help with vocals in ableton please

silverlulu · Post by **silverlulu** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:18 pm

hello!

i guess this is really a question asking, what do i do to my vocals to make them sound good?...

ok so i have been recording my vocals in cool edit pro and have now put them in to ableton so i can put effects on them to make them sound better.

my friend told me to put a gate on and also to use the audio effects/vocal effects on it as well. i have no idea what i am doing really. i am going to read up on gates. but could you guys point me in the direction of anywhere that could give me a crash course in making my vocals sound good. what kind of things do i want to be doing to my voice to make it sound professional?

i am not really looking to distort my voice or anything, just make it sound less like a raw recording and more mixed in to the music.

you can probably tell by my ramblings that i have no idea what i am on about so any advice would be welcomed. thanx !

MojoTwin2 · Post by **MojoTwin2** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:58 pm

A good microphone is the critical first step to good vocal recording. I use an AKG wide-diaphragm. Get the levels juicy but not too hot - definitely don't turn the trim up in the red.

Also, hate to mention it, but being a good vocalist is very helpful as well. I struggle with laying vocals on my tracks but when I let my wife sing it's like, cripes, oy, why even try????

You can teach yourself to be a good singer but natural talent helps. I'm assuming that you are a good singer.

If I get a good level on the mic and a good singer is singing, really the only thing I use on the vocals is reverb. I like that room-y sound that the Ableton reverb provides. I'll ocasionally use the EQ 8 to smooth down the high end on her vocals but that's not often necessary.

I used to use compression but discovered that if you just bring the instrument levels down the vocals sound fine.

Hope that helped a little.

silverlulu · Post by **silverlulu** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:01 pm

thanks... yeah my voice is fine i think but i am really talking about going from a recording with back ground noise, sound pops, hissing, un wanted breathing noise etc... to a demo worthy situation.

what should i be looking to do to my vocals?

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:01 pm

Multiple takes spread out over the stereo field.

silverlulu · Post by **silverlulu** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:10 pm

sorry but i don't understand what that means. i want to know what kind of things i do to the waveform, like what frequencies to take out and what effects to add on etc...

andrewbrewer · Post by **andrewbrewer** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:19 pm

this technique works well for me, but much of this technique is about compensating for my shitty mic (radioshack!)

1. i don't use the gate. i have tried and tried, but i find i get a more natural feel by actually drawing in volume clip-envelopes to mute the noise during silent parts. this gives me control over fades. i also draw in evelopes to pull back pops if there are only a few here and there.

2. EQ. the only EQ i apply is a low-cut. I use EQ-8, just one EQ-point set to low-cut. I mess with the Q and frequency until I like what I hear. There are no hard rules here. a lower Q sounds more natural, but you don't get as much of a frequency cut. you kind of have to set this alone, and while listening to the entire mix. sometimes i am still messing wiith the setting before mix-down.

3. compression. here there really are no rules, but I always use some compression on the vocal part. sometimes I start with a preset, and if it sounds good I stick with it.

4. reverb. again, just what sounds good. BUT more importantly, adjust the reverb until you like what you hear, THEN adjust the dry/wet so that the signal has half as much reverb as you started with. you want it to almost sound as if there is no reverb.

this is my vanilla vocal processing, used on every vocal track. i've always felt my approch was luddite and "ghetto" but my friends say its "totally hollywood" so take that for what it's worth.

silverlulu · Post by **silverlulu** » Thu May 08, 2008 1:49 pm

thanks andrew that is really really helpful!

vanilla is looking pretty tasty right now!

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:56 pm

Multiple takes as in record the vocal part several times and then pan those parts differently. It is called ear candy. It is what gives vocals or any instrument a fat full sound.

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:57 pm

A tool to see how your stuff is laying in the stereo field.

http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Pr ... copeMulti/

silverlulu · Post by **silverlulu** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:38 pm

ah wow thanks moody that is a great tip! thanks for the link as well

really helpful!

darkcatt · Post by **darkcatt** » Thu May 08, 2008 6:26 pm

what kind of eqiuipment are you using? Where are you recording?

Khazul · Post by **Khazul** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:00 pm

I think the problem here is 'how to process vocals?'...

The answer is learn about all your plugins and what they are good for and how to use them effectively in mixing. There is no magic forula for processing vocals are anything else that matter.

Better if you say what you aint happy with (specifically) and then maybe folks can suggest ways of using specific plugins and mix hacks etc to deal with it.

darkcatt · Post by **darkcatt** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:49 pm

the best resource i have found for recording and not paying ungodly amounts of cash is here

http://tweakheadz.com/

Tweak is the SH!T

SuperBassMexican · Post by **SuperBassMexican** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:32 pm

Lock yourself in the closet and then record so there's no room for any space. Then process vocals

Mic
Preamp
Compressor
then computer

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Fri May 09, 2008 2:27 pm

SuperBassMexican wrote:Lock yourself in the closet and then record so there's no room for any space. Then process vocals

Mic
Preamp
Compressor
then computer

or in the bathroom..... and some people prefer to compress the audio after it makes it to the box allowing for more options and flexibility. Although, some vocalist need to have a compressor or gate on the input signal.