#966311 - 07/06/01 11:09 PM
HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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ElGenius1
Senior Member
Registered: 07/06/01
Posts: 189
Loc: Little Bogota, Fla
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hello recording enthusiasts,
i need help, please....i'm making a professional-like demo and i need to know some things...i have soundforge 4.5, and i have a decent microphone....now, after i record my vocals alone, i need to know the effects that should be done to the voice so that it sounds 'professional'.....i have downloaded several acapellas from the internet of professional artists, and therefore, i have an idea of what an accapella sounds like, but i cant get my acapella to have the same professional 'sound'.....
i know that it has something to do with EQ'ing, and 'reverb'ing....i am familiar with these terms and what they do.....can anyone please tell me (if u have soundforge 4.5 or higher)....how to EQ it so that makes the acapella sound nice and professional? what are the specifics of it? or is it a plug-in with soundforge that EQ's it so as to make it sound professional? I WOULD APPRECIATE ANYONE'S PROFESSIONAL RESPONE TO THIS, ALONG WITH ANY OTHER TIPS THAT WOULD HELP ME OUT....
THANK YOU
_________________________
"Los niņos escuchan el 'rap'...que les daņa el cerebro"
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#966312 - 07/06/01 11:50 PM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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michael saulnier
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 12/06/00
Posts: 4070
Loc: San Diego,CA,UNITED STATES
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Originally posted by ElGenius1:
hello recording enthusiasts,
i need help, please....i'm making a professional-like demo and i need to know some things...i have soundforge 4.5, and i have a decent microphone....now, after i record my vocals alone, i need to know the effects that should be done to the voice so that it sounds 'professional'.....i have downloaded several acapellas from the internet of professional artists, and therefore, i have an idea of what an accapella sounds like, but i cant get my acapella to have the same professional 'sound'.....
i know that it has something to do with EQ'ing, and 'reverb'ing....i am familiar with these terms and what they do.....can anyone please tell me (if u have soundforge 4.5 or higher)....how to EQ it so that makes the acapella sound nice and professional? what are the specifics of it? or is it a plug-in with soundforge that EQ's it so as to make it sound professional? I WOULD APPRECIATE ANYONE'S PROFESSIONAL RESPONE TO THIS, ALONG WITH ANY OTHER TIPS THAT WOULD HELP ME OUT....
THANK YOU
ElGenius1,
Thank you for your post #1.
Welcome to this board. This is a cool place with lots of knowledgeable people. One of the best ways to learn from them is to search the past threads on topics like "vocals" "eq" "plug-ins" and so on... I bet you'll find plenty of ideas that will help you out.
It's possible that someone will give you a long and detailed reply to your thread... good luck.
And, thanks for the "classic 1st post"... I needed a smile to send me home on Friday night.
guitplayer
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#966313 - 07/07/01 02:40 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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Chip McDonald
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 01/19/00
Posts: 4792
Loc: Augusta, Ga. USA
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Originally posted by ElGenius1:
i need to know the effects that should be done to the voice so that it sounds 'professional'....
You need to find something called "Auto-tune" if you really want to be a "pro".
.i have downloaded several acapellas from the internet of professional artists, and therefore, i have an idea of what an accapella sounds like, but i cant get my acapella to have the same professional 'sound'.....
Autotune.
or is it a plug-in with soundforge that EQ's it so as to make it sound professional?
Get the Autotune plug-in, it makes anyone... ANYONE sound "professional". Make sure you stay away from the Larsoni "Suck Button" plug-in, it's over rated.
Of course, you could try doings searches on the Net with Google and Altavista and find a lot of info....
Seriously:
With effects, if you hear it it's too much. If you want it expressedly AS an effect, the moment you hear it is "right".
If you've got Soundforge, you could just try everything and figure it out...
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New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald
_________________________
www.chipmcdonald.com (tagline inlieu of having a representational page of downloadable music for the moment...) / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien
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#966314 - 07/07/01 03:38 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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Curve Dominant
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 10/29/00
Posts: 4223
Loc: Philadelphia USA
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Chip, a little off-topic, but...
