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Exactly. Effects should be like makeup, they should enhance the beauty, but not be the beauty itself. It should be discreet. The best effects are those that you use and the singer doesn't even know that his/her voice has been enhanced. All you see is the grin on their face and you know they're thinking, wow I'm better than I thought I was. That's when you know you've done it right.

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

Why do we have so many singers that insist on having no effects, when they sing?    I don't sing in my livingroom without them.    I've had them tell me they want to hear their voice.    Nobody else wants to hear your naked voice.    So why do you?   Anyone have any answers to this question?

Don't know, i've only had 1 person request no effect in 10 years.

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I have a seperate monitor mix for the vocalist that way if they tell me to alter the effect and either turn them off or over saturate them, I just do it in the monitor and they are totally happy.  Now if they just want a little bump up or down in the effect i'll do that for them but if it really makes them sound bad then they will be the only ones to hear it.

I have my effects plugged into the mixer so I can use channels 15-16 for reverb.   I can use the faders to give me more or less reverb.    This works for 99% of the songs.    I can make you sound like the singer on the record.     I very rarely have to change the settings on the Mircoverb.   I do turn one or two knobs to certain settings to achieve special sounds or extra reverb.    I don't mess with the delay side of the settings too many times.    I keep it real simple for me and the people that worked for me.      I can't give you Cher in "Believe" but that's one song.

oops guess I got it wrong AGAIN!! My beauty is my makeup you should see me in da morning wivout




****hovers on broomstick sipping magic mushroom soup****

Morgan, reedit that post and take off the color.  I can't read a word in it.  

No offense Morgan - But I have to agree!  I really strained to see that post.

The highlight was suppose to illustrate the over use of efx on the vox.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Ok- I get it, but you still couldn't see it.

Nah you just highlight it like you are going to copy it.

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Humble apologies hope that is better

Actually gentlemen you gave me far more credit than I deserve, I am not that subtle when trying to get a point across, hell I wish I had thought of it, the real thing was I was exercising my natural curiosity and experimenting

please excuse the newbies sticky fingers, I shall sit on them from now on





****flies back to the rafters to finish magic mushroom soup****

I thought I was getting laser eye surgery for a minute.    :shock:  

ummmm further to my natural curiosity and button pushing...I was experimenting trying to send a pm and all it did was sit in my outbox what am I doing wrong?

Try sending one to me, Just click the pm button at the bottom ot this post and make sure you fill the heading before you press submit

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

It will sit in your outbox until the recipient reads it.  Then it will move to your sent box.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

yamaha emx5000-12........powerd mixer.....built in duel effects .....awesome!

On vocals I use the Art Pro Channel tube compressor and EQ along with the Lexicon MX 200 for reverb and FX.....Great combo!

Keith , Which Setting Do you usually use on your LEXICON-MX200? I Like the No. -1- setting,called BIG VOCAL VERB. I use it in combination with internal CATHEDRAL Effect on the MackieCFX. NICE,DEEP And RICH.

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Man Must Know His Limitations -Clint Eastwood

One of the best ways to learn is using FX in software like Sonar and seeing what each one does...  I noticed this thread popped up again and thought Id add another pre post.. This post gives a brief description of the plugins used to apply FX to vocals during mixing down... It might add a little more insight to applying vocal FX or even Fx in general

This is an introduction to  a few of the FX plugins used in Cakewalk Sonar that pertain mainly to vocals. Basic functions and capabilities will be discussed and most of these techniques can be applied to other softwares as well. This is not meant to be an in depth tutorial on FX, just general ideas for applying Fx to vocals. A link to the different pictorials will be provided. All the plugins have numerous presets which are shown to the right and give an indication what the plugin is used for.

Experience gained using these tecniques when mixing  gives an extra insight into setting Fx during a live show and with experimentation one can gain the knowledge in what FX does what.... As a setting is changed the result can be heard by playing back that section of the track.

 A wav file of the vocal with no or little compression can be imported and synchronized with the imported backing or music. Or the vocal can be tracked directly into sonar and I prefer to track into a single band compressor track too. Then during mix down they can mixed and optimized with the appropriate levels. This is the Sonitus Compressor which has the standard settings.

Sonitus Compressor

 For compression of freq bands the Sonitus  multiband can be used .

fx:multiband is a 5 band variable knee compressor with both normal and vintage compression modes and output limiter. This manual documents the fx:multiband controls and parameters.
The purpose of a compressor is to limit the dynamic range of music or sound. Compression will make the loud parts of the signal more quiet, resulting in a more or less even level. A multiband compressor consists of crossover filters that split the incoming audio signal into two or more frequency bands and a separate compressor for each band. fx:multiband utilizes four adjustable crossover filters that separate all incoming audio material into five bands. One of the main challenges using a multiband compressor is to isolate the specific frequencies that need work, then processing them with the compressor. As with all dynamic processing, it requires a lot time and experience to get the best results, but when used correctly, it is often what separates a great mix from a "good" one.

Sonitus 5 band Compressor



For each singer a parametric EQ can be used to tailor for certain frequencies or inadequacies. With this or live shows each singer can gradually become aquainted with and adjustments can be preset.  This is the Sonitus EQ. 1 & 2 is set for lo shelf and 5 & 6 set to hi shelf  ( all freqs below and above) 3 & 4 is set to a band and 4 is set with a higher Q for narrow bandwidth. All the nodes can be dragged left or right to adjust freq or up and down to adjust gain.

EQ


At this point it is best to bounce the vocal down to stereo to apply the rest of the FX. Although flange isnt normally used for vocals I sometimes apply just a tad to get a little tremolo and use the phaser (mod freq + delay) for chorus voices.

Flange

Reverb can be added to a vocal to give a richness to it, plus an additional track properly reverbed can be further eq'd for harmonic enrichening plus multiple Fx can be applied to each track. Delay is usually used in conjunction with reverb and applied after.

Lexicon Pantheon
Sonitus Reverb
Delay

Chorus can be applied at any point during the song but it is applied heavier during the actual chorus portion with more voices. Experiment with different types to get the best one for the singer. Another way to chorus is clone more tracks and delay them (delay plugin or just drag each track timewise) and apply flange phaser or all Fx for the effect desired.

Chorus

The spectra combines essential processing (reverb, chorus, flange, EQ, distortion) into one efficient multi-effect plug-in.
Use on multiple tracks simultaneously...

Spectra


When all the Fx and levels are balanced for optimum then all tracks are played back and the level or intensity can be adjusted on the fly for overall desired effect and  mixed down as needed.. Experimentation with all the Fx and experience will build a good knowledge of applying Fx to vocals and for that matter any instrument or track.

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