Focusrite VoiceMaster Guia Del Usuario página 9

Tuning control until the vocals sound more balanced.
Then listen to the vocal in context of the mix, and
adjust the amount of cut on the Warmth control to give
the correct sound in context. If necessary at this time,
you may also need to increase the amount of Breath.
Flat: Increase the Presence control in the Voice Optimised
EQ.You may also need to add some Breath, and then
maybe some Warmth (if the result has too much top-
end). However, beware of overdoing the effect by adding
too much.
Harsh: Use the Absence button in the Voice Optimised EQ.
This gives a natural dip to the harsh frequencies.You
may also want to add some Warmth, and if necessary,
remove some Presence or Breath.
Lost in the mix: Increase the Presence control in the Voice
Optimised EQ.Avoid using too much Warmth on the
vocal, as you will be boosting frequencies in the same
frequency range as the instruments on the track.
Sibilant: If sibilant words (those containing "s" sounds) are
standing out, use the Opto De-Esser to make them
sound more natural. Set it as follows:
To isolate the sibilant frequency:
1. Turn on the Voice Optimised EQ and turn up the
Breath control to accentuate the sibilance. (If you are
already using the Voice Optimised EQ, make a note of
the Breath control setting so that you can restore it once
you have fixed the sibilance.)
2. In the Opto De-Esser, adjust the Cut Freq control
until you can hear that the Opto De-Esser is affecting
the sibilance.
3. Increase the Threshold control until the Active LED
lights only when there is sibilance in the signal.
4. Turn off the Voice Optimised EQ (or restore the Breath
control to its previous setting).
Spoken word
When recording the spoken word, use the Warmth control
in the Voice Optimised EQ to give a deep, resonant and
powerful-sounding voice.This is the sort of effect used
by DJs.
Backing Vocals
Backing vocals are normally heavily compressed, since you
want them to have a continuous presence without volume
variations. Set the Opto-Compressor as follows:
To avoid the backing vocals being too fat and
overpowering:
¤ In the Voice Optimised EQ, use the Warmth control to
reduce the amount of bass in the vocals.
¤ In the Opto-Compressor, use the Treble control to boost
the treble.
Mixing Down
When mixing down, don't be afraid to be outrageous.
Don't try and make the vocal sound natural, since one that
stands out in the mix is usually heavily affected. In pop, for
example, the vocal is invariably heavily compressed, and has
equalisation added. In the Vocal Saturator, try using the
Drive control (with the Tuning control in its Full
Bandwidth position) to give an analogue sound. Or use the
Tuning control to give a low fidelity effect.
Adding effects such as reverb or delay
Sometimes, reverb or delay can sound too lively and tends
to "zing" – this is caused by sibilance in the voice. If you
find this with the vocals you have recorded, you can try
using the Opto De-esser to fix the problem. First, connect
the unit as shown in the following diagram:
VoiceMaster
Reverb
Using the Opto De-esser, heavily de-ess the signal that will
be sent to the effects unit, using the Master Fader to set the
output level to it.At the recorder, mix the dry signal (from
the Line O/P (Pre de-ess) socket on the back of the
VoiceMaster™) with the wet signal from the effects unit.
Fixing bleed
If there is noticeable bleed from other instruments off the
vocalist's headphones, remove it when mixing down using
the Noise Reducing Expander. Note that the more you
compress a track, the more noticeable any bleed becomes.
E n g l i s h
page 9