Your take on autotune reminded me of a head chef I once worked for. On busy nights, when the kitchen started to get weeded, he would tell the first waiter who came into the kitchen to please go find the owner of the restaurant and "ask him to bring me the oven-stretcher." Don't ya know, the waiter would go off looking for the owner...I guess you had to be there, seeing a kitchen full of cooks in convulsions of laughter.
Needless to say, ElGenius1 (and that is a precious tag - I'm quite jealous I didn't think of using that  ), you are in for a long road of trial and error (mostly error, but don't let that discourage you ) before you master this. You are here, though, so you stand a chance. Stick around.
Eric Vincent
Curve Dominant Sound&Vision
Philadelphia USA
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#966315 - 07/07/01 03:50 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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Anderton
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Registered: 01/28/00
Posts: 7346
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My favorite for professional-sounding vocals:
Double the vocal -- in other words, sing the same part a second time, trying to match the first one as closely as possible. You now have vocals on two tracks.
Add about 3 dB of broad EQ boost at around 3.5 kHZ
Compress the vocal to even out the dynamic range
Add just a taste of hall reverb, with a decay time of about 1.2 seconds.
Try this as a point of departure. But also remember the most important part: make it a really good vocal!!
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#966316 - 07/07/01 06:41 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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Master Zap
Gold Member
Registered: 12/22/00
Posts: 698
Loc: -,,SWEDEN
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IMHO *the* major steps for vocals is compression.
Most stuff recorded "straight off da mic" is full of dynamic fluctuations which makes it sound VERY unprofessional (its all the compression in modern music which makes us, nowdays, perceive BIG dynamic changes as being BAD and UNPROFESSIONAL, very interesting really).
So step one is - hammer it with compression. I've been known to use the L1 ultramaximizer on vocals, just toast the dynamics com-puh-letely. Who need's em? 
Doubletracking is nice. Autotune is fun. Yes reverb of the bright and airy kind is nice. But little beats the phatness of putting it through an old RockTron Pro-Chorus
/Z
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#966317 - 07/08/01 01:27 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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ElGenius1
Senior Member
Registered: 07/06/01
Posts: 189
Loc: Little Bogota, Fla
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thank you very much for everyone's help....
_________________________
"Los niņos escuchan el 'rap'...que les daņa el cerebro"
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#966318 - 07/08/01 02:28 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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ElGenius1
Senior Member
Registered: 07/06/01
Posts: 189
Loc: Little Bogota, Fla
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I have some questions....just to make sure, cuz i was confused a little.
(remember i'm a novice...)
so EQ'ing is like the same thing as compressing, right?
And that means either boosting or lowering certain frequencies in a wave?
And that is done to give it a uniform volume throughout the wave file????
'Big Dynamic changes' means having something really loud, then really low?
another thing....that 'autotune' is, in essence, an Equilizer,( EQ) right?
and it is compatible with Soundforge as a plug-in, or is it a seperate entity....
thanks for your patience........
_________________________
"Los niņos escuchan el 'rap'...que les daņa el cerebro"
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#966319 - 07/08/01 02:46 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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Anderton
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Registered: 01/28/00
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<>
No. EQ changes frequency response, like boosting the treble, cutting the midrange, whatever. Compression changes dynamic response -- softer sections are brought up in level, which reduces the dynamic range (i.e., there's not as much difference between the loudest and softest signals).
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#966320 - 07/08/01 08:40 AM
Re: HELP -I'm a new ARTIST making a DEMO TAPE
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Mr Darling
Platinum Member
Registered: 04/15/01
Posts: 1313
Loc: The Blue Planet,BELGIUM
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The best way to have professional sounding vocals is to do it for many many years, involvlving as many professional engineers as you can
Dubling voices is a great way to make vocals sound bigger
Compression is a good idea. What you trying to do is reduce the dynamic rage and make the vocals clear through out the song (not such a big issue for accapella)
EQ - is when your cut or boost frequencies. again great for a special effect or make the vocals sits better in a mix.
Avoid Autotune - it will upset your singer and will make them lazy. If a singer can't keep a note he should look for a different hobby.
There is no quick fix to make something sound pro, hence the word professional. People who do this for a living for some time - try to get the best performance that you can , and rehears every day - all day
HTH
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Visit http://www.DarlingNikkie.com/sounds for free MP3's
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