More vocoders!!! Today we're going to make a vocoder underscore a main vocal. A key part of my sound, I love to sneak it in on many of my pieces. Gonna break down a couple of my songs and let you hear snippets of them with and without the vocoded vocal while giving you some insights as to how I make this work. Before going any further, I highly recommend reading my first post here if you do not have much experience with vocoders.
Vocoded vocals can be, quite frankly, obnoxious (and I still love them). Sometimes we want them to be. Sometimes we just want that robot sound or that classic vocoded synth sound: chunky chords on a sawtooth wave-based digital sound. It's fun for pop and dance songs. Then there are other times we want to be more daring with it (Lori Anderson comes to mind) or even rather delicate. I like to try new things with it myself, but a personal favorite is the subtle effect you get on a regular vocal by layering it with a vocoder.
There are many ways to approach this, and I'm going to lay out one of my applications. In "We Were Something," the first verse is very dark. I achieved this by layering a dry, low EQed vocal with a vocoded vocal. You can also hear the vocoder pop up on the spoken questions later, but we're not focusing on those accent parts today. What I've laid out below are the components of the first verse, including the carrier sound, the vocoded vocal (modulated carrier), the first verse without the vocoder, and the first verse in its entirety. If you wish to hear the rest of the song, please visit my Bandcamp page. I think the most important thing here is that the vocal feels much dryer without the vocoded bit underneath it. It's a very, very, very (did I mention very?) subtle application, but at the end of the day, I use the vocoded vocal like an effect on the main vocal rather than a separate vocal. Sometimes you aren't trying to get it to stand out, but to support the main line.
Vocoder Carrier Sound:
Vocoded Vocal Alone:
First Verse no Vocoder:
First Verse with Vocoder:
I've done many variants of this approach. Sometimes I use the exact same vocal copied down to a new track; sometimes I sing it again. Often I put the "plain" vocal squarely in the middle (mono) and pull the vocoded part out to both sides (wide stereo). The nice thing about a background vocoder is that you have more freedom of carrier choice because your main vocal handles all of the enunciating and clarity that can be lost in a vocoder.
There is a flip-side to this. If you love the vocoded sound and want it to stand out, but you want it to be a little more intelligible, take the same approach as above but switch which track stands out more. Use the "plain" vocal as support. You still benefit from the sibilant clarity of the main vocal but can retain a degree of freedom to choose perhaps a less than ideal carrier. Be warned though that even with having the regular vocal for support, there are still some carriers that work much better than others. The more you want to bring the vocoded vocal forward, the more fluid and strong your carrier should be. Please refer back to my first post about carriers and modulators and what works well for vocals.
Other later posts will continue to discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Definitions for the Layperson:
Track: In these posts, a track is a layer of recorded or programmed sound within my DAW. Each track can be tweaked for volume, panning, effects, etc
EQ: Think messing with the Equalizer on your stereo but with finer control. When I discuss EQs I mean the sound frequencies on a track and what I'm doing to volume of those frequencies.
Modulators and carriers were discussed in greater depth in the first post. For the purpose of this post, the modulator is the vocal wave and the carrier is the synthesizer sound.
Suggested resource for further learning: http://www.innovativesynthesis.com/introduction-to-vocoders/
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Monday, September 19, 2016
Vocal Treatments: Doubling, Tripling, etc
I am going to apologize for the not-as-present and in-depth post. I spent my weekend with food poisoning, and I was writing this in between feeling like I wanted to crawl into a ball in the corner and not come out as well as working on mixes for my next EP. But I'm better now! I'm going to give you as much info as possible in the time that I have.
While I do love vocoders, I use a lot of other vocal treatments from echoes to filters to layering. I love layers! That's what we're going to discuss today: taking a vocal and making it really big by adding a bunch of layers and panning them. (Panning is where you mess with the side the sound is on when working in stereo or surround sound. I often like to put one vocal slightly left and one slightly right as well as having one in the middle.)
