how do you use reverb/delay on vocals?

Emdprodukt

Emdprodukt

Member of Dude Castle 69
Jun 26, 2007
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Kiel, Germany
I always find myself in trouble when it comes to reverb/delay for vocals. my vocals seem to sound "dry" in the mixes. then I start to give them some more verb and they sound like shit.

In my latest mix the vocals sit well but just sound a bit dry. just adding more reverb doesn't help at all because it's sounds like it's drowned in reverb. I don't know how to setup a proper delay for vocals too and faderwears split harmonizer guide sounds way too drastic on the vocals in my opinion.

any information, any help, please :D
 
you could try to eq the reverb bus to fit better with the dry vocal sound.

with delay it's mainly a matter of setting the delay time according to the tempo of the song, balancing fx level/feedback...you can also send the delay to the verb too and / or lowpass the delay so it sits better
 
yes, i always use aux tracks for my effects, except for any special fx.

as for how to eq the verb, there's no set rules really....try cranking the verb send level pretty high so you can hear it clearly (solo the vox btw), and play with the eq until it starts to sound like one piece basically....you want the verb to gel into the vox and make them bigger without being able to say HEY, there's reverb on there! unless for effect of course...
 
Half of the battle is carving space in the mix for the vocals to sit. Once you do this you will find you need less and less reverb and delay to make the vocals sound ambient.

Beyond that make sure to automate all of it. Ride your delay levels to pump it up on bigger punctuations then sink it back during the crux of the vocal parts. Maybe during the verses a simple subtle slapback will work, but in the choruses a bigger 1/4 note delay. Experiment with what works for the track, and always keep it musical.
 
The vocals are littlebit dry but not bad! Maybe you should raise them up just a bit?

Like Ermz said, eq the space for vocals is very important!

Always remember to make and fx buss for each verb and delay.
The split harmonizer works like a charm but dont over use it, just a bit(remember the fx buss:)

I have noticed that reverb is not the thing for metal vocals, i'm not using so much verb in the mixes, just a bit. I find myself using delays more often. I always have at least 2 main delays 1/4 and 1/8, and maybe pan them for example 50%.

You can also try a reverse reverb, that is nice way to "glue" the vocals. I don't use it so often but sometimes it works like a charm :)

-Matias
 
unlike my guitars, i like to use an analog delay (for guitars I like digital delay). I place the delay first, and palce the reverb over on top of it. During the chorus and background vocals I like to have a slight chorus in the fx. I buss all my main vocals to one bus and all the background to another bus, I don't worry about inserts, just let the whole thing be wet and control how strong I want the FX to be using the parameter settings. Delay needs to be just slightly heard in the mix, usually in most music around 600ms and with enough feedback so that what Is sang is repeated once and only one (that is audible in the mix). I like analog for this reason as the feedback has a low pass that is increased after every repeat which makes the sounds really warm and fits better. Reverb shouldn't be head in the mix but should sound farily washed out when they are solo'd, I like to have about a 1.5 sec decay with a 10K pass and I like more of an ambient theater sound moreso than a generci plate or spring reverb (which doesn't work for me so well).

Don't compare the dryness to the overall mix, compare them to how the volcals sound when you turn the delay and reveb off. If you are addding reverb and it still sound too dry, and then all of the sudden washed out, add more delay wetness instead and then bring the reverb up. Again try the delay first in the chain and then the reverb, get the delay to wherer you want it and then add the reverb for roominess to taste.

After all of that compress, 4:1 ratio with a 4ms attack and 400 ms release, -25 db theashold works well for me to even out all the volumes and brings up the ambience without being over the top.
 
Yeah your vocals are too dry and to low in volume.

try this:

Use a De-esser. after that waves r-Vox to push the vocals realy hard
so they sit in the center of the mix in a very present way.

create an AUX-Bus with some reverb on.
Put a comp AFTER the reverb.
Now fade in the AUX to the main vox.

sometimes it helps to put an eq on the Aux after the Reverb and comp and to roll of at 10-12khz.

cheers
 
Much better, I like the songs also!

Maybe the main vocals still needs some more compression or littlebit saturation.
Try Nick Crows tubedriver forexample? And for my taste there should be littlebit noticeable delay but it's just matter of taste :)
 
make sure to ride the send levels of your reverbs.
same for delays!

i think automation is the key to a pro sound, thats 3d but still somehow dry.
 
I have been doing Sends for my Fx for awhile now...Then i took some advice from joeymusicguy....He said he puts all his FX on inserts unless it's drums then he use's sends.

I tried it and it sounds Way better to me
 
There's a cool video on youtube also about using an EQ aux track to brighten up vocals as a poor man's aural exciter. I'd look it up for you but I'm in session being an asshole and checking the forum while recording vocals :)
 
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