sound processing

iv never used any form of processing on my voice. just raw no effects sing-into-the-mic and play it back style...

.....is that why i sound crap? :lol:

this raises my interest....there are more forms of making me sound better than just reverb? (which sounds....faked...so i dont use it)

Seriously? You don't even use reverb? That's bold, man!

Even when I sing by myself around the house, I usually try to find a spot that offers a bit of reverb. It softens the edges, smooths out the edges.

Some delay is also nice, depending on the style of music one sings, of course. I've yet to fully comprehend compression. I know what it is, but I'm not sure how controlling fluctuations in volume becomes a pleasant effect. Odd.

Jersey Jack

nope...mines raw as can be....

though yeah....ANY tiny mistake is HUGELY obvious :(

I think whilst learning its important NOT to add computer generated effects. If your completely happy with your voice then it can make it sound better or give a depth to it... but whilst you're still learning to control your voice i think its good to have an idea of what YOU are capable of :D.

But of course if your performing live... you need all the help you can get :)

Again, anyone out there use compression? pitch correction?

I don't know how to set a compressor, but I think I could use one because my voice tends to deviate slightly (but thus far uncontrollably) in terms of volume.

I've tried pitch correction on recording, but I find it make no noticeable difference--my voice still sucks, but apparently my pitch is close enough to make pitch correction ineffective. Now I wish someone would invent TONE CORRECTION!

Jersey Jack

yup, I'm on the lookout for some decent Etta James, Nina Simone and/or Tom Waits voice modelling effects units. :roll: Holla if ya find any. :wink:

well as a soundman compression is helpful in basically one way to me. I set it so no matter how loud you scream a part or belt it out it doesn't distort the speaker it levels it and cuts it at a certain point. Also it brings the lower sounding softer notes up to audible/pleasant hearing. Pitch correction is awful live. Example RASCAL FLATTS. They use 8 Antares Auto-Tuners on the lead singers voice just so he can sing in key correctly.

I use delay not verb i like delay better, get a nice tap tempo delay and its wonder ful

Well, I've just gone over to the dark side--I got a deal on two "open box" voice pedals from T.C. Helicon, the VoiceCorrect (pitch correction, compression, eq, de-esser) and the VoiceCreate (reverb, delay, modulation, etc.). I wasn't expecting much, as I once owned T.C. Helicon's VoiceLive, and I found it way too complicated to be useful. These pedals are easy--and wonderful. :)

As I said earlier, my pitch is not too bad, so the correction is very subtle--more a stabilization than a correction. The VoiceCorrect unit is completely automated. It "reads" your voice and works its magic. You can tweak the effects if you want, but I'm not a tweaker. I don't know how it would work for others, but I like it a lot on my voice.

Ditto for the VoiceCreate. This pedal comes with 90 or so preset patches. Some suck, of course, but others are great. And each patch has two tweakable parameters, making tweaking so easy that even I can do it!

They're not cheap--regular street price for each unit is $250. More here:

http://www.tc-helicon.com/Default.asp?Id=10402
http://www.tc-helicon.com/Default.asp?Id=10409

Best,
Jersey Jack

Jack,
I've been using the Voice Correct for rehearsals and find that it helps me to self-correct my pitch without really thinking about it. You can tell how much correction is being applied by the meter on the board. For some reason, its also made it easier to relax my larnyx into a comfortable low position and just sing.

I'll use it for a gig Friday night and let you know how it goes.

Ciao,

Chris