There are a couple of ways to approach layering. One is to record multiple tracks. The other is to take a single take (or a combination of your best takes) and copy it down to new track. Either way, I generally add a different reverb, filter, or other to the new tracks. It distinguishes them and adds a depth to the vocals that I quite enjoy.
On "A Penguin and a Giraffe" I sang each take as similarly as possible. I used a fairly heavy reverb with a slight slapback on the main vocal. As I went through, I added another take (but much dryer, just a touch of reverb and no slapback) and then another (also very dry). I kept any variation on the vocal relatively natural. Note that the song builds and builds as I add instruments and vocal takes. By keeping the extra vocals dry, it adds dimension to the vocal that would otherwise sound very similar. It keeps them separate without making them so very different that they would be distracting.
But I do love to get fancy! One of my favorite tricks is to take a vocal and add one treatment on the left panning and a different on the right with a slight delay. This makes the vocal move. I did this and more in "Muscle Memory, Fading." I think I went all in on the vocal treatments and various pans. I had layers and lefts and rights so much that picking this apart would take a couple of posts. I'll keep this relatively brief. So the vocals where it feels like it is moving very quickly from left to right have this: pick a dryer treatment on one side and a slightly delayed entrance with slight slapback on the other side (or scoot the vocal over a smidge and add a reverb) and you'll get that effect. This is cleaner and a bit more shimmery than simply adding a heavy reverb and playing with the panning on a single line. It's most apparent where the first first is being sung over the chorus toward the end. This was one song where vocoders just would have been superfluous because of how many vocal layers I had by the end of it (5 separate tracks of vocals with various treatments).
A note on panning, and I learned this the hard way: If you pan too far left and right, you can get a really crappy MP3 mix! MP3s, especially at the lower qualities, do not convey stereo very well. With streaming being so important, you do need to pay attention to how your mix will sound in low quality streaming formats. Sorry to purists. That's the way the music world works right now. I therefore have learned to not pan much past 30 or 40% left or right with my vocals. Play with your panning and convert it to low quality MP3 (128) and listen to how it sounds. A good way to do this is to upload your track to Soundcloud, keep it a private track, and listen to how it comes through on your speakers or headphones. I do a lot of additional listening on low quality formats and crappy dollar store headphones before releasing.
Another tip: LABEL YOUR TRACKS!!!! Yes, I just shouted that. I you have first verse dryer than the second, label them things that you will understand. I often end up with vocals named along the following lines: Main dry, Main reverb, Chorus echo, Vocoded, Chorus Harmony, etc Keep yourself as organized as possible! It makes a huge difference later when you are working on final mixes for your singles or album releases.
Other later posts will continue to discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Definitions for the Layperson:
Track: In these posts, a track is a layer of recorded or programmed sound within my DAW. Each track can be tweaked for volume, panning, effects, etc
While I do love vocoders, I use a lot of other vocal treatments from echoes to filters to layering. I love layers! That's what we're going to discuss today: taking a vocal and making it really big by adding a bunch of layers and panning them. (Panning is where you mess with the side the sound is on when working in stereo or surround sound. I often like to put one vocal slightly left and one slightly right as well as having one in the middle.)
There are a couple of ways to approach layering. One is to record multiple tracks. The other is to take a single take (or a combination of your best takes) and copy it down to new track. Either way, I generally add a different reverb, filter, or other to the new tracks. It distinguishes them and adds a depth to the vocals that I quite enjoy.
On "A Penguin and a Giraffe" I sang each take as similarly as possible. I used a fairly heavy reverb with a slight slapback on the main vocal. As I went through, I added another take (but much dryer, just a touch of reverb and no slapback) and then another (also very dry). I kept any variation on the vocal relatively natural. Note that the song builds and builds as I add instruments and vocal takes. By keeping the extra vocals dry, it adds dimension to the vocal that would otherwise sound very similar. It keeps them separate without making them so very different that they would be distracting.
