johnflem@aol.com
Junior Member posted 11-20-2001 06:39 PM
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You are probably doing too much....
If you are De-Essing too heavily, you cutting out alot of High End Presence.
Then you are running Denoiser...this cuts our MORE High End. Denoiser is more of tool for Fixing Damaged recordings as opposed to something that you would use all the time.

The BBE would just be adding back high end and noise that you cut out with the first two plugs.

If you are getting a good recorded signal...then you should just have a nice Compressor with LIGHT De-Essing. Then running a good sounding EQ to adjust the High End to the sound of the rest of the track.
jmp

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czeka
Member posted 11-20-2001 08:41 PM
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That advice is gold.
It took me forever to realise (especially on vocals) that less is more.

if your recording is good then you shouldnt have to do much to make it sound good (unless you want crazy sounding stuff)

go with your ears and the rest will follow.

czeka

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czek m8

Why post the same question on two different forums? You seem to know something about audio engineering but you're taking it too far!!! Ease back on the addition of too many dynamic processors on the recording.... :roll:

lol, i'm tryin to get as much knowledge to get dis ish right b/c i start the album soon, thx though

Generally you should compress the vocals so that you get even levels when going into louder passages..but you should also learn mic techniques..very very crucial to getting a better recording and a better sound without having to use too many dynamics processors or effects.
Couple of tips..
One: Have the mic angle down to the vocalist..slight angle, not too drastic..pop filter and have the singer get around 8 inches back from them mic. This way the diaphraghm is getting a natural compression of the air being pushed from the singer..instead of the diaphraghm being slammed straight on it the angled position will give it a smoother attack and presence.
Two: Compression...dont over do it..remember this..if you record something to tape/disk(saying both to be on the safe side here folks!!) with effects and you realize during the mixdown it's too wet or you cant do what you want because it has the wrong effect on it..so you want to make it as dry as possible for mixing purposes! Compression should be used very minimally.
Try and get the ludest signal into Nuendo as possible without clipping the LED's in the mixer channel..That's what I've discovered working with Nuendo...
Well...the Opus Factor has set in so I must be on my way!! :D
Opus

Thx fo taking the time to reply, I really wanna learn and just need someone to answer my ?'s. Ok, on the last mix I did, I tried to keep the inputs into Nuendo near the green, I did an ok job, I then normalized all the vocals under Process in Nuendo, then I compressed with Waves C1, then I use the Waves Q10 to eq it fo low noise. I wanted to use the L1 maximizer to end the process and boost the vocals but Nuendo ate my whole hard drive and I couldn't. This sound like the right thing to do?

Originally posted by Jerrell Brown:
I really wanna learn and just need someone to answer my ?'s.
That sounds a bit argumentative to me... If you feel your questions haven't already been answered, read on. Otherwise, I apologize for being off base, and take this with a grain of salt.

Your first question was
am i going in the right direction to getting a "clear vocal"?
In case you missed it, the answer was NO. Sorry if that's not the answer you wanted to hear, but it's the truth. The more crap you put across the vocal path, the less chance you have of a "clear vocal" coming out the opposite end.

Should I use BBE Sonic Maximizer to boost the vocal?
Again, the answer is NO. See explaination above.

Also wut about the otha plugins, wut are some good settings for compression and de essing, etc
If you missed it, Opus told you the answer to that one - allow me to paraphrase, "as little as possible".

And if there are any other plugins which would help me get the best sounding vocals I can get, let me know
The answer to that was "record the best sounding vocals you can". I know, it's not a plug-in, but from what you've told us, it does seem to be the one thing you need to get the most.

Ok, on the last mix I did, I tried to keep the inputs into Nuendo near the green, I did an ok job, I then normalized all the vocals under Process in Nuendo, then I compressed with Waves C1, then I use the Waves Q10 to eq it fo low noise.
Stop right there. Was there noise on the recording to begin with? If so, why didn't you re-record the vocal? And if you were stuck with that recording, it would seem more beneficial to use broadband noise reduction or gating on the track than an eq. The eq will just lop off all the high frequencies, killing the "clarity" of your vocal track. If there wasn't noise until you put the c1 across the track, you need to examine what the c1 is doing. Could be you're over-compressing, and raising the noise floor of the track instead of just leveling out the performance. That can be a cool effect, but you will need a very clean recording to begin with and generous heaps of gating for noise in-between the words/phrases.

I wanted to use the L1 maximizer to end the process and boost the vocals but Nuendo ate my whole hard drive and I couldn't. This sound like the right thing to do?
It is only the right thing to do if it yields you the sound you desire. I don't usually put any limiters across vocals, but that doesn't mean I won't do it for an effect sometimes. But that isn't to get a "clear vocal" sound either, is it? Slamming the vocal all the way up with a limiter is a very un-clear and un-natural sounding effect. This is not what you said you're going for, so it's kinda confusing to tell us now that you're doing this.

I know, it's so tempting to reach for an eq or compressor when you first start out. The reviews and descriptions (not to mention the flashy names themselves) of the plugs don't make it any easier. They all claim to restore clarity, depth, vitality, flavor, color, guts, warmth, coolness, vigour, whateva.... It's all shit. Don't listen to the claims, listen to the music. Use your ears. Listen to the vocal without eq, then with. Did it really get "better"? Does the vocal really need it? Does it need compression? If you approach it this way, you won't need to ask any of us (who haven't heard the track you're working with!) what the right thing to do is. Because you'll already know the answer for yourself. Let your ears tell you. Trust them.

Hope that helps.

Ang is right on with his comments but one other thing I might want to add it DONT NORMALIZE THE VOCAL!!! normalizing will bring the everything to one level and then when you limit or compress it you tend to lose more quality of the sound due to over "squashing" it!!!
It takes time and practice but once you get it down it's relatively easy..try recording a plain vocal with no dynamics or effects applied to it..then add just a tiny bit of reverb and a compressor..set the compressor to a threshold where it just compresses it on the loudest part..also try the ratio at a low level around 2:1 then adjust for better performance.
Opus