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I am trying to get better with using Reverb (sparingly) and EQ (watch those top frequencies)... I'm sure I'm not "there" yet (today I read "Studio Buddy" & part of the Tracktion 2 manual) but here's another a capella offering from me Away in a Manger - http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... ummin'bird Edit - yes I did have 'away in a manager' how I managed to do that I have no idea....

Hi Vikki. I'm completely sure you meant Away in a Manger, right? Cuz I was only away in a manager once in my life and he was my ex-husband so it was totally legit! Hee! Anyway, this is betta sound-wise but you sound farther away from the mike. Either you really were or there's a bit too much verb happening for today's sound. I like wet vox too but not at the price of feeling like you have to lean into the headphones or the speakers when you're listening to it. It needs de-essing so I'm guessin' that there's still that frustrating eq problem going on (which might also play into the too-far-away sound). Could you play with the eq while doing a loop over the esses? Maybe if you get that solved, the rest of the eq will fall into place? I think you're getting there bit by bit, I really do.This must be so frustrating. I know it is for me cuz I deal with it in the studio right now too, as you know.....I need to call my old engineer and find out what eq settings he used because I never had this problem recording with him. I suppose because he was a kickbutt singer himself so he knew what to look for, I don't know. Course we used a fully foamed iso-booth, which I'm not using now and that might be part of it too. Ugh. I break out in hives just thinking about it, I get so tense.

Quote:Away in a ManagerTHAT'S IT...NO MORE music business classes for you!!!

Ha!I saw the same thing with "manager" instead of "manger"... I was wondering... Very beautiful, Vikki... You know I'm not good at all that reverb, EQ, stuff... But your voice on this is wonderful... Casey

Hi Vicki,That sounded great! IMHO, I hear too much 'room'. Your voice is too far away for my taste, and it's distracting. I wish I could make technical suggestions... you know what frequency to isolate or the percentage of wet vs. dry reverb return. That is just not my area of expertise. I just know that to my ear the vocal is a bit too far away. My two cents.I LOVE the simplicity and honesty of your performance...Charlie

Hi - on this recording, I am 4-6 inches from the mic, singing through a pop screen, for the lead vocal. I'm wondering if I need to get closer. I could remove the pop screen & add foam to the mic & try that. Since you're hearing the room, perhaps I need to go back to using my 'vocal booth'.Reverb for the lead vocal is set at:Room Size - 2 (default is 4)Damping - 50% (default)Wet Mix - 0.00 dB (default)Dry Mix- -INF dB (default is 0.00 dB)Width - 100% (default)mode - Normal (default)I have 4 band EQ, set at: high shelf frequency- 16826Hz (default is 17000H)gain= -7.19 dB (default is 0.00 dB)q = 0.50 (default)The lead vocal is on an Aux Send, reverb & EQ is on an Aux ReturnI also used Tracktion's Final Mix preset for 12Band EQ when rendering hoping it would help with any issues.I've posted the totally raw lead vocal track at:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... trueThanks for your help, everyone (and the compliments)cheersHummin'bird

Vikki, I'm definitely of a mind to suggest foregoing the pop screen. I know mine keeps me too far from the mic too. Go with foam-covered instead and ride the mic, see what happens. You'll probably clip it first few tries but that's okay, it takes practice.

I just did another mix, on this one I took everything off the lead vocal; just left a little reverb on the back-up vocals, and ran it through a "Light Vox Comp & EQ" preset when rendering.http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... tream=true

You're getting there. That's much betta. You're still missing the rounded tones you should have (record with full tone then cut back). And the backups need to be drier too. I think background vocals should sound like they're in the same room as the main vox and the instruments. They don't have to sound like they're in front but should have the same treatment threaded into them as the rest of the music.Go girl. I know this is frustrating but you're getting there. It sounds much more contemporary. I'm hearing room noise but that's easily fixable.

Squid - can you define what you mean by "record with full tone then cut back"?thanksVikki