But I do love to get fancy! One of my favorite tricks is to take a vocal and add one treatment on the left panning and a different on the right with a slight delay. This makes the vocal move. I did this and more in "Muscle Memory, Fading." I think I went all in on the vocal treatments and various pans. I had layers and lefts and rights so much that picking this apart would take a couple of posts. I'll keep this relatively brief. So the vocals where it feels like it is moving very quickly from left to right have this: pick a dryer treatment on one side and a slightly delayed entrance with slight slapback on the other side (or scoot the vocal over a smidge and add a reverb) and you'll get that effect. This is cleaner and a bit more shimmery than simply adding a heavy reverb and playing with the panning on a single line. It's most apparent where the first first is being sung over the chorus toward the end. This was one song where vocoders just would have been superfluous because of how many vocal layers I had by the end of it (5 separate tracks of vocals with various treatments).
A note on panning, and I learned this the hard way: If you pan too far left and right, you can get a really crappy MP3 mix! MP3s, especially at the lower qualities, do not convey stereo very well. With streaming being so important, you do need to pay attention to how your mix will sound in low quality streaming formats. Sorry to purists. That's the way the music world works right now. I therefore have learned to not pan much past 30 or 40% left or right with my vocals. Play with your panning and convert it to low quality MP3 (128) and listen to how it sounds. A good way to do this is to upload your track to Soundcloud, keep it a private track, and listen to how it comes through on your speakers or headphones. I do a lot of additional listening on low quality formats and crappy dollar store headphones before releasing.
Another tip: LABEL YOUR TRACKS!!!! Yes, I just shouted that. I you have first verse dryer than the second, label them things that you will understand. I often end up with vocals named along the following lines: Main dry, Main reverb, Chorus echo, Vocoded, Chorus Harmony, etc Keep yourself as organized as possible! It makes a huge difference later when you are working on final mixes for your singles or album releases.
Other later posts will continue to discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Definitions for the Layperson:
Track: In these posts, a track is a layer of recorded or programmed sound within my DAW. Each track can be tweaked for volume, panning, effects, etc
Monday, September 12, 2016
What's that sound?!?! - Keyboard Blends
One of my favorite things about working with virtual instruments or even being able to manipulate recorded sound is that I have the opportunity to use or create different sounds without being limited by physical space or equipment. I own pedals, but it can be costly to outfit your board the way you want. My keyboard only supports a handful of sounds, and the Moog I want is expensive!
So I plan to cover several different blending, manipulation, creation methods, tips, and ideas in the future, but today I'm going to hit keyboard blends, particularly grand piano with another keyboard sound. I understand that many of my readers are already past the blending of two tracks to get the sound you want, but many of my readers are curious fans and novices. And personally I think it's a lot of fun to hear these blends separated out to understand them better.
The first blend I'm going to cover is simply a way to add some sparkle and depth to a grand piano sound. Many pieces benefit greatly from beefing up the piano line by layering it with another keyboard instrument. Sometimes I vary blends of up to five different keyboard sounds (a grand, an upright, a Rhodes, a custom keyboard, and an organ for example). Other times I keep it simple. This one is just taking a grand piano and a vintage keyboard vst setting (such as a Wurlitzer or a Rhodes).
If you are new to this, note that it requires pulling in your piano line via MIDI from a digital piano or keyboard. In the example today, all that playing is me, relatively unedited save for entrance and exit times. I could have just recorded my grand piano, but I would not have the data to apply a different sound. This blending is made possible by being able to record the MIDI data, including all of my nuances and sustain pedal.
This is, admittedly, one of my favorite blends. If you choose a Rhodes you get a chime-like sound on the middle and upper notes and a slight ambiance. If you choose a Wurlitzer you get a great vintage feel with more of a middle toned shimmer. Personally I think the Wurlitzer adds warmth. Of course you can mess with the EQ on either line to get the exact blend you want. I often scoop a little out around the frequency of my vocals if I'm singing too.
