I'm refering to the sort of vocals one hears in a lot of techno e.g. this Radio Slave, Grindhouse Dubfire mix that by the way an excellent piece of production:
http://www.myspace.com/rekid
Deep,dirty and distorted is what I'm looking for.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks.
How to create a mean distorted vocal?
How to create a mean distorted vocal?
Casio keyboard with 48k ZX Spectrum, a couple of tambourines and a triangle.
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Meef Chaloin
- Posts: 2164
- Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2005 10:09 pm
I mean more like a Darth Vader style.
Casio keyboard with 48k ZX Spectrum, a couple of tambourines and a triangle.
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Aequitas123
- Posts: 1204
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Hey, how's it going?
So, good question - I got something similar just now by first of all transposing the clip down 7 semitones, then slowing it down just a little, then put a saturator on it with soft sine waveform and soft clip on - drive according to taste, then follow up with a resonator - I found the "Munich" preset to sound quite metallic without being too Daft Punkish. Try that...
So, good question - I got something similar just now by first of all transposing the clip down 7 semitones, then slowing it down just a little, then put a saturator on it with soft sine waveform and soft clip on - drive according to taste, then follow up with a resonator - I found the "Munich" preset to sound quite metallic without being too Daft Punkish. Try that...
Creating a good sounding distorted vocal, one that still retains the character of the vocalist's voice, is quite challenging but entirely possible. The one thing to keep in mind is not to go overboard with destroying the sound, unless you really want to fuck it up to a point where the vocals are almost incomprehensible and only remotely human, like for example Control does.
Now, the different devices/plugins that are probably the best for this type of vocal manipulation are:
1) Distortion
Pretty obvious, really, and the main workhorse of the effect chain. All distortions have a different character, and sometimes chaining a couple of more transparent ones can produce better, more powerful results than just choosing one and maxing out its parameters. There are distortions, tube distortions, saturators, overdrives and all kinds of combinations of these.
2) Pitch shifter
While I personally think that just taking your vocals and shifting them down an octave is a real cheesy trick, try for example sending the vocals out to two channels after all other effects are applied. The other channel has nothing, while the other has a pitch shifter set to an octave lower at a half volume or something like that, creating a heavy backing sound for the regular channel.
3) Ring modulator
Ring modulator + distortions = vocal fun time
All of the above can be found plentifully in plugin form but it may take a while to sort out the ones that are good for vocals and the ones that are of no use there.
When adding effects, always remember to check that the vocalist can still be heard so that it doesn't become just a generic distorted voice. Distortion has the capability of masking horribly off-key vocals and people with weak voices, but you'll always get better results with less effects and louder, more passionate vocal takes than a ton of effects masking a nerdy squeal.
Now, the different devices/plugins that are probably the best for this type of vocal manipulation are:
1) Distortion
Pretty obvious, really, and the main workhorse of the effect chain. All distortions have a different character, and sometimes chaining a couple of more transparent ones can produce better, more powerful results than just choosing one and maxing out its parameters. There are distortions, tube distortions, saturators, overdrives and all kinds of combinations of these.
2) Pitch shifter
While I personally think that just taking your vocals and shifting them down an octave is a real cheesy trick, try for example sending the vocals out to two channels after all other effects are applied. The other channel has nothing, while the other has a pitch shifter set to an octave lower at a half volume or something like that, creating a heavy backing sound for the regular channel.
3) Ring modulator
Ring modulator + distortions = vocal fun time
All of the above can be found plentifully in plugin form but it may take a while to sort out the ones that are good for vocals and the ones that are of no use there.
When adding effects, always remember to check that the vocalist can still be heard so that it doesn't become just a generic distorted voice. Distortion has the capability of masking horribly off-key vocals and people with weak voices, but you'll always get better results with less effects and louder, more passionate vocal takes than a ton of effects masking a nerdy squeal.