From the course: Audio Mixing Master Class
Dual untimed vocal slaps - Pro Tools Tutorial
From the course: Audio Mixing Master Class
Dual untimed vocal slaps
- Timing effects to the track can really make them blend in, but sometimes it sounds a lot better if you go in the opposite direction. Here's a trick that will thicken those vocals in a novel way. First of all, let's listen to our lead vocal, soloed-up. ♫ Every day is a gift. ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live. - What we heard there is the lead vocal. There's a delay on it already and it has some reverb as well. So that sounds pretty good, but what we want is a thicker-sounding vocal. So what we're going to do is add our delay. I've already done it, it's just this one right here. It's our vocal delay and it's stereo. But what we're going to do is just randomly pick some numbers between 60 and about 120 milliseconds. So I'm going to put this side at maybe, say, 74 and this one, we'll make it higher, we'll make it 108. So that's what we want to do. We'll add a little bit of slap as well, so we'll give some feedback here. And now, let's feed our vocal to it and hear what it sounds like. ♫ Every day is a gift - You can hear it's getting a little lighter now. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - We're not finished though. What we really want to do is make this even thicker, and a good way to do it, and to spread things out as well, is to modulate our delay. So we'll go to our chorus here, just in its default setting. Now let's have a listen. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - We'll listen to it bypassed and then I'll insert it midway through. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - And what happens is it thickens it up. It makes it a little bit denser and darker. And that's what we're trying to do, we're trying to make this thick. And that's a good way to do it. Now, we can go and we could make it a little crazier. We can have a higher rate and a higher depth, and let's listen to what that sounds like. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - And we really don't hear too much. Actually, you know what we'll do, let's just bring this up a level. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - Listen in the track. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - We've given the vocals some life. We've made it bigger and fatter. We're pan hard left and right. We don't have to do it hard left and right, we can just pan it out to the sides a little bit. Now listen. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - And that thickens it up as well. But usually, I like it when it's out in the sides as well. Make it as wide as is possible. ♫ Every day is a gift - We can also use this on background vocals as well, and I want you to listen to the backgrounds. And, first of all, what we'll do is just listen to the way they are right now. ♫ Every day is a gift - And listen with a little bit of our effect mixed in. ♫ Every day is a gift - That's a lot more interesting. It's a lot bigger. Now, listen. ♫ Every day is a gift - Listen to it the way it was before. ♫ Every day is a gift - Sounds a lot better with the effect, doesn't it? ♫ Every day is a gift - Let's listen to the lead vocal with the backgrounds. ♫ Every day is a gift ♫ Every day is a lesson how to live - So what we've done is we've beefed up the sound of both lead vocal and the background vocals in a very unobtrusive way. It doesn't sound like an effect. And what we've done is we've used untimed delays, and up until this point we've been timing all of our delays. But sometimes it blends in too much, and what we really want is for that to stand out and if it stands out, it makes it a little bit thicker and denser. So, that's the untimed slap trick. To make the lead or background vocals thicker, first create a new stereo delay channel. Set each side of the delay to a different random delay time, from 60 to around 120 milliseconds. Be sure not to time the delays to the track. Insert a modulation processor like a chorus, flanger, or pitch shifter after the delay in the signal chain. Set the modulation processor to multi-mono, then set the parameters for each channel differently with one having more depth and the other having a faster rate. Add the delay back in underneath the main or background vocal channel.