For this particular example, I am using the Dimension Pro 2 plugin for my virtual instruments. For the grand, I'm using the Grand Piano 3v 4th rt sim. If this doesn't mean much to you, no worries! It means I'm using a very versatile, realistic grand piano sound. Not everyone is using the same software, so if you choose a rather responsive grand piano sound, you'll be in the ballpark. For the keyboard, I chose a Wurlitzer (Wurlitzer p, which just is the softer, less brash of the Wurlitzer choices in my library). In the example here I don't have a vocal, so I didn't adjust for one, however, I scooped a little out of the Grand Piano: I scooped about 500 to 1500 Hz (with the center bottoming about 1K) and then did the same about 1K to 8K (bottoming about 2.5 or 3K). Note that I did not take the levels of these frequencies down much. I simply brought down the middle-high regions of the Piano to allow the Wurlitzer tones to shine where I want them to. For me, it's really matter of taste. I think this particular Wurlitzer vst sound is best when the frequencies between 1 and 2 Hz really come through. I love my bass sounds really resonating from the Grand Piano without getting too mushy. Wurlitzer sounds are often too muddy in the bass region for me, especially in Dimension Pro, or it becomes so soft that you can't rely on it resonating, depending on which Wurlitzer you choose. I know I'm over-explaining it!
Anywho....
Here's the Piano part on it's own:
And here's the Wurlitzer on it's own:
Now here is what happens when I combine the two:
What you should notice is that it's a relatively subtle effect, but it sounds now like I have a very rich piano with a slightly electric feel. While many are probably saying that they like the piano by itself, I think the Wurlitzer gives the piano part the warmth that I'm going for in this particular improvisation. I would perhaps adjust the levels slightly to bring down the Wurlitzer just a tiny bit, but overall, this is the feel I'm going for.
So, just to briefly summarize here, when I feel a piano part is a bit stark or is getting lost in the mix, I'll often throw in another keyboard sound to blend with the piano. It's a neat way to get a sound I may not have buried in my libraries and I can tweak the levels of each track to achieve the right blend. All of this is subjective of course, and I encourage a lot of experimenting with different blends to find ones that work for you.
Other later posts will continue to discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Definitions for the Layperson:
Track: In these posts, a track is a layer of recorded or programmed sound within my DAW. Each track can be tweaked for volume, panning, effects, etc
VST Plugin: VST stands for "Virtual Studio Technology" and plugins are software modules that work in various DAWs. These are often effects such as filters, EQs, compressors, reverbs, etc and synths / virtual instruments that you can play by way of MIDI controllers.
EQ: Think messing with the Equalizer on your stereo but with finer control. When I discuss EQs I mean the sound frequencies on a track and what I'm doing to volume of those frequencies.
DAW: "Digital Audio Workstation." When I use this term, I'm generally talking about the software in which you record and/or mix your tracks.
MIDI: Stands for "Musical Interface Digital Interface." This is a standard for the protocol and tools that allows for communication of musical notation, pitch, velocity, and more. The best way to learn about this is to go read about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI
So I plan to cover several different blending, manipulation, creation methods, tips, and ideas in the future, but today I'm going to hit keyboard blends, particularly grand piano with another keyboard sound. I understand that many of my readers are already past the blending of two tracks to get the sound you want, but many of my readers are curious fans and novices. And personally I think it's a lot of fun to hear these blends separated out to understand them better.
The first blend I'm going to cover is simply a way to add some sparkle and depth to a grand piano sound. Many pieces benefit greatly from beefing up the piano line by layering it with another keyboard instrument. Sometimes I vary blends of up to five different keyboard sounds (a grand, an upright, a Rhodes, a custom keyboard, and an organ for example). Other times I keep it simple. This one is just taking a grand piano and a vintage keyboard vst setting (such as a Wurlitzer or a Rhodes).
