60gg7 ... reset?dl=0
I do have MUnison but am not on AU so can't open this preset. But I can try a few things with the plugin.

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This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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A nice simple but good one is to get a sense of space in a vocal without overdoing the reverb, use a fast slapback delay with the mix set quite low, before the reverb.

Another fairly easy one is automating the level/decay etc of the reverb on the main vocal between sections of the song. When recording 'Heroes' Tony Visconti set up an elaborate set of gates that triggered different reverbs depending on how loud Bowie was singing (i.e. when he went for it..). Much easier to do with automation..not just good for reverbs either- automating eq's and delays can add life and movement too.

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Ere's another...

If your vocal isn't cutting through a mix, rather than boosting eq try instead mixing in at a low level a distorted copy -really adds presence without making the main take sound harsh.

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Wags, is this a response to the post on GS commenting on your vocals? Just wondering if that thread pushed you back into vocal territory?
"I was wondering if you'd like to try Magic Mushrooms"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"

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Mushy Mushy wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:10 pm Wags, is this a response to the post on GS commenting on your vocals? Just wondering if that thread pushed you back into vocal territory?
I had already decided that I was going to get back into singing as long as I can make the vocals sound as good as possible. As I know very little about vocal processing I figured I'd start this thread and try to get as many tips as I can.

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wagtunes wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:15 pm
Mushy Mushy wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:10 pm Wags, is this a response to the post on GS commenting on your vocals? Just wondering if that thread pushed you back into vocal territory?
I had already decided that I was going to get back into singing as long as I can make the vocals sound as good as possible. As I know very little about vocal processing I figured I'd start this thread and try to get as many tips as I can.
Ok cool, just curious given the timing of the thread.
"I was wondering if you'd like to try Magic Mushrooms"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"

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Mushy Mushy wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:17 pm
wagtunes wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:15 pm
Mushy Mushy wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:10 pm Wags, is this a response to the post on GS commenting on your vocals? Just wondering if that thread pushed you back into vocal territory?
I had already decided that I was going to get back into singing as long as I can make the vocals sound as good as possible. As I know very little about vocal processing I figured I'd start this thread and try to get as many tips as I can.
Ok cool, just curious given the timing of the thread.
If you look at the time stamps of the two posts, I started this thread at 4:18 PM yesterday. The comment made by Jay that I responded to was made 9 hours ago which would put it at around 10:30 PM.

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wagtunes wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:25 pm
Mushy Mushy wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:17 pm
wagtunes wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:15 pm
Mushy Mushy wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:10 pm Wags, is this a response to the post on GS commenting on your vocals? Just wondering if that thread pushed you back into vocal territory?
I had already decided that I was going to get back into singing as long as I can make the vocals sound as good as possible. As I know very little about vocal processing I figured I'd start this thread and try to get as many tips as I can.
Ok cool, just curious given the timing of the thread.
If you look at the time stamps of the two posts, I started this thread at 4:18 PM yesterday. The comment made by Jfay that I responded to was made 9 hours ago which would put it at around 10:30 PM.
Got it. I certainly haven't got CSI involved, just an observation. I'm straddling four time zones at the moment and KVR definitely isn't one of them.
"I was wondering if you'd like to try Magic Mushrooms"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"

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wagtunes wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:15 pmAs I know very little about vocal processing
Even with nearly 14000 posts? :wink: :neutral:
I wonder what happens if I press this button...

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ramseysounds wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:19 pm
wagtunes wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:15 pmAs I know very little about vocal processing
Even with nearly 14000 posts? :wink: :neutral:
Please explain to me what one has to do with the other. What is the correlation between typing on a keyboard and processing a vocal track?

This should be interesting.

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Not sure if you're looking into recording techniques or merely post production, but I believe a good vocal take happens before it ever hits the DAW. Having good mic discipline is an art in itself; knowing how to position your head relative to the mic while singing, knowing when to back off slightly for those louder bits or lean in for the softer bits without clipping or radically altering the timbre in an unintentional way.

Something I've noticed with people who don't sing regularly is that their lack of confidence really shows in their technique. They stay quiet, so the air doesn't really resonate all the wiggly bits in the throat that should be wiggling. The voice comes out shaky, with fluctuations in pitch and timbre that make getting a good sound much harder. And to compensate, they might lean in closer to the mic, which can cause other problems like proximity effect or excessive noise. So I think it's important to really warm up the voice properly and explore its full range of dynamics and expression the same as one might with any other wind instrument. Because that's what it is, a wind instrument. But this is getting way off topic, so tl;dr: sing from the gut, and be proud of it.
(some nice reverb in the monitor can help with confidence, even if that verb doesn't get used in the actual mix)

Play around with microphone position, too. This can have a huge impact on a recorded tone, even just moving the mic a few inches or pointing it at the right spot. Of course, there's picking the right mic for the job, too; some swear by the SM58 (though it needs a fair bit of gain from a preamp) and some swear by ribbon, some use LDC. It depends on the timbre of your voice and what you're trying to achieve. Of course, if you only have one mic to try, this point is moot, but it's still worth experimenting with mic position. Seriously, even an inch or two can make all the difference. (thats what she said? :hihi: )

Then there's the editing, meaning comping various takes into a cohesive line, dealing with breath/mouth/background noises, doing subtle edits to pitch (subtle! if it's noticeable, you done goofed, unless you're going for the "t-pain effect") and timing. The breath stuff I tend to do manually with an item volume envelope, since automated solutions (like RX) sometimes seem to let stuff slip through the cracks in my experience.

As far as actual processing? I don't know. It depends on what you're going for. A lot of people like to use a leveling amplifier (think LA-2A) on vocals. Some old-school people will tell you that mic position is everything. You won't need to EQ out proximity rumble if you mic'd well. But a lot of the EQ you'll need is going to depend on the freq response curve of the particular microphone you use (a lot of low-end condensers have a brittle top end, for example). But actual processing is going to depend a great deal on your personal taste and creative direction. The processing is going to be like any other instrument, and will depend on the context of the arrangement. I'm personally against the "hard & fast rules" type of stuff (e.g. "always hi-pass at 40hz" or whatever) and think there shouldn't be anything you really do by default because "this is how it's supposed to be done."

As for specific plugins I like on vocals: Airwindows ToTape5 and ADT. Variety of Sound ThrillseekerLA and ThrillseekerVBL. A good reverb; Orilriver is what I use, best free verb out there IMO. But some people seem to like plate algorithms for vocals, or maybe hall if you're going for a more show-stealing sound. Also, maybe try some small room with emphasis on early reflections, to get that "singing in the shower" sound.

It could be that I don't know what I'm talking about, so please don't take any of this as gospel. I'm sure there are much more experienced people who can give you advice that directly contradicts what I've said. Honestly, the best advice I can offer is this: sing your heart out, and just start experimenting.

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as funky lime says, the performance is everything.
don't be afraid to go for it! go big or go home!

also, this means having a space where this is possible. if you've got arsey neighbours, you may need to find a venue where you can let rip.


lennon would record with a reverb and double track most times.

geezer from free had the multi mic thing going on, one of which had heavier gain but was turned down, ala donks low distorted version of the vox.

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