Vocal processors

[cameron]

Can anyone recommend an affordable vocal processor that will allow me to change the character of my voice? Sometimes I would like to get more of a gravely effect than my voice has naturally. It might also be fun to try different sounds to fit a particular song.Cam

[gitarrero]

hi cameronwell, there are a few ways to do that - for examples plugins like the ones from antarres audio, tc helicon, vielklang, melodyne etc.my personal, humble opinion/experience:if you want to creat a harmony vocalline that is embeded in an arrangement, that's possible without getting notices as "being created artificial" as long as you don't mix 'em prominent. also vocal-correction is quite easely to do nowadays (melodyn, antarres autotune).but you seem to look for tools to change the character of a vocal recording. honestly - the vocal is something we humans hear from our birth on, every day. we're very used to what sounds natural. I think that's why each and every tool I've seen & heard that promised to change/alter the character of the vocal sounded unnaterual, artificial to me.personally I think that there's still one way to have great vocals in your song: organize a great singer - like I said it's possible to correct some tuning problems, so with "great" I rather mean a vocalist who has the right kind of "sound" that fits your song.also bear in mind that it can be quite time consuming to correct vocals through a complete song (with each and every harmony vocal, etc), so again I think it's the better option to have the right singer at hand, recorded right, and it will sound right hthmartin

[mojobone]

Yup, "effect" processing only works for exposed vocal parts if you want it heard as an effect, but the better ones are fine for subtle uses; formant-independent pitch-shifting or formant-shifting male/female processors can be useful for folks that track solo. Clone Ensemble and some other commercial software can build a fairly effective mass choir from just a few voices, for instance, and since CE is shareware for VST/DirectX, it might be a good place to start.http://www.cloneensemble.com/

[cameron]

Thanks Martin and Mojo... I thought that might be the case but since I haven't really looked into this in a lot of years I thought there might be something new out there. I bought RealGuitar and RealStrat a couple of months ago and am blown away with what they can do, so I was sorta hoping there might be something equivalent for vocals too.Clone Ensemble looks interesting. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I'm sure it would be useful for certain applications, and you sure can't beat the price.Thanks again,Cameron

[Mark Kaufman]

Actually, there are lots of products out there that can give you that "gravelly" sound!

[cameron]

LOL.... I wondered what you used Mark!!Cam

[mewman]

A lot can be done with an eq and compressor to change the character of a voice. There are also plug-ins for "DJ" voices that lower the octave of your voice. My old Roland VS-880 EX had some cool vocal effects and Logic Audio has a fun vocal effect plug-in that allows you to hear what you would sound like with a voice like Barry White....or your Mom!Personally, I have never really understood the prejudice against messing with voice that some have (all respects to Martin!). I mean, we shred guitars to bits, revere effects ridden keyboard sounds, put gates and echoes on drums, and soak things in reverb, why be a purist about vocals!. I say, if your muse leads you to running your voice through what ever plug-in or effect you happen to have laying around, then go for it. Then again, I'm probably the last person you should be taking advice from on the subject of vocals! Mewman

[mojobone]

I can tell you why. The voice is so much more personal than any instrument that "effecty" vocals are perceived as a gimmick. The naked voice conveys much more than any effect will ever achieve. There's a reason the letters "v-o-c" are in the word "evocative".

[matthoggard]

Oct 19, 2008, 12:13am, mojobone wrote:I can tell you why. The voice is so much more personal than any instrument that "effecty" vocals are perceived as a gimmick. The naked voice conveys much more than any effect will ever achieve. There's a reason the letters "v-o-c" are in the word "evocative".EXCELLENT quote Mojo!!A simple vocal distortion would give you a gravely effect. Just enough to rough up the edges. There are plenty of plug-ins for that. IF you want outboard gear, Lexicon makes some nice affordable processors. We use one in our live setup. Its an older model. some of the newer ones have more current sounds and effects.

[cameron]

I understand what you're saying. I agree that a natural voice sounds best on most songs, but every now and then I'm trying to recreate a certain sound, and it seemed like it might be fun to try playing with the vocals a bit.Cam