What are the best MTS effects for vocals?
What are the best MTS effects for vocals?
Hello! A couple questions: 1) It seems that I can use compression, reverb and EQ for vocal effects, but there are more effects I would like to use. It seems that I am limited to three. Are there any suggestions on the proper effects needed to get a vocal sound like they used to on some of the Andy Williams records? Seems like alot of reverb was used. I'm no Andy Williams so I need as much effect help as possible! 2) I am running an audiopro 1212 powered mixer, submix 1 and 2 out, into my line in, on the Dell. I am using the Soundmax Integrated Digital Audio (not a PCI, but on the motherboard). That is 16/44.1 only. It seems OK but I am tempted to get the Audiophile 64/192 soundcard. What kind of improvement will I hear? Less background hiss? What benefits should I expect since it all goes back to 16/44 when I burn the cd. Should I disable the Soundmax Integrated Digital Audio? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I have the M-Audio 24/96 card, that does the job for me, I use the three fx you mentioned, and sometimes a light delay on a clone of the lead vocal track, also the doubler if used very lightly might be fun. I use the convoluter rather than the regular reverb I like the results better, also the master limiter can help as the last fx on the mains if the mix is getting to hot..
One side note I feel that placing the compression on the mains and reverb and eq on the effects sends works best for me, then the entire mix is compressed evenly and the others ar added as per need per track, then some times I add a light compression to individual tracks as needed as well.
One side note I feel that placing the compression on the mains and reverb and eq on the effects sends works best for me, then the entire mix is compressed evenly and the others ar added as per need per track, then some times I add a light compression to individual tracks as needed as well.
Thanks for the input
I will try the convoluter, haven't tried that before. What do you mean when you say... "the master limiter can help as the last fx on the mains if the mix is getting to hot.". I am new at this and don't quite understand. Also regarding your sentence... "I feel that placing the compression on the mains and reverb and eq on the effects sends works best for me, then the entire mix is compressed evenly", do you mean that you are doing these effects coming off the board, with hardware (not software), prior to recording the audio stream into the wave file with MTS? Thanks for your input as I learn about these methods!
Do you put the master limiter in the third fx box on the master wave file? Is that what you mean by the "last one in the chain on the main buss of MTS"? (Please excuse me for not knowing the lingo yet.) I put in the 64/192 Audiophile sound card last nite and I am getting some pops and crackles playing back the wave files that I previously recorded with the integrated sound card. Is there anything you know that could be causing this?
Tim,
The Limiter is used in the master section's last slot to make the song as loud as possible, without introducing distortion. It's used in the last slot, because any effect used after limiting could push the signal above the maximum digital level, and thus cause distortion.
The other two effect slots of the master section are typically used for EQ and Compressor effects. The order in which effects are used makes a difference if one of the effects takes the level of the signal into account. A compressor obviously does depend on the signal level, so EQ after compression sounds different than compression after EQ. Opinions differ on what's best.
Note that effects in the master section are usually used in a subtle way. The compessor's ratio control will be low (like 2), or even as low as 1.1.
An effect return section will usually be used to add reverb. Just drop a reverb effect in one of its slots. Now the "Effect Send 1" knobs (the knob with the black dot) of all tracks will control the amount of signal sent to the Effect Return section, and thus the amount of reverb on that particular track.
You can use the track's slots to apply effects to that track only. When it comes to vocals, compressors are used in almost every case. You can think of echo (a single echo at approx. 100 milliseconds), a doubler or even a very small amount of chorus too.
You can use more than 3 effects by using a Multi Effect. Note that better results are often obtained by using only effects that are really useful, rather than by adding 5 effects to every track. Try real double tracking for your vocals: just sing and record the vocals two times, so you have two tracks. You can mix them equally loud, or you can mix one track at a lower level. Double tracking 'thickens" your voice. The Doubler effect emulates this effect, but there's nothing like the real thing, is there?
The Limiter is used in the master section's last slot to make the song as loud as possible, without introducing distortion. It's used in the last slot, because any effect used after limiting could push the signal above the maximum digital level, and thus cause distortion.
The other two effect slots of the master section are typically used for EQ and Compressor effects. The order in which effects are used makes a difference if one of the effects takes the level of the signal into account. A compressor obviously does depend on the signal level, so EQ after compression sounds different than compression after EQ. Opinions differ on what's best.
Note that effects in the master section are usually used in a subtle way. The compessor's ratio control will be low (like 2), or even as low as 1.1.
An effect return section will usually be used to add reverb. Just drop a reverb effect in one of its slots. Now the "Effect Send 1" knobs (the knob with the black dot) of all tracks will control the amount of signal sent to the Effect Return section, and thus the amount of reverb on that particular track.
You can use the track's slots to apply effects to that track only. When it comes to vocals, compressors are used in almost every case. You can think of echo (a single echo at approx. 100 milliseconds), a doubler or even a very small amount of chorus too.
You can use more than 3 effects by using a Multi Effect. Note that better results are often obtained by using only effects that are really useful, rather than by adding 5 effects to every track. Try real double tracking for your vocals: just sing and record the vocals two times, so you have two tracks. You can mix them equally loud, or you can mix one track at a lower level. Double tracking 'thickens" your voice. The Doubler effect emulates this effect, but there's nothing like the real thing, is there?
You may want to check out some of these tricks I found around the web... http://www.multitrackstudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8
Thank you Saz! I look forward to trying those pointers. Good luck in all.
I would also like to post that I just received some great support from Giel. I had just installed the audiophile 192 soundcard, opened MTS and played some previously recorded wave files (recorded with the soundmax integrated digital audio 16/44) and I heard alot of popping and crackling. Giel had me email him a support text file of how I had my system setup and within an hour he found the problem based on my setup and had me bring up my DMA Buffer size on my Delta audio control panel from 256 to 1024 and try again...that fixed the pops and crackles. Thanks Giel! You saved me from returning a soundcard for another one that would have done the same thing!
I would also like to post that I just received some great support from Giel. I had just installed the audiophile 192 soundcard, opened MTS and played some previously recorded wave files (recorded with the soundmax integrated digital audio 16/44) and I heard alot of popping and crackling. Giel had me email him a support text file of how I had my system setup and within an hour he found the problem based on my setup and had me bring up my DMA Buffer size on my Delta audio control panel from 256 to 1024 and try again...that fixed the pops and crackles. Thanks Giel! You saved me from returning a soundcard for another one that would have done the same thing!