Types of vocal effects for mixing live sound

#Types of vocal effects for mixing live sound how to

This is probably the biggest distinction between Hard Rock genres, and say, Hip-Hop or Pop. The solo button is something that you wronged in the past and is now coming for your blood. Once we have that assignment, it is extremely important to approach our vocals in the context of competing elements. We have to assign what our biggest elements are going to be. ItвЂ™s not uncommon for the verse to be вЂњsmallerвЂќ and more vocal-centric, and the chorus to lay in with extra guitar layers and more driving drums. Of course, sometimes the vocal isВ the star of the show, and this may very well change from section to section. The guitars often take precedence in the mix, and the snare drum is usually pretty competitive as well. There was about a five year period in the early 90s where you could not understand the words to any songs playing on the Rock FM station, unless it was Sublime or Chili Peppers. One of the common threads in heavier Rock genres is that the vocal isnвЂ™t always the star of the show. The more adjectives I can staple on to the idea of the sound, the more deliberate my vocal processing (or choice of not processing) can be. Metal genres are often heavily effected, but should be done so to the end result of sounding exceptionally aggressive.

ItвЂ™s a style that hasВ no qualms admitting that itвЂ™s a recording, and you get everything you get from that. Whereas with a Grunge record, IвЂ™m really looking to do as little treatment as possible. Pop-Punk records usually want to sound a bit done up - it should sound like a natural voice - but a stellar capture of that natural voice. I like to envision the space, and I also like to create a subjective scale for how вЂњengineeredвЂќ the vocal should sound.

The most important question is:В what do I want this vocal to convey? Because some vocals are meant to sound anthemic, like youвЂ™re in an arena with ten thousand people, and other vocals are supposed to sound like youвЂ™re in a small, dank bar with a janky PA system. I think the best place to start is by figuring out where you ultimately want to end up. Rather than try to spoon feed a bunch of techniques, IвЂ™m going to discuss the approach to vocal treatment, what should be considered, and then go over a few techniques that might help reach the goals of your vocal sound. Every genre, style, and song within a genre isВ going to have its ownВ nuances. Hard Rock is a pretty broad category - containing Punk, Pop-Punk, Garage, some styles of Alt-Rock, Grunge, Hardcore, about 25В billion sub-genres of Metal - you get the point. IвЂ™ll be the first to say that thereвЂ™s a ton of great resources floating around the internet on this subject, but IвЂ™d like to throw my hat into the ring.

#Types of vocal effects for mixing live sound how to

I want to talk about how to approach mixing vocals in a Hard Rock song.