mixing heavy vocals?

[hsinn3r]

first of all this forum rocks andy is an icon (and that is a good thing

so, i'm trying to get a the haunted sound with the vocals, kinda like what marco aro sounded like... ok, tight compression, a tiny-weenie bit of delay, but other than that what? a chorus or a bit of distortion maybe? what kind? i'm sad to say that i have never used a chorus before... any help???

 

[azzxaa]

dub the vocals and have the dub maybe 6db below the first, to get mor punch in it. I use C4, and Rvox for compress,Rdesser, and a eq last

 

[hsinn3r]

hm, thx for the tip, i have many takes, so i'll try layering a few... what about a chorus, any suggestions?
thx

 

[TheStoryteller]

No chorus. Never ever ever use chorus.

Really hard compression, and then a little bit more. Experiment with a tiny bit of distortion if needed, to make the vocals sound more "In your face". Pan your dubs.

 

[greyskull]

normally 1176 or ssl the shit out of the vocals, then a few cuts here and there,
delay, plate verb, and blend in a snasamped copy if you want

 

[Daunt]

For distortion I recommend the TbT TLs Saturated Driver. It's a free VST plugin. Very good on vocals, not fizzy at all!

http://hem.bredband.net/tbtaudio/

 

[ArtGarceau]

I really dig the Audio Damage Fuzz Plus on vocals. And it's free! I've also tried the Massey THC which ruled, but I haven't bought it yet so I can't save my settings.

 

[Exocaster]

a bit of distortion maybe? what kind?

It's been a while since I've listened to that record, but The Haunted Made Me Do It has a pretty significant amount of distortion on the vocals.

As for what to use- whatever you have that sounds best to you. A lot of people like the Sansamp for vocal dirt; you can try a guitar stompbox, clipping the mic pre, Pod, blasting the vocal track through a guitar amp and micing that, plugins, whatever works. I know a guy who uses a megaphone for dirt on his vocals. There's really no set standard.

 

[ffaudio]

What kind of delay are you guys using? I've tried doing delay on the vocals but it's always too effects-y. Either that or I have to turn the fader to like -14 to make it not so.

Also what kind of settings? Are you using it inline or are you using a send to the delay?

I'm having a hard time getting the vocals audible, but buried enough to not sound like a pop song. I'm using a UAD-1 1176 for compressing and I'm getting a lot, like -10db or so. You guys are saying compress it like hell then do some more. Are we talking more than that?

I have some songs posted in the feedback forum if anybody wants to check them out.

 

[Amadeus79]

Also what kind of settings? Are you using it inline or are you using a send to the delay?

There are no rules, but effects, like reverb and delay are most often used as sends. Try using a stereo delay on the lead vocals.

 

[metalkingdom]

Instead of using a chorus, try a pitchshifter with +9 cents on one side (L) and -9 cents on the other side (R)...this will give you the coolness of a chorus without the phasey stuff.

-10db is fine on the 1176. Go even more if you feel the need. Medium fast attack and fast release is a good starting point.

Use tempo based delays according to your song's bpm. I sometimes pan the returns hard left and right and set one of them 10-20 ms different than the other. You can also do the Elvis delay with around 110ms for just about anything. Turn it down so it's more felt than heard.

 

[ArtGarceau]

The main thing I try to avoid is compressing to the point that you can hear the compressor working. Waves SSL is really good at heavy compression without pumping the vocal.

 

[Zombietakeover]

yeah im a big fan of the ssl on the vocals

 

[KeithRT99]

la2a here.

 

[metalkingdom]

Even though I have them I've never used the Waves SSL plugs on vox - I have a Duende - but, just like the real SSL comps, I don't use it as my main vox compressor. Too gritty...

The R-Comp is pretty much untouchable for plugin vocal compression.

 

[metalkingdom]

la2a here.

No attack and release controls = not ideal for vox IMO.

 

[TheDude]

metalkingdom said: "The R-Comp is pretty much untouchable for plugin vocal compression."

And then metalkingdom said to the KeithRT99 comment 'bout the la2a: "No attack and release controls = not ideal for vox IMO."

Soon he'll say: I know, i was drunk

Test whatever you have to make it sound clear, upfront and like the one in the front of the band.

 

[Ermz]

Thanks metalkingdom for that delay returns tip. I've always wanted my main vocal delays not to be centered, because they sound really small, but I'll grab the Nuendo DoubleDelay, sync one side up to the tempo, then shift the other side a few ms forward or back.

My main vocal chain has been Waves De-esser > Waves Rcomp > Waves Q EQ.

That will let you slot the vocal into the mix in terms of level and frequency. When it comes to depth and actually slotting them into the soundstage, you use verb and subtle (or not so subtle) delays.

I've never had much success in using distorted vocal sounds, but I may try making a vocal copy and running it through GuitarSuite or something and seeing how that comes up.

 

[metalkingdom]

Soon he'll say: I know, i was drunk

Don't hate. :Smug:

 

[TheDude]

Absolutely no hate, I promise