Rock the Vox
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Doug Eisengrein
Each vocalist is unique in his or her own right, and each microphone imparts a particular color or transparency to that voice. Similarly, effects dress up vocal tracks in very specific ways. Take heed to these standard-fare effects for vocals and some suggestions for their usage.
THE BIG SQUEEZE
Two frontline effects are compression and limiting. While they are not, strictly speaking, “effects,” they are so ubiquitous with vocal recording that I treat them as such. Ask many experienced mixing and mastering engineers, and one oft-heard complaint is, “too much compression!” Particularly in this plug-in-happy era of DAWs, I strongly recommend a less-is-more approach during the tracking (recording) phase. Compress more during mixing, where it is nondestructive and can be altered at any time. Sure, many experienced engineers may wish to impart the presence and punch of their vintage Universal Audio LA-2A (www.uaudio.com), Avalon AD2044 (www.avalondesign.com) or ELI Distressor (www.empiricallabs.com) on the way in, yet my mantra is still the drier you can keep your original tracks, the more each vocalist's original tone comes through. And perhaps most importantly, you'll leave more headroom for the later mixing and mastering phases. That said, the three outboard units listed above are both classic and modern favorites. On the plug-in side, I'm big on Apple Logic Studio's built-in Multipressor (www.apple.com) and Waves Renaissance Compressor (www.waves.com).
SPACE IS THE PLACE
Arguably the first and most common thing artists and engineers do to spice-up vocals is to add reverb. Before you reach for that processor or plug-in, however, know that while in many cases it really polishes things, reverb is not a necessity for vocal tracks. Some vox are best left completely dry and very up front in the mix — though that generally requires a top-notch voice at the mic. If you're keen to add a little reverb to a vocal track, the challenge is to apply just enough to sound a bit spacious and open, yet not pepper so much that the vocals become buried, washed out or ghostly.
Although there are no hard rules, I generally stick to applying the same reverb with identical settings when there are two or more vocal tracks to keep things cohesive. To separate them in the mix, I'll use mild — or in rare cases, heavy — panning rather than varnishing them with distinctly different reverbs. On the more creative side, some groups such as Mazzy Star impart heavy reverb on vocals, which becomes part of their trademark sound. This may be the sound you're looking for in a particular project. In such an instance, it's important to think about the overall mix early on, as you will need to give the vocals and other instruments plenty of sonic space to exist. I believe minimal music works best in that vein.
A few of my favorite reverbs include almost any Lexicon outboard unit (www.lexiconpro.com), TC Electronic Mega Reverb (part of the PowerCore hardware-software bundle) and TC Electronic VSS3 Stereo Source Reverb for Pro Tools TDM (www.tcelectronic.com). Logic Studio includes several good reverbs, but its Space Designer is the sweetest. Aside from delivering a natural sound and plenty of sculpting capabilities, the superb convolution reverb can simulate some of the world's greatest spaces and can be used in stereo or surround.
Some engineers, such as rock hit producer Dave Fortman (Evanescence, Mudvayne), however, don't care for reverb on vocals. An alternative is to apply delay to vocals. A single delay that sits snugly next to the main vocal (as opposed to a drawn-out, ping-pong type) with a lower volume in the mix substitutes for reverb nicely in many cases. Each performance is unique, so some experimentation is always the key. Also, to provide better mix control over the delay, using an aux send and returning the delay to a separate mixer channel is better than inserting the delay right on the main vocal track.
In using delay on vocals, you should be careful to listen for any combing (phasing) problems; if that arises, just flip the phase of the delay. Many delay units and plug-ins include such a feature, as do some consoles and audio editors such as BIAS Peak Pro (www.bias-inc.com). One of my all-time favorite tools is the TC Electronic D2 outboard rack unit.
QUICK FIX
The following scenario happens periodically with one of my regular clients. A guest vocalist flies into town for a recording session but has to leave the next day, and you need to use what you've recorded, even if the takes are, shall we say, less than perfect. Giving your vox a manual tune-up (literally) is sometimes essential. One of the choice tools I know for such a job is Celemony Melodyne (www.celemony.com). Simply stated, Melodyne automatically finds the separation of different notes in an audio file, and places it on a MIDI sequencer-type track, displaying each “split” exactly where it harmonically lives along a keyboard: C, C#, “C just-a-little-sharp” and so on. With a few clicks of the mouse, it detects the closest appropriate key and visually and sonically snaps each segment to the closest “correct” note, while allowing them to be manually moved as well. The results are spectacular. Melodyne is also a full-featured multitrack recorder, allowing you to work on entire projects in that fashion.
If you need a fix in real time, try out Antares' Auto-Tune (www.antarestech.com), a plug-in that can work during or post-recording. Like Melodyne, Auto-Tune auto-detects and fixes pitch problems. Despite the seemingly essential nature of these tools, I advise against laziness. Don't put an instance of Auto-Tune on every vocal just because it is slightly out of tune. If you can track the vocal again and get it right naturally, that is always the better path. Use pitch-correction tools like you would spices: sparingly, on sections of tracks rather than whole ones. Vocals tend to sound unnatural when you use pitch correction too liberally.
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