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#201222 04/20/13 03:32 PM
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When you record a baritone, what EQ settings would you use to bring out the depth in the voice, especially the low end?

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Hard question to answer - it's dependent on the singer. I would start with...... nothing, other than high pass filtering the singer right at the mic, if the mic has a HP switch - use it.

I personally don't think you can make EQ recommendations for voice to 'bring out' any particular tone. You have to be really careful with it because the vowel formants will really light up if you cross into some area where you've boosted frequency content.

How about record and post first then ask if folks have some EQ recommendations for the particular voice/song?

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Yes, I have lit up a few vowels in the past, not to mention creating some funky F's.

I will try to post a clip.

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It's not difficult. Find a decent parametric EQ, dial in a narrow Q, sweep the frequencies and boost/cut the desired freqs. Cutting is better than boosting. Rather than boost the low mids you are trying to accentuate, try cutting adjacent freqs. IMO, boosting low mids is never a good thing.



Regards,


Bob

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To add to Bob's tips, if you do end up boosting (which I agree with him is not recommended practice), dial the Q down so it's not so narrow. Narrow cuts work well, narrow boosts are usually a bad idea from a sound quality standpoint. Try it yourself and you'll hear the difference. You can apply a fairly broad boost successfully without it 'honking'. This idea is found in lots of tip forums - here is one link that summarizes things fairly well: http://www.hometracked.com/2008/02/07/vocal-eq-tips/

Also, you will probably want to high-pass filter everything with a cutoff between 80 and 200 Hz - adjust to taste. Do the cutoff frequency adjustment while auditioning the vocals against the other elements of your mix. Dial up the cutoff frequency until the vocal sounds 'thin', then dial down the high pass cutoff frequency just a hair from wherever that 'thin' point is.

That article addresses high pass filtering to some extent, without getting into the method of where to set the cutoff frequency.

Bob, is there a parametric EQ in RB/BIAB? I don't recall there being one. I'm not sure where to buy one either. I use the one that's shipped with my DAW software. Long ago, I bought a parametric EQ DX plugin from the maker of N-Track, even though I don't use N-Track.

There are a few available in the freebie part of the plugin database but I don't have any experience with any of those that are there.

easy to use high pass filter available here:
http://www.gvst.co.uk/downloads.htm

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Hi Scott.

Just jumping in here.

RB/PT has a good parametric, but unfortunately it's not real-time. That is, you can only render with it.

I tend to use the Antress Modern Deep Purple quite a lot and find it very effective. Antress do quite a few EQs and you can see the range here -

http://www.gersic.com/plugins/hosted/antress/index.php

Hope you find this useful.

ROG.

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Scott,

I usually use the little Cakewalk parametric in Sonar. It's simple, but functional.



Rog,

Thanks for reminding me about the Antress plugs. I love their Modern Compressor on vocals! Gotta try the Deep Purple.


Regards,


Bob

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I'll have to check out Deep Purple as well, though I'm fairly spoiled by the parametric EQ's that are in my host DAW software.

I did take some time to peruse the KVR plugin database, and BlueCat has one that is a freebie, with a nice graphic display of the computed frequency response. It also has high and low shelving filters. You can just leave these alone if you like or at least use the low end shelving filter to zap unneeded low frequency content.

-Scott

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Thanks guys,

The Antress stuff is 32 bit so will not work for me. However, I am mixing in Sonar X1 PE, so I have plenty of tools.

Here is an example of a song I wrote and recorded with a voc that I feel needs some help.

Rollin' On


The voc was recorded Shure SM7B. I removed the harmonies, so you can hone in on the lead.

Notice how the it seems a bit "stuck in the mud"? I've have an HPF on both the voc and electric guitar.

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Robb,

Here's my opinions for what it's worth:

1. The electric guitar has no high end - that's why it sounds 'stuck in the mud.

2. The snare has a distortion sound to it that makes too much out front in the overall song's spectrum content.

3. On the vocals, I think you could probably raise the HPF cutoff another 50 to 100 Hz and the muddiness that is present at times (it doesn't sound muddy to me the whole way through like the electric guitar does) will start to fade. The vocal is also very dry. A tad reverb wouldn't hurt it at all, AFTER you cut some more low end out of the vox.

