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anonymous 14 February 2005

Hey all!
My first post here so be nice...

Im currently using a K2 and the Focusrite voicemaster pro + MOTU 828 mk2 for my male vocal takes... and I've been playing around with the voicemasters compressor... mostly getting good results!

But; Can anyone here tell me what the best setup would be? I usally tweak the input gain up to 0 or more to get a good reading on the comp. I set the comps release to auto and the makeupgain to something around what the comp compress... so the signal evens out. Does this sound ok? The main problem is how much one should compress. I go for slow attack and have the comps led meter almost in the reds? Makeup +12?

Please give me your thoughts! I want that "jumping out of the monitors" fat vocal sound.

Regards, Sunhill from Norway

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Comments

anonymous Mon, 02/14/2005 - 09:52

nashville what?

I use an MK2 as well...

anyway... if you want to get a fat vocal sound that just sits on top of everything... you need to do what they do in Nashville. i know i know... it doesnt matter if your doing pop vox or whatever... but they have it right on there.

You want to crush your dynamic range. meaning, compress it alot (not an audible amount though... i mean, you dont want to hear the compressor coming on). I normally set my compressor for the fastest attack possible. Then throw on a vocal limiter. I'm guessing since your using an MK2 your using a DAW... DP? ProTool? Logic? well, if you dont have any outboard gear... use Master Works limiter (unless you have a waves bundle).

You goal it to squish the vocals so that the 'quiet' parts of your takes are still audible. You can then sit the vocals on your mix in whatever seems fit for you...
right on top (for a more pop flair) or a little under the mix... this will give the music a sence of loudness, but the vocals wont be covered up because their dynamic low's are still somewhat reasonable (due to the compression/limiting). play around with it... i think you'll be happy.

hope that helps...

anonymous Wed, 02/16/2005 - 07:14

waves plugins

well, first off... the PAZ Frequency Analyser is (in my opinion) Waves finest achivement. I use that to get out of sticky situations... and because i like to work visually as well as by sound...

as for Vox... the L1 ultramaximizer is normally on last in my chain... i also use Master Works compressor... i think it sounds good and i like how it is setup. But the Waves C-4 or 6 are money too.
as for reverb... honestly, my favorite reverbs for vocals arent in the Waves bundle... the AU's (audio units) have the most unique sounding reverb i have heard in Plug-in form... they are very diverse and just AMAZING. especially for spacial stuff...

Rvox is awesome as well... i have gotten some great stuff from that. for me, it depends on the style of vocal i'm doing...

i'll normally do an EQ, Compressor and special effects (Waves vocal doubler is amazing)... then bus that to a Vox Aux... where i will have the final and more general stuff on it... such as the L1... which all my vocal tracks would go through (as long as they are are of similar build and style). i'll normally put my reverb on last... i dont want a compressed reverb...

hit me back with thoughts;-)

anonymous Fri, 02/18/2005 - 02:08

Hey L!
Good info...and I agree with most of it 8) But I can't say that I have seen the waves vocal doubler on my plug in list? ...and I thougth I had all of them :oops: Where can I find it? And the reverbs you mention are they expensive?

I usally go for the following for vocals; K2 cardioid,
Hard compression on the focusrite VMPro, Req, then Extra comp/presence with Rvox and finally some Rverb Vocal plate. Im not satisfied with this setup, but it's a start... Want to improve reverb and compression. Do you use the C-4 for vocals recorded in mono? or on the final mix?

Thanx!
Sunhill

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