Re: [linux-audio-user] How to get good vocal sound

Hi Ron thats a nice sound on the vocals there.

Talking of that heres a link for you all.

http://www.projectoverseer.biz/music/play.php?band_id=92&song_id=573&mode=song_hifi
The song will just play

Instead of me telling you what was used,
have a guess!!

I'll tell you its an Takomine with electrics built in.
into a DDX 3216 and into Ardour on 64studio

So:
1 How was it recorded?
2 What mike/type was used on the vocals

I think this was we have to losten to the track in a different light
without knowing what kit was used.

Just curious to see what you all think.

Cheers
Bob

R Parker wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>
> After a very quick listen I think your wife has a very
> nice voice. Is she ready to leaving you? Because I am
> available.
>
> Ron
>
> --- Paul Winkler <pw_lists@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
>
>
>>On Tue, Dec 06, 2005 at 08:55:20AM -0500, Brett
>>McCoy wrote:
>>
>>>I'm of the opinion that you should work on getting
>>
>>the vocals to sound
>>
>>>good dry -- before adding any effects. What are
>>
>>you using to record the
>>
>>>vocals? I recommend a good condensor mike and a
>>
>>pre-amp,
>>
>>+1000. The best investment is a good mic.
>>It doesn't have to be all that expensive if you do
>>your research.
>>I bought an MXL V67G on ebay for under $100 with
>>shock mount
>>and I've been pretty happy with the results. Google
>>for that
>>and "Harvey Gerst" and you'll know why I got it.
>>Gerst's online
>>writings are priceless for people doing recording on
>>the cheap.
>>Sure, I'd rather have a Neumann, but who has the
>>money for that?
>>Another important point about mics is that some mics
>>are better
>>suited to different voices or even different songs.
>>Try what
>>you have, there's no such thing as the one true mic.
>>
>>My preamps aren't anything special - I have a Mackie
>>1202 VLZ - it's
>>fine for now, but a little harsh in the treble. I'll
>>probably upgrade
>>that before getting any more expensive mics.
>>
>>I often compress on the way in, using an FMR RNC.
>>(But not always;
>>sometimes I leave it until later and use SC4 mono).
>>Vocals are pretty
>>tolerant of large amounts of compression, and I find
>>that having good
>>solid levels in my headphones helps me get better
>>pitch. So does having
>>some reverb in the phones. I do in-computer reverb
>>with hardware
>>monitoring by setting up a bus for the reverb and
>>setting its input to
>>the hardware input, so it doesn't go to "tape".
>>Then I listen to the
>>results without reverb and sometimes decide it
>>doesn't need any! But
>>anything that helps an unconfident singer (i.e. me)
>>get a better
>>performance is worthwhile.
>>
>>I've tried all the reverbs... freeverb, gverb, TAP
>>reverb,
>>versatile plate... I don't have a favorite yet,
>>they're all useful for
>>vocals.
>>
>>A tip for using Freeverb: It may seem a bit plain
>>and sometimes harsh
>>for vocals by itself, but you can get very good
>>sounds out of it with
>>some tricks:
>>
>>First, set the "damping" really high, that makes it
>>smoother.
>>
>>Now try adding some predelay - a simple delay plugin
>>in front of the reverb,
>>at 100% wet; try around 50 ms delay to start with -
>>that makes the
>>"room" a little bigger and more interesting. Lower
>>the delay time to make it more subtle; bump it up to
>>100 ms to make it a more obvious effect.
>>
>>Finally, try post-filtering; follow the delay/reverb
>>combo with a low
>>pass filter (the simple one-pole filter from CMT
>>will do fine); set the
>>cutoff around 5000 Hz to start with and adjust to
>>taste. Smooooth.
>>
>>Here's an example using the above freeverb recipe
>>(please don't anybody
>>make permanent links to this one as it's a rough mix
>>of stuff that we're
>>probably going to re-record due to some performance
>>flubs and some
>>too-hot levels you can hear a bit):
>>
>>
>
> http://slinkp.com/~paul/dont_get_sad_mix_20051206.mp3
>
>>
>>I played guitar and sang backups (badly), my wife
>>sang lead
>>(beautifully).
>>
>>And no, we didn't write that, it's a cover of an Ida
>>song.
>>I wish I wrote that.
>>
>>
>>Other technical notes:
>>Lots of compression (SC1) on each vocal track.
>>Maybe 6:1 ratio, attack around 30 ms, release around
>>120 ms. No EQ on
>>Abby's voice. I forget if that was the MXL V67G or
>>the MXL V57 (which I
>>sometimes like better on female voices, it has less
>>of an upper-mid
>>presence peak).
>>
>>Some 10-band EQ on my voice due to poor mic choice
>>during tracking
>>(Sennheiser 421 which is a GREAT all-purpose mic but
>>for this song I
>>found it too present and sibilant in the upper mids
>>for backing vocals).
>>
>>Which brings up another idea ... if you want a
>>brighter
>>reverb sound than I was going for in that track,
>>like super-in-your-
>>face radio pop, one problem is that voices can get
>>really sibilant.
>>TAP De-Esser can be really handy here. Put it on the
>>vocals
>>after compression, before EQ and before reverb.
>>Then you can
>>make really obnoxiously bright vocals without the
>>ssssssibilancccccce
>>tearing your head off. I don't have any recorded
>>examples of
>>this to share - yet :-)
>>
>>
>>>and use
>>>balanced XLR for the entire signal path, at least
>>
>>until where the signal
>>
>>>is going into your audio interface, where you
>>
>>probably just have RCA or
>>
>>>1/8" inputs.
>>
>>That's nice if the rest of your gear is already
>>pretty good, but
>>personally I don't worry about balancing line levels
>>at this point.
>>In my view it's a lot less important than having a
>>good mic, good
>>soundcard, and good preamp.
>>
>>--
>>
>>Paul Winkler
>>http://www.slinkp.com
>>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
             Bearmusic
             hearmymusic.co.uk <http:www.hearmymusic.co.uk>