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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

Eq your voice with as full low-end as you can get without it muddying up. Get it as full as you can. Push the envelope. Exaggerate, experiment. You won't like the results on tape but you can then eq out what you need to and see from there what settings you can use so as to cut back next time and get it a bit closer. I still tend to edit more after, which for me costs bucks but going without that low-end is like cutting off my lungs. I know I'm mostly alto but I've still got my upper register and it really needs that full-bodied sound, even more than my lower register. Same as you. It also helps give you that full-bodied, warm tone that I can tell you really have. You've got a lovely lyrically clear tone but it's got warmth in it that isn't getting onto the track.Does this help? Get all risky on me.

Just to chime in real quick, I wanted to say that on my SM7B (which I use for all of my vocals), I always have the bass rolloff switched on, but everything else flat. Of course, that could differ from voice to voice, but it works great for me, and I've been able to get great tones by singing very close to the mic. I literally have my lips on the foam screen a lot of the time! I do tend to use a fair amount of compression in the mix with a bit more eq (generally cutting the lows a bit more, and cutting a bit around 500) and do find I need to use a de-esser with that mic fairly often, but it's worked miracles on both myself and a lot of other singers!Just thought that might interest you Dan

I think you're right about the Neumann's sensitivity and range but this one is doing the job and for a fraction of the price too. It's a beautiful thang. I dunno about the verb.....it seems more pronounced than room setting. Must be my speaker system. Good job on the compression. Classical singers don't need much at all.I think you've got a winner here.

Quote:I think you're right about the Neumann's sensitivity and range but this one is doing the job and for a fraction of the price too. It's a beautiful thang. I dunno about the verb.....it seems more pronounced than room setting. Must be my speaker system. Good job on the compression. Classical singers don't need much at all.I think you've got a winner here. Thanks Squid. I appeciate all the listens, comments & feedback, and the awesome advice given by so many on this forum. I shall now go record some a capella carols. More later

I'm not sure what's going on with the reverb but I'm with Squid. I took the liberty of downloading your raw vocal and applying a room reverb at 10% chained to a hall reverb at around 7%. Chaining short with long is a little tip from our own Mr Stick and Mr Andre. I'm just listening through headphones but I think it sounds a lot more natural.www.DaveWaltonMusic.com/PrivateArea/Vik ... b.mp3Maybe it's just the quality reverb that comes with whatever it is you're using and no setting will sound natural. Maybe The Stickmeister or Andre The Audio Giant can listen and give some explanation. Anyone want to take a trip to Canada?