Source
r/audioengineering•
ReasonHead

Client is asking for some "cool fx" on his vocals. What to do?

He's a rapper and doesn't know anything about AE. I've asked for references but the ones he provided have very soft/smooth vocals while his voice is very aggressive.

  • If I put on the same amount of autotune as the references it's not as audible because of the distorted voice he has.

  • The type and amount of reverb the references use also doesn't sound as good on his voice.

  • Pitching the vocal track up an octave or playing around with the formant doesn't make it better.

  • Chorus/phasers are also not a good choice.

  • Guitar amp in parallel works okay-ish.

  • Doubles don't fit the vibe of the track.

That's about all I know to do in terms of "cool fx". What else could I try? I need something to fatten up the track, like the guitar amp.

Posted Mar 15, 2020, 11:28 AM UTC

019
Repentantant•

Personally I'd never waste time guessing. I'd work to the references client provided rather than their words.. And flag that there's a mismatch from your perspective. Might save a ton of hassle later.

IME whatever I think is "cool fx" isn't to the client...but your experience may differ.

Also recommend doing a very short segment and get signoff. Going backwards after that is an AA.

16
TizardPaperclip•

Going backwards after that is an AA.

An Audio Asshole?

2
Repentantant•

Lol, maybe sometimes...

naaah, usually these things are a communication issue. clients just want great stuff but they and the contractor don't always use the same language references

2
TizardPaperclip•

What the fuck is an "AA"?

1
Repentantant•

In jobs like design/video/writing, AA means "author's alterations"...an old print term. The 'author' is the client. AAs are additional changes above and beyond the agreed scope that will require adding unplanned work and budget to a project.

2
SkepticWolfEducator•

I know you said doubles don’t fit the vibe, but I’m working with some of my HS students on a rap track they’re making for a project and simple LR delay blew their minds.

They’re doing in garage band (I know I know...) so there’s not much available for effects. I showed them how to duplicate the vocal, pan hard left and right, and offset them by a couple milliseconds. They got wicked excited and were talking about how “that exactly what they were looking for and it sounds so cool!”

Maybe give it a shot? Seems pretty standard for the genre

7
ReasonHeadOP•

So basically haas-effect?

7
SkepticWolfEducator•

Exactly

1
Hououin_VivonaStudent•

Personally I like to make vocoder patterns for the vocals, then I send this to a reverb bus. Using only the reverbered signal of the vocoder. It adds a lot of space and is really delicate. It takes a little time to make the midi patterns for the vocoder, I think that’s the main con

5
ReasonHeadOP•

Huh, that sounds interesting. Thanks!

2
woodrowlow•

Waves just made a new plug in that colors and textures like nobody’s biz. $70 OVOX. Watch a YouTube vid on it

5
CuntyMcFagNuts18•

That plugins destroys my CPU. I have to up the rate up to 1024 just to stop the crackles and pops

1
JamminJerome•

If possible have the client present, or on the phone/FaceTime, and go through some stuff and get approval before moving forward.

2
ReasonHeadOP•

He's been present for over an hour when we tried stuff out.

1
some12345thing•

Vocoder?

2
Tyrolf•

Maybe compress more and add even more nice sounding distortion ? Or autotune + distortion + formant pitching in an aux ? You have to try shit until it sounds nice, trust your ears. If you really can’t, its his voice... Maybe do more takes with different intensity ?

1
ReasonHeadOP•

I'll try that, thanks.

You have to try shit until it sounds nice, trust your ears.

That's what I did until now, didn't get anything good out of it.

2
[deleted]•

[removed]

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