If you are new to this, note that it requires pulling in your piano line via MIDI from a digital piano or keyboard. In the example today, all that playing is me, relatively unedited save for entrance and exit times. I could have just recorded my grand piano, but I would not have the data to apply a different sound. This blending is made possible by being able to record the MIDI data, including all of my nuances and sustain pedal.
This is, admittedly, one of my favorite blends. If you choose a Rhodes you get a chime-like sound on the middle and upper notes and a slight ambiance. If you choose a Wurlitzer you get a great vintage feel with more of a middle toned shimmer. Personally I think the Wurlitzer adds warmth. Of course you can mess with the EQ on either line to get the exact blend you want. I often scoop a little out around the frequency of my vocals if I'm singing too.
For this particular example, I am using the Dimension Pro 2 plugin for my virtual instruments. For the grand, I'm using the Grand Piano 3v 4th rt sim. If this doesn't mean much to you, no worries! It means I'm using a very versatile, realistic grand piano sound. Not everyone is using the same software, so if you choose a rather responsive grand piano sound, you'll be in the ballpark. For the keyboard, I chose a Wurlitzer (Wurlitzer p, which just is the softer, less brash of the Wurlitzer choices in my library). In the example here I don't have a vocal, so I didn't adjust for one, however, I scooped a little out of the Grand Piano: I scooped about 500 to 1500 Hz (with the center bottoming about 1K) and then did the same about 1K to 8K (bottoming about 2.5 or 3K). Note that I did not take the levels of these frequencies down much. I simply brought down the middle-high regions of the Piano to allow the Wurlitzer tones to shine where I want them to. For me, it's really matter of taste. I think this particular Wurlitzer vst sound is best when the frequencies between 1 and 2 Hz really come through. I love my bass sounds really resonating from the Grand Piano without getting too mushy. Wurlitzer sounds are often too muddy in the bass region for me, especially in Dimension Pro, or it becomes so soft that you can't rely on it resonating, depending on which Wurlitzer you choose. I know I'm over-explaining it!
Anywho....
Here's the Piano part on it's own:
And here's the Wurlitzer on it's own:
Now here is what happens when I combine the two:
What you should notice is that it's a relatively subtle effect, but it sounds now like I have a very rich piano with a slightly electric feel. While many are probably saying that they like the piano by itself, I think the Wurlitzer gives the piano part the warmth that I'm going for in this particular improvisation. I would perhaps adjust the levels slightly to bring down the Wurlitzer just a tiny bit, but overall, this is the feel I'm going for.
So, just to briefly summarize here, when I feel a piano part is a bit stark or is getting lost in the mix, I'll often throw in another keyboard sound to blend with the piano. It's a neat way to get a sound I may not have buried in my libraries and I can tweak the levels of each track to achieve the right blend. All of this is subjective of course, and I encourage a lot of experimenting with different blends to find ones that work for you.
Other later posts will continue to discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Definitions for the Layperson:
Track: In these posts, a track is a layer of recorded or programmed sound within my DAW. Each track can be tweaked for volume, panning, effects, etc
VST Plugin: VST stands for "Virtual Studio Technology" and plugins are software modules that work in various DAWs. These are often effects such as filters, EQs, compressors, reverbs, etc and synths / virtual instruments that you can play by way of MIDI controllers.
EQ: Think messing with the Equalizer on your stereo but with finer control. When I discuss EQs I mean the sound frequencies on a track and what I'm doing to volume of those frequencies.
DAW: "Digital Audio Workstation." When I use this term, I'm generally talking about the software in which you record and/or mix your tracks.
