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Posted by rafale on Mar-03-2005 12:40:

making cool vocals

i'm thinking of using a vocal sample in one of my productions..
what software is good to use if i want to add fx n stuff n just down right modify the crappy vocal sample i've got?

Posted by Derivative on Mar-03-2005 14:09:

if you have shit vocals then no amount of FX will make them any more than shit vocals.

for example.

if you have this sample of a soul vocalist singing 'OOOOOOOOOOOOH BABEH IM DYIN''

then you can dress it in the best fucking reverb in the world, with the best motherfucking slapback delay and have it processed by the best studio engineer in the world.

but the bottom line is, you have a turd of a vocalist singing absolute pap. but its just produced really well.

if the samples are produced shit. then you can dress it up in amazing effects and treat it with post processing but depending on the actual quality of the wav file (please god dont say its a low bitrate mp3), it may or may not be savable. there are many cheapo freebie vocals i dled from breakbeat paradise which i consider unusable for the purposes of writing songs with because the bitrate is too low. theres too much hiss and they more often than not sound muffled. you got next to no headroom out of them so they distort real easy. and they just plain sound rubbish.

if you wanna try though, add a touch of SIR reverb (free) using the lexicon PCM91 hall impulse responses from noisevault.com. thats an amazing reverb. maybe a touch of your native delay and a little EQ so it sits better in the mix. other than that i dont really know what else to add.

Posted by MessiahProject on Mar-03-2005 22:42:

Well I thought i had heard everything until the other day when I recorded my own voice singing, and stuck the sample through Cubase and the Voice Machine Processor - added shit loads of delay and hey presto! I sounded just like a woman!! Haha my girlfriend still doesnt believe its me! So it just goes to show you Can make something out of nothing with the right effects.

Oh, by the way, does anyone know of a free vocoder/ Vocal synthesizer effects I can download to add 'The Cher' sound on some of my vocals?

MP

Posted by RIPassion on Mar-03-2005 23:46:

Posted by Derivative on Mar-04-2005 00:34:

quote:
NOBODY ANSWER THAT. I HATE that sound.

sorry for what im about to say...

quote:
Oh, by the way, does anyone know of a free vocoder/ Vocal synthesizer effects I can download to add 'The Cher' sound on some of my vocals?

i can do one better and tell you the exact plugin that made that effect: antares auto-tune. theres a time limited demo on their site. i think its on version 4.15 now.

although RIPassion is kind of along the lines i have with this. that effect sounds bollocks. and its sooooo overbaked in cheesy dance music it really doesnt need another person cooking it some more.

Posted by rafale on Mar-07-2005 14:48:

yeah i tried it just using soundforge.. add shit loads of effects and it does work. Just that the sample has gotta be quality tho..with a decent bitrate.

And btw, how do u normally record your vocals? plugging the microphone straight into the soundcard sounds obvious but I was still getting a lot of 'noise'. Wondering if there are any tips for minimising that noise besides having it done in a studio.

I've already minimized the mic boost thingy in the vol. control panel.

Posted by Derivative on Mar-07-2005 15:10:

you are getting a lot of noise because you cant plug a mic source into a line in - the signal isnt hot enough (by something like 20 or 30 dB). if you pump the volume up alot in soundforge to compensate for this you will increase the signal volume but also the noisefloor of the recording. hence it sounds hissy and noisy. with very blurry bass.

you need to run a preamp or DI box in between the mic and analogue input. that will bring the mic source up to about line level and you can record it fine.

also be aware of the acoustics of the room you are recording in.

Posted by Desty Nova on Mar-08-2005 03:22:

try reversing it, sometimes you can find some wierd sounds... if you don't like the vocal then why do you want to process it?

Posted by Tranc3 on Mar-08-2005 08:38:

quote:
Originally posted by MessiahProject
Oh, by the way, does anyone know of a free vocoder/ Vocal synthesizer effects I can download to add 'The Cher' sound on some of my vocals?

MP

Although it sounds like a vocoder, I remember reading somewhere that Cher gets nervous nowadays about doing live acts because so much of her stuff relies on digital processing....then they talked to the studio heads who said they used Antares' Auto-Tune to create that effect.

About the vocoder through...
http://www.sinte-virtual.com/evmsynths/free.htm