I'd love to have an opportunity to re-mix this for you - if you can save off the individual tracks as high bit rate .mp3 files (to keep the overall project size small), and identify what is squirrelly with that snare first, I'll take a crack at re-mixing the song for you.

-Scott

Last edited by rockstar_not; 05/08/13 09:46 PM.
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Thanks Scott!

I'd like to take you up on the offer. Give me a while to post the separate tracks.

The drums are RealDrums Country Train 8
The guitar is RealTrack #384 Southern Rock
The bass is RealTrack #288 Metal Ev

I'll check my settings to make sure I didn't do anything to mess them up. I'll post them dry.

I've sliced a diced the others tracks from various sources.

Isolated, you can hear my kids on the current voc track. It is a rare treat for me to record in isolation (6 kids).

Would you like the harmonies?


Thanks again for your help!


-Robb

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No harmonies - just the lead vocal. I may have to back off my offer.

Tonight my oldest daughter was using our Samsung RV511 lappy (the same one I have my recording software on) and after awhile she says to me - "Dad, the laptop won't power on".

Sure enough, no combination of battery in/out, AC adapter plugged in/not plugged in, holding power button down, etc. will bring this thing to life.

No sign of death beforehand.

power light lights on indicator of whether AC adapter is plugged in or not, but no come to life with the power button. Methinks the mobo is gone. So, it stays plugged in tonight, with a hope and a prayer for real, to see if she powers up in the AM. If not, there's a few of them for sale on e-Bay that I might be able to snipe.

I'm having some bad luck with lappys - I bought expensive with a Thinkpad and had nearly this same issue, and this one I bought on clearance at Best Buy - and I've received about a year and a half life out of it.

I'm a hair shy of simply saying hang it all and going with a Mac.

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I know this sounds simplistic but take the battery off and try powering up just with the ac. Weird but it works with my crummy old hp


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Originally Posted By: jo131
I know this sounds simplistic but take the battery off and try powering up just with the ac. Weird but it works with my crummy old hp


Thanks, been there and done that - I know that routine well from a previous laptop. Running memtest86 when I get home tonight.

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You may want to check the voltage output of the power adapter. The adapter may have bit the dust and is no longer charging the battery. I've had that happen a few times and had a bad ac power chord to the adapter.


Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1224) RB (Build 8) - Ultra+ PAK
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Well, memtest86 revealed about the whole 4GB range of the single DDR3 module as bad.

I'm not sure what would have caused this to happen - but I suspect flexure of the cheap plastic case on this thing may have somehow allowed too much voltage to hit the memory module - if it's even bad.

BIOS shows that the module is present and accounted for.

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Got some 2 GB mem sticks from local Craigslist, installed last night, after Windows repair and restore of a recent restore point, I'm typing this on the previously defunct lappy.

I'm still nervous about this laptop, but it's alive right now! I think it could have been case flexure, that allowed something bad to happen to the single 4GB DDR3 module. So, it's no longer to be used on someone's lap. Transport only happens with power off, etc. We'll see if that keeps it alive.

So, robb, I can take the tracks. High bit rate .mp3 or .wav compressed to monkey's audio first. I do have a dropbox, but I don't remember my password for it. Send me a PM if you want to go forward with it and we'll work out a way to get the tracks to me and my mixdown back to you.

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I'm glad you got your computer working again.

I have exported individual tracks and tucked them inside of a .zip. You can download it here:
Rollin' On zip file

On the vocal track you can hear my toddler playing with Duplos in the background; it disappears in the mix. At least the parrot was quiet.

Thanks again for the effort.

Last edited by RobbMiller; 05/20/13 01:30 PM. Reason: updated .zip
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Can you convert to .mp3, 320 kbps then zip the file?

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The .zip file now contains .mp3 files encoded @320 bits.
Rollin' On zip file

I'm excited to see what a fresh ear brings.

Thanks again,
Robb

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