MIDI: Stands for "Musical Interface Digital Interface." This is a standard for the protocol and tools that allows for communication of musical notation, pitch, velocity, and more. The best way to learn about this is to go read about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI
Sunday, September 4, 2016
The Vocoder and the Drumkit
I was so excited to do this post that I started laying it out a couple of weeks before. I have used vocoders in some different ways in the past, but folks don't always know what exactly they are hearing. So, for this post, I have sound clips! We went over vocoder basics in the first post (here), so if you are unfamiliar with modulators and carriers, I suggest reading that first. As always, definitions are included at the end for anything not covered here.
Here's the drum kit as the modulator and my "Broken Toy" as the carrier...
Now finally, here what happens when I pull this vocoded "Broken Toy" into a mix (with synth and extra drums) that I'm affectionately calling "Glacier Dive"...
As with any post with several sound clips, I'm keeping my reading material to a minimum. I want you to soak in the sounds. In later posts, I'll further address some different applications of vocoders, such as bolstering a main vocal line, adding background vocals, and coloring held notes. If there are any questions or even suggestions anyone has relating to this topic, please send them to me by way of the comments and I'll address those as well. Other later posts will discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Suggested resource for further learning: http://www.innovativesynthesis.com/introduction-to-vocoders/
AAS Lounge Lizard: https://www.applied-acoustics.com/lounge-lizard-ep-4/
For this post, I'm going to walk you through a few applications of a drum kit used as a modulator. I'm including several different carriers, all being used as a bass line, since I want to show multiple possibilities with this technique.
While I highly suggest reading up on vocoders, I want to remind everyone that the modulator is what most people associate with the vocal. The carrier is the synth sound. In this particular application, I'm using my drums as the modulator and a simple bass line as a carrier. In this way, I get a very cool effect on the bass line.
This is the drum loop on the Addictive Drums 2 drum kit Linndie. A moderately tight (but not too tight) techno drum kit is used in this particular case.
This is carrier one, which I have named "Bell Rhodes" This is a preset I have designed in the AAS Lounge Lizard, which is meant to stand in as a low, full, thumping lead (using as bass instead here)...
Now here comes a much buzzier sounding bass that I designed called "Broken Toy" (named more for how it sounds as a lead)... (straight no vocoder here)
While I highly suggest reading up on vocoders, I want to remind everyone that the modulator is what most people associate with the vocal. The carrier is the synth sound. In this particular application, I'm using my drums as the modulator and a simple bass line as a carrier. In this way, I get a very cool effect on the bass line.
This is the drum loop on the Addictive Drums 2 drum kit Linndie. A moderately tight (but not too tight) techno drum kit is used in this particular case.
This is carrier one, which I have named "Bell Rhodes" This is a preset I have designed in the AAS Lounge Lizard, which is meant to stand in as a low, full, thumping lead (using as bass instead here)...
So when this Bell Rhodes is used as a carrier and the drum kit as shown previously is the modulator, you get this...
Now here comes a much buzzier sounding bass that I designed called "Broken Toy" (named more for how it sounds as a lead)... (straight no vocoder here)
Here's the drum kit as the modulator and my "Broken Toy" as the carrier...
Now finally, here what happens when I pull this vocoded "Broken Toy" into a mix (with synth and extra drums) that I'm affectionately calling "Glacier Dive"...
As with any post with several sound clips, I'm keeping my reading material to a minimum. I want you to soak in the sounds. In later posts, I'll further address some different applications of vocoders, such as bolstering a main vocal line, adding background vocals, and coloring held notes. If there are any questions or even suggestions anyone has relating to this topic, please send them to me by way of the comments and I'll address those as well. Other later posts will discuss different plugins, effects, tips, tricks, etc for electronic and other music recordings. Please send me your suggestions for posts in the comments, via my website, or to my twitter account sarahschonert@sarahschonert.
Visit www.sarahschonertmusic.com to learn more about my music.
Suggested resource for further learning: http://www.innovativesynthesis.com/introduction-to-vocoders/
AAS Lounge Lizard: https://www.applied-acoustics.com/lounge-lizard-ep-4/
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