KVR Audio

ford442 · Post by **ford442** » Wed May 18, 2005 9:45 am

hi,
i am just now workin on the first song that i'm going to sing on..

i have written a couple cds worth of stuff so far, but have been too shy and stuff to put my voice on anything..
but now i'm trying and i thought i would see what kind of advice you guys might have - like what effects to use on vocals..? i have a Powercore Element which came with some reverbs and chorous and probly a compressor.. i don't understand what a compressor is still actually.. i also have the Virus powercore plugin which can take in audio.. has a vocoder too, which i understand about 0% as well..
i don't have a whole lot of regular VST effects beyond that, but i have pretty much all the basic types..
besides effects - any tips on how to create my tracks? vocal techniques? i enjoy those..
the past couple days i have been recording pretty much one phrase of lyrics at a go.. i think once i have it all recorded the way i'm doing i'll go back and record a couple takes right through with these originals as reference to keep on pitch and stuff..

while i'm posting i'll ask - is it normal for Cubase SX 2.2 to screw up when you're recording small clips of audio like this? what it's doing to me is i'll record to a segment that i have looped and as soon as i stop recording it moves the audio forward a couple full seconds untill it's wrapped with the end at the beginning of the loop..... i havent had any trouble with any version of cubase and recording audio before - but i am always recording multiple minutes at one time.. but here i have to just re-record again and again until i hit the record-enable or stop or record buttons in a sequence that it likes or something otherwise it shifts the audio...

thanks a lot! sorry for the long post, but this is important to me..

bluelife · Post by **bluelife** » Wed May 18, 2005 10:40 am

I use just a compressor, sometimes some EQ, sometimes a tiny bit of reverb or delay.
Get the input chain right and sing well and you don't have to do much; the old saying you can't polish a turd may apply here.

A compressor, in easy terms, irons outs peaks and boosts low input so you get a more "even" signal.
You don't need to compress when recording (unless you have a whispering/shouting situation); because you can't remove it afterwards.

Always use evrythin subtltly and you shoud get could results. When starting out, lots of people tend to overdo things...

The basic keys to recording are; good signal, play/sing well, pan, compress and EQ - make as little use of reverb as possible; but you can use it to send something to the "back" of a mix.

BTW; it's always good to record the vocals all the way through again and again; strangely, the first or second take are generally the best, but you can cut parts from the other takes too. I normally do about 3 takes.
bye

blue

ford442 · Post by **ford442** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:05 am

cool..! thanks very much!!
by 'input chain' i'm guessing he means like preamps and things..? i just have a mixer..
and what about panning? i know it's good to keep drums and basslines centered.. does this also apply to vocals? lol.. i was trying to boost the gain on my mixer the other night, but it's dark in here and i had hold of the pan knob.. so now part of my track will be panned hard..

bluelife · Post by **bluelife** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:10 am

Yes, I meant mike and preamp.
Vocals should be recorded in mono, not stereo.
In fact, nearly all instruments are recorded mono, except synths, pianos, chors, overheads for drums and sometimes guitars.

With panning etc. above I was thinking about the mix stage, not the recording stage.

hope it helps.

blue

origami · Post by **origami** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:11 am

Well I think it depends a lot on your style and even on each particular song.

The voice, like any other instrument, may transmit different emotions. Not only in the way of singing, but also in the way it sounds.

Sometimes you can sing a song just with a little reverb and nothing else.
Other times you may want to add it 10, 20 effects. why not? (flangers, delays, filters, and weirder effects are there for you to experiment with.)
It all depends on your intentions and emotions you want to convey.

ford442 · Post by **ford442** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:23 am

uh huh.. i have an ok XLR mic now.. better than this crappy Radio Shack one anyhow..
mono you say!?! ok.. well i'll change that first thing tomorrow..
i'll bet it is tomorrow for you guys.. which means it's my birthday!! YAY!!

my first voice recording :-)