Vocal Distorting & Reverb
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Posted on Nov 21, 2003 08:41 pm
vdalehubbard
Lost for words with all to say.
Contributor Since: Sep 12, 2003
Howdy
I have a little bit of a vocal distortion in my latest recording. I was wondering if anybody knew of something (or a trick) to get rid of this. It's not noticable with all the tracks playing but I still would like to be able to get rid of this.
Also, what would be a good "live" sounding reverb to use in Sonar 3? I have a live track I want to put on an album and the vocals are sort of dry.
Thanks for all the help.
Dale
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Nov 22, 2003 11:57 pm Well you can try and use a restoration, or clean up utility as found in Sound Forge or Wavelab. I believe there are some freeware apps as well. But truth be told it will alter the sound of the vocal as well. So you might want to duplicate that track and work on the copy forst to see what happens. There really is no magic formula or trick to fix a distorted track, only cleaning it up and then trying to get it to sound good again.
As far as Reverb in Sonar 3, if you have the producer edition use the Lexican Pantheon reverb. Otherwise, if you check in the freeware section of our links directory you will find links to many apps including reverbs.
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Nov 23, 2003 01:30 am Ya, distortion is pretty much a one way street. Hard to go back without making a mess. Best bet is to go back to the source. The mic, pre-amp, room dampening, pop filter, compressor settings?. etc. Reverb is a bugaboo for me too. I always mix it up and then back it off a third or so. It sounds as it is being applied to me, but when I play back the finished piece the third or fourth time there is always too much. The best reverb to me is accomplished through room tuning. Noise has a neat trick for that. Put the singer in the bathroom and hang towels around until you have the sound you want. I did some work with that concept with a heavly metal band I am recording at present. Used a rather hot, hard, large room and a number of "cubie" room dividers to tune the sound as presented to the mics. A bit trickey, but wonderfull sound with some expermentation.
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Nov 23, 2003 03:00 am turn down the gain on you preamps for the mics. As far as reverb goes the Lexicon reverb in sonar 3 looks sweet, IZotope's Ozone Mastering Reverb is sweet too, and there are a lot of freeware reverbs out there. I don't like using software reverb but I'm picky about how much CPU power I use, so I send my tracks back out into an outboard reverb then back into the software.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Nov 23, 2003 12:36 pm I think you said you had CEP vdale, and CEP has some of the best restoration tools available in the mortal price range (reviews I've read not jmo).
I used them on some old recordings and while there's no magic that's going to make bad sound good it did improve the recordings substantially so give it a try.
Dan
vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Nov 23, 2003 02:18 pm Thanks for all the help guys.
Actually, after looking into my problem I've noticed something. When the vocal distorts is when it hits red on the volume meter. Is there a plugin that will trim off the high volume level?
Dale
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Nov 23, 2003 05:42 pm Try reducing the level in Sonar itself. Or best yet highlight the whole vocal track and go to Process/Audio/3dB quieter. This will reduce the track from clipping. But if the track clipped on the way in it will not help much at all.
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Nov 24, 2003 09:09 pm Dito! If you find time, read a few of the recording tips. Digital recording is an entirely different mind set than tape recording. Tape has to be saturated during recording. Low levels will make a tape sound tiny, thin, or hollow. At the same time slightly overdriven tape sounds a little distorted but not bad. To some even preferable as we are used to the effect. Not so with digital recording. Signal to noise is the ruling condition while recording. No need to saturate digital. The kicker is that digital does not overdrive. Too much signal simply does not compute to digital. Does not compute translates to awfull noise! to the ear.
