Reverb and delay tips for vocals?

[KillingMachine]

Hello everybody
I wonder if anybody could share some tips on setting reverb and/or delay for vocals.
How do you guys set them up so that the vocals sit nicely in the mix without sounding "out of the mix" (that's usually my problem, the vocals seem to be "outside" of the music). What plugins work well with you ? What type of reverb (plate or whatever), what kind of rough settings ? Do you set a delay as well? Which settings?
Thanks for your answer :hotjump:

 

[SymbolicSV]

hi , i'm not a pro but i always try diferents kinds of reverbs ,until i can find something usable in the mix , every voice is diferent so a try error won`t hurt no one..
btw i used to have your problem (vocals outside ) try this plug ing http://www.antarestech.com/products/tube.html , the mic modeler is good option too http://www.antarestech.com/products/amm.html they work for me ¡¡

 

[Ermz]

I like to put a nice natural, small-medium room verb on the vocals. Nothing outlandishly spacey unless the actual vocal/song demands it. I think it's better to have a subconscious room sound as opposed to a blatantly obvious one. If there is a big dynamic range from soft singing to screaming vocals, I like to crank the reverb alot during the contrasting screaming parts to add a feeling of power and space.

I think I'd use delay quite sparingly... normally just automate it or ride the aux knob to give a wide delay punch on climatic moments.

 

[LynchpiN]

I tend to use an minimal amount of short reverb and some delay (a tiny tiny little bit) when suited to the genre/singer. Automate them to your taste - I like to add more reverb and/or delay in long notes/growls to make them sound more consistant. You may like to do some experiments with chorus, too.
It's also a good idea to dub the vocals when possible.
I often use Antares Mic Mod (when I record with shitty mics), as well as BBE Sonic Maximizer .
And a little crazy trick that works almost every time for me - try to put an multiband compressor in the end of the chain. :hotjump:
Every singer is completely different, so it's all about trial, error, and feeling.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

And a little crazy trick that works almost every time for me - try to put an multiband compressor in the end of the chain.

What are you using it for ? De-essing and de-popping ?

 

[LynchpiN]

^ Not necessarely, I usually de-ess it with an convencional de-esser. But when it doesn't work, I'll also do some scooping in the comp.

I like the multiband compressor because you have more control over the sibilances and the body of the vocal track than with just comp + EQ in my opinion. Sometimes I put it in the end of the chain to "squeeze" the effects in the voice, sounding smoother and fatter. I also tend to use it plus an regular compressor, like this:

(A bit of) Comp > FX > (Another bit of) Multiband Comp > EQ.

It's a little unusual, but works for me. And yeah, sometimes sounds like shit and I have to find another way.

 

[black sugar]

You know, sometimes I throw a C4 on a track with basically default settings and it sounds great. Like Lynchpin said, it's hit or miss.

In my experience, the more I fuck with a multi-band, the more I screw things up, so I really do try to stick very close to the default preset. It sounds great at first, but after I jack with it for a while it sounds better in bypass! Haha. Never fails.

Anyway, I mainly use it on kick or snare towards the end of the chain (pre-'verb send or bussing or whatever), and usually after some massively subtractive eq.

But I'm gonna try it on vocals now for sure!