Contents
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The Abbey Road reverb trick6m 7s
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The Real NYC compression trick8m 52s
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The secret to "punchy" drums6m
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Give your vocal an awesome airy sound4m 13s
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Dr. Pepper 1176 setting4m 8s
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Low-volume listening for a great mix balance6m 59s
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The secret SSL buss compressor setting4m 36s
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Using a short reverb for a massive sound5m 43s
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Make your mixes hot and loud10m 11s
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The Van Halen guitar sound trick5m 40s
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Give your bass some low-end definition5m 42s
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Make your vocal shine with a stereo delay7m 13s
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Add some excitement to your boring pad tracks5m 2s
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Make your programmed hi-hat come alive5m 37s
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Get that old-school delay feedback5m 33s
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Eliminate unwanted track noises like the pros4m 37s
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Short reverb decay is your friend5m 17s
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The 1176 British "nuke" setting4m 8s
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The mono spring vocal surprise4m 6s
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Put some "smack" in your snare1m 52s
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"Space" for your keyboard tracks3m 1s
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The secret to panning background vocals3m 35s
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The “nail In the paddle” rock kick sound3m 57s
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The Hank Marvin multihued delay trick4m 21s
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Emphasizing the beat with a pumping rhythm guitar5m 17s
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Simulating a tape delay6m 45s
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Parallel compression for punch with dynamics7m 26s
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How to get reverse reverb7m 48s
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Tweak your track timing like the pros6m 9s
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The biggest sound from the shortest delay3m 53s
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The ultimate 80s guitar room sound3m 7s
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Taming the picked bass5m 18s
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The secret to gated drums4m 50s
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The exploding snare trick4m 11s
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The awesome double-effect trick3m 33s
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The moving filter trick3m 9s
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The terrific timed reverb trick7m 48s
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Acoustic guitar peak limiter trick4m 39s
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The Tommy Lee thunder drums trick5m 6s
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The mono listening trick5m 1s
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The pitchy vocal coveruo trick3m 48s
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Tighten up releases4m 1s
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The large and thick background vocal trick3m 31s
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The legendary layered reverbs trick6m 33s
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Bones Howe 1176 setting4m 17s
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The big pad reverb trick4m 26s
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Effective effects automation5m 33s
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Eliminating clicks and pops3m 35s
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EQing the mix buss4m 49s
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The magic of mono reverb5m 9s
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Adding presence with flanging3m 58s
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Insanely big room sound4m 19s
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EQ your vocal with multiband compression4m 19s
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The Abbey Road double-track trick5m 28s
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The secret Pultec bass setting3m 42s
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Increase your background vocal energy3m 13s
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EQing the perfect club kick2m 34s
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Another exploding snare trick4m
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Perfect DI and mic'd bass phase3m 34s
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Finding the Elton John piano sound4m 39s
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Effecting the effects5m 41s
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Panning outside the speakers5m 25s
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The wisdom of dotted and triplet delays4m 42s
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Increase your room mic presence5m 15s
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The dbx 160 punchy drum setting6m 8s
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Dual untimed vocal slaps5m 3s
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Tuning the kick to the song4m 28s
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De-essing the reverb4m 36s
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Let's hear it for mid-side processing3m 54s
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Dial in your low end with an RTA5m 36s
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Add some air to that piano5m 55s
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Lock the feel of the bass and kick4m 41s
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Swept midrange guitar trick5m 16s
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Hat pad trigger trick4m 9s
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Big thump snare3m 57s
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Single word delay3m 48s
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Drum replacement4m 47s
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Keyboard life4m 4s
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Balance kick and bass8m 51s
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Ducked reverb5m 52s
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Autopanning5m 38s
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Tame peaky acoustic guitar5m 9s
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Snare ambience5m 3s
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Pitchy vocal4m 13s
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Snappy snare4m 58s
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Super big reverb5m 52s
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Spectral widening4m 37s
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Clean overheads4m 38s
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Argo vocals4m 21s
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EMT short room6m 19s
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Massive snare5m 1s
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Compressed reverb4m 30s
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Bass wide4m 47s
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Vocal control3m 42s
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Compressed guitars5m 26s
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Snappy snare4m 47s
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Dry vocals2m 44s
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Bass trigger4m 15s
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Hard snare4m 51s
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Drum phase3m 25s
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Floppy kick2m 56s
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Rough mix5m 58s
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Make your drums fills more dynamic3m 23s
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The filter boost technique3m 5s
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Add some sizzle to your snare3m 3s
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That big wide guitar sound5m 53s
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Hear every hat nuance4m 25s
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Micropan for greater track separation8m 33s
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Make those toms bombastic5m 11s
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The power of the high-pass filter3m 53s
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Add some ambience to your percussion5m 9s
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Flat fader mixing8m 45s
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Get control of your cymbals2m 16s
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