Vocal effects

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Effects Discussion
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Hi, I want to record my first song. What effects do you suggest I should apply to the vocals (microphone) to make it sound crisper, as if it were a real professional studio recording? what do singers usually do? do you have any optimal pre-defined settings?
thx :help:

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Voxformer works great for me, it's a complete vocal channel strip.

On my last track ("traffic", link below) I also used CamelPhat, Ohmforce Quadfrohmage and Voxengo AFDelay.

Do a search on the forum, there are a lot of threads like these.

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cptgone wrote:On my last track ("traffic", link below) I also used CamelPhat, Ohmforce Quadfrohmage and Voxengo AFDelay.
:shock: Going for the 'natural' vocal sound then???? :hihi:


Voxformer seconded btw. You dont need owt else :wink:
http://chrisamusic.bandcamp.com/
"It's square to be hip"

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Well getting a good vocal sound will depend a lot on what your recording set up is to start with - mic, pre-amp, soundcard...

FX might polish up the recording but getting a nice clean signal to begin with is essential.
Get the signal right first then add FX if necessary or desired - reverb, EQ, compression

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Fantastic performance->Good mic->good preamp->good sound card->Voxengo HarmoniEQ->Voxengo Marquis->Arts Acoustic verb. Maybe repeat. Done.

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What finger said. First, record the best signal possible, you'll need less fx later. Afterwards: compression, EQ and reverb/delay are the usual suspects to be applied to a vox recording for "polishing" (not all of them always, and often conservatively if the bare recording is good by itself... which should be :D ).

Voxformer is certainly a damn fine all-in-one vox processor, and really easy to manage for all the functionality it provides. On the free/donationware side of things, you could try the Kjaerhus classics (there's a compressor, a graphic EQ, a delay and a reverb among other things, all super easy to handle and good-to-great soundwise), the Fishfillets (nice compressor, gate and deesser), posihfopit (nice EQ), and Ambience (nice reverb). There's actually tons of other stuff available, you can easily search the kvr database and the forums for more info on anything, really, as this question has surely been asked before. Also as usual, there's no definitive "best": choose what sounds best TO YOU and/or fits YOUR knowledge and workflow better.

JeffSanders: You forgot Good Mic Placement and Good Room, you could easily spoil your otherwise superb chain by getting those two wrong... a chain is as good as its worst component, remember? :wink: :D
The mind boggles.

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JeffSanders wrote:Fantastic performance->Good mic->good preamp->good sound card->Voxengo HarmoniEQ->Voxengo Marquis->Arts Acoustic verb. Maybe repeat. Done.
gateing and de-essing is cool too...

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as for using eq would you be raising or lowering any typical frequencies. I'm starting to think that maybe an eq can add color without even changing the frequency?

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nobody mentioning Kjaerhus GAC?

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chaibuka wrote:as for using eq would you be raising or lowering any typical frequencies. I'm starting to think that maybe an eq can add color without even changing the frequency?
Coloring of the vocal usually occurs in the mic and pre-amp stages -- that's why there are $3k mics and pre-amps... ;) You can do a little more after the fact with warmers / tube emulators and whatnot, but those two first steps in the chain are really gonna determine the color of the vox.

EQing the vocal itself afterwards is gonna lead to a whole pile of mush -- it may sound good soloed, but will not sit right in the mix. Better to cut everything else at 3kHz to make a little groove for the vox to sit in.
"There is no excuse for dull, noisy, bland recordings except user error." --yep

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Juanjo wrote:
JeffSanders: You forgot Good Mic Placement and Good Room, you could easily spoil your otherwise superb chain by getting those two wrong... a chain is as good as its worst component, remember? :wink: :D
I may as well add automation of delay/reverb. And volume automation between phrases and on individual sibilant consonants.

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