shinsofsteel
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
- Total Posts : 29
- Joined: 2008/08/31 15:54:04
- Location: Austin, TX
- Status: offline
How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
All,
I've heard many songs that use a really airy, ethereal sounding set of background vocals...usually ah's or ooh's... but they are very smooth and "dream-like". Enya is one example of the type of thing I'm thinking about. Does anyone have any idea how they get from "regular" vocals to those really airy, smooth background vocal effects? I'm running Home Studio 4 and I have an Audio Technica AT2020 Condensor Mic if that info helps. Are they using particular EQ settings, reverbs, or a complicated combination of several manipulations?
Any insight you can offer would be appreciated.
Thanks!
John.
|
Beagle
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 50621
- Joined: 2006/03/29 11:03:12
- Location: Fort Worth, TX
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/23 19:18:34
(permalink)
Enya gets her "airy" vocals by "doubling" overdubbing of the vocals with more tracks of the same voice over and over. I've read that Enya's vox are "doubled" as many as 100 times to get that sound.
you can also do whisper tracks
|
Sonic the Hedgehog
Max Output Level: -76 dBFS
- Total Posts : 733
- Joined: 2006/09/10 13:42:06
- Location: Montréal, Canada
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/23 19:57:17
(permalink)
You can also reduce the 5Khz range...
''I work to live, but live to make music'' -Mahler
|
tfbattag
Max Output Level: -82 dBFS
- Total Posts : 422
- Joined: 2006/02/16 13:22:03
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/23 21:38:01
(permalink)
I've been working on using a female voice to get an airy effect recently, and finally did by getting the vocalist to use the whispering technique while removing the de-esser from my signal chain. I boosted above 10K and added the BBE Sonic Maximzer plug. Very airy....
Thomas Battaglia :wq! ----------------------------------------------------------- Intel DP35DP, Q6600, 6GB RAM, Win7Pro x64; RME HDSPe RayDAT; RME ADI8-DS x2, RME ADI-2.
|
shinsofsteel
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
- Total Posts : 29
- Joined: 2008/08/31 15:54:04
- Location: Austin, TX
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/23 23:57:25
(permalink)
Wow, I have no idea what some of y'all are talking about :-) I am very intrigued though. I assume that a whisper track or whisper technique is what its name implies.... singing the part in a breathy whisper. I've tried that at least somewhat but couldn't hold the notes while being so breathy.
"while removing the de-esser from my signal chain. I boosted above 10K and added the BBE Sonic Maximzer plug"... I'm such an amateur that I don't know what a de-esser or the BBE sonic maximizer is. I will have to play with cutting and boosting the mentioned frequencies to see how that affects the sound.
If anyone else has insight.... I'll be checking back periodically.
Thanks for the help offered so far. I'll do some more playing with it and see what I come up with.
Take care.
John
|
MarlboroMan23
Max Output Level: -75 dBFS
- Total Posts : 776
- Joined: 2005/08/20 20:32:17
- Location: Lil' D Texas
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/24 00:24:57
(permalink)
Try this signal chain for dreamlike oohs and ahs:
parametric eq (reduce lows and highs) -> chorus -> delay (adjust times and repeats to taste) -> reverb (Hall setting 100% wet)
You can put these in your fx bin and try enabling/disabling them one at time to see the effect each has within the chain.
|
tfbattag
Max Output Level: -82 dBFS
- Total Posts : 422
- Joined: 2006/02/16 13:22:03
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/24 11:09:10
(permalink)
ORIGINAL: shinsofsteel
Wow, I have no idea what some of y'all are talking about :-) I am very intrigued though. I assume that a whisper track or whisper technique is what its name implies.... singing the part in a breathy whisper. I've tried that at least somewhat but couldn't hold the notes while being so breathy.
"while removing the de-esser from my signal chain. I boosted above 10K and added the BBE Sonic Maximzer plug"... I'm such an amateur that I don't know what a de-esser or the BBE sonic maximizer is. I will have to play with cutