Change my voice
April 26, 2011 7:43 AM
I am laying down some hip-hop tracks with vocals. I don't like how my voice sounds. Outside of Auto-tune, what other things can I do to make my voice sound slightly different without making it sound ridiculously vocoded / auto-tuned
posted by jasondigitized (13 comments total)
posted by jasondigitized (13 comments total)
Compression is huge for vocals; I hate my recorded voice without it.
posted by dobie at 10:03 AM on April 26, 2011
posted by dobie at 10:03 AM on April 26, 2011
You can do obvious double track where there's one voice in each ear, or you can have two voices where one is more quietly recorded or the mic is further away from you. Keep them both in the same channel and that will make it seem more like one really fleshed out voice, if your vocals are pretty on beat with each other.
posted by Corduroy at 10:54 AM on April 26, 2011
posted by Corduroy at 10:54 AM on April 26, 2011
And you can use Vocalign to have them pretty much track exactly.
posted by unSane at 10:58 AM on April 26, 2011
posted by unSane at 10:58 AM on April 26, 2011
Are there any VST's that can change the timbre of my voice without sounding Autotuned?
posted by jasondigitized at 11:38 AM on April 26, 2011
posted by jasondigitized at 11:38 AM on April 26, 2011
We really need to know more about what you don't like about it or what you're trying to achieve. Posting a snippet of your voice and a link to what you want to sound like would be really helpful. Otherwise we're in the dark.
posted by unSane at 1:35 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by unSane at 1:35 PM on April 26, 2011
I just want it to sound different. Not robotic or autotuned, but just different, like someone with a different timbre / pitch in their voice.
posted by jasondigitized at 6:52 AM on April 27, 2011
posted by jasondigitized at 6:52 AM on April 27, 2011
Why don't you upload a snippet of your voice and maybe folks here can help you figure out what it is you don't like about it and how to change it. Otherwise it's really too vague. There are hundreds of things you can do to change your voice in the mix.
posted by unSane at 7:27 AM on April 27, 2011
posted by unSane at 7:27 AM on April 27, 2011
Well, there are a few things you can do.
The obvious:
Roll off the low end and use compression. This will mainly just reel in the peaks and weird transients. Google parallel compression.
Not so obvious:
Double tracking. Maybe not every word but maybe the last words of a stanza to add emphasis.
Either with the main vox or just the double tracked you could add some distortion. The beastie boys are big fans of this especially on Check your head and Ill Communication. I personally like to add a distorted track and mix the dry in with it while adjusting its eq.
Envelope filter?
Dynamic filter on the vox triggered by the beat?
Harmonizer? Play with 3rds or 4ths on certain phrases.
Slapback echo with the delay going through a dynamic filter triggered by the beat? Possibly the hihat, it may add an interesting rhythm to your vox.
Does your software allow you to record at different speeds? Speed it up slightly and record your verse. Play back at real speed and it will still be in time and still in key, but sound weird. Try going the opposite way as well.
Reamping the vox? Send the signal out to a guitar amp or stereo. Put a mic in front and record it back in. Add to original signal to taste. Try putting the speaker and mic in a tiled bathroom if you have one.
Here is some old school shit right here: a poor man's phaser/Leslie. Send the signal out to an amp or speaker. Set up a horizontal bar, mic stand, broomstick or whatever about 5ft in front of the amp. Hang a microphone over the bar with the mic cable. Hit play/Record. When the signal comes out of the speaker, start slowly pushing the mic cable with your hand so that the mic swings like a pendulum. Ideally use a bit of pre-roll before the punch in point so that you have the pendulum going at a good steady tempo. The changes in distance between the mic and sound source will cause a phaser effect when you mix it in with the original signal. Try adding 2, maybe 3 tracks in with the original. It can be frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it and get a nice pendulum swing in time with the music (half-time, double time), it can sound pretty sweet.
posted by chillmost at 11:20 AM on April 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
The obvious:
Roll off the low end and use compression. This will mainly just reel in the peaks and weird transients. Google parallel compression.
Not so obvious:
Double tracking. Maybe not every word but maybe the last words of a stanza to add emphasis.
Either with the main vox or just the double tracked you could add some distortion. The beastie boys are big fans of this especially on Check your head and Ill Communication. I personally like to add a distorted track and mix the dry in with it while adjusting its eq.
Envelope filter?
