I just graduated with my BA in music composition. I'm teaming up with some of my college friends and we're doing album. We can analyze a song to death in four different langauges but when it comes to recording we need some help. We've done lots of recording, but we'd like improve the quality of this CD compared to past albums.
I record vocals using a Shure KSM27. I run the analog signal though a AD/DA converter into my Mac Pro. MY QUESTION: What the hell do I do to that vocal track? Obviously I mix it and layer it as needed. But I mean on a signal processing level. What do I need to do as far as compression, EQ levels and so forth.
Some guidance on the topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
RadioWagon
Topic Tags
Comments
bwmac sure gave you some good stuff! But you also need to know
bwmac sure gave you some good stuff! But you also need to know how to use it and how much of it to use.
Whether I'm working with software or doing it with my lovely vintage LA 3's, 1176's, DBX165's, whatever. It is a rock-and-roll vocal that's fairly dynamic, I'll frequently use at least a 4: 1 to 20: 1 ratio with up to 10 to 30 DB of broadband compression. Moderate attack and release times provide nice results and you'll find that the vocal will now generally sit much better in the mix. You might find that only a little high pass filtering may be all that's needed. Really! Remember, less is more and keep it simple stupid not that your stupid but you will be if you don't keep it simple. Don't bother messing with multiband compression as I find that the software doesn't quite live up to the task of a hardware-based unit. If you want multiband compression the TC finalizer or an old Dolby A, A361 noise reduction unit will provide you with much better multiband compression.
With compression and equalization you might find that sibelence may become much more noticeable and perhaps objectionable. In those situations, the "De-Esser" settings in software or with a dedicated hardware unit, will take care of that problem. It's a compressor/limiter whose detector has a equalization circuit allowing only the frequencies between 3kHz and 6kHz into the detector. This causes the compressor/limiter to act more upon those problem frequencies and reduce the gain dynamically only on those sounds. It should not be used in place of compression but in addition to compression. But it's not always necessary. It frequently becomes necessary when judicious amounts of middle and high frequencies are boosted.
I'm suffering from chronic compression
Ms. Remy Ann David
Hmmmm, first I remove the DC Offset (read this) http://www.harmo
Hmmmm, first I remove the DC Offset (read this)
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/tips/eq_dc_offset/
Then I might normalize
http://homerecording.com/normalizing.html
here is a list on this page, of plugins that you need
Google it!
better yet this is our FREE list dont loose it
{old-link-removed}