Dynamic filter on the vox triggered by the beat?
Harmonizer? Play with 3rds or 4ths on certain phrases.
Slapback echo with the delay going through a dynamic filter triggered by the beat? Possibly the hihat, it may add an interesting rhythm to your vox.
Does your software allow you to record at different speeds? Speed it up slightly and record your verse. Play back at real speed and it will still be in time and still in key, but sound weird. Try going the opposite way as well.
Reamping the vox? Send the signal out to a guitar amp or stereo. Put a mic in front and record it back in. Add to original signal to taste. Try putting the speaker and mic in a tiled bathroom if you have one.
Here is some old school shit right here: a poor man's phaser/Leslie. Send the signal out to an amp or speaker. Set up a horizontal bar, mic stand, broomstick or whatever about 5ft in front of the amp. Hang a microphone over the bar with the mic cable. Hit play/Record. When the signal comes out of the speaker, start slowly pushing the mic cable with your hand so that the mic swings like a pendulum. Ideally use a bit of pre-roll before the punch in point so that you have the pendulum going at a good steady tempo. The changes in distance between the mic and sound source will cause a phaser effect when you mix it in with the original signal. Try adding 2, maybe 3 tracks in with the original. It can be frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it and get a nice pendulum swing in time with the music (half-time, double time), it can sound pretty sweet.
posted by chillmost at 11:20 AM on April 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
One song I recorded (never released.... yet) I used an autotune program to only change the formants without changing the notes. In a way, I used it to make it sound like me singing but as though I had a slightly lower voice to start with.
The effect is subtle on my track, but interesting, and you can change your formants a lot without changing the notes.
posted by chimaera at 10:29 PM on April 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The effect is subtle on my track, but interesting, and you can change your formants a lot without changing the notes.
posted by chimaera at 10:29 PM on April 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
It case it wasn't clear, I meant that you should swing the mic away from and towards the amp. Not perpendicular to it.
posted by chillmost at 9:27 AM on April 28, 2011
posted by chillmost at 9:27 AM on April 28, 2011
There are formant affecting voice mangling programs/vst/whatevers.
A lot of hip hop tracks used to use simple pitch shift by slowing down the tape.
If you digitally pitch down your voice just a tad you might like it-nearly every DAW has a real time pitch shift.
Try to use a very light amount of a rounded square wave distortion with the highs rolled off, that plus your clean vox track slightly compressed can sound very intense. You'll just need to drop your pitch 10% or so to get it to sound pretty dark and full.
I used to do the rounded square wave distortion trick for instruments that were recorded too hot into our cheap gear. Gets rid of the clipping while making the overdrive musically useful. Did it on my voice a few times as well.
Also, chances are your voice is fine or will be after you're confident on the mic. Think about how cheesy some guys voices would be if they didn't have the confidence to back it up. Squeaky sounding guys or guys that sound like a dog barking or mush mouthed sounding dudes rapping behind a wired jaw have all become huge artists with their own respected voices.
posted by reklus at 8:50 PM on April 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
A lot of hip hop tracks used to use simple pitch shift by slowing down the tape.
If you digitally pitch down your voice just a tad you might like it-nearly every DAW has a real time pitch shift.
Try to use a very light amount of a rounded square wave distortion with the highs rolled off, that plus your clean vox track slightly compressed can sound very intense. You'll just need to drop your pitch 10% or so to get it to sound pretty dark and full.
I used to do the rounded square wave distortion trick for instruments that were recorded too hot into our cheap gear. Gets rid of the clipping while making the overdrive musically useful. Did it on my voice a few times as well.
Also, chances are your voice is fine or will be after you're confident on the mic. Think about how cheesy some guys voices would be if they didn't have the confidence to back it up. Squeaky sounding guys or guys that sound like a dog barking or mush mouthed sounding dudes rapping behind a wired jaw have all become huge artists with their own respected voices.
posted by reklus at 8:50 PM on April 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
I like SonicCharge bitspeek. It will make your voice sound ridiculously vocoded, but it can be employed subtely as a send effect and has a great crunchy lofi sound. You can have it pitch track your voice or use midi as a pitch source to modulate. fun stuff.
posted by TheKM at 1:11 AM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by TheKM at 1:11 AM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
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Double tracking is the first obvious thing.
See also: reverb, delay, chorus, compression, EQ, distortion
posted by unSane at 9:08 AM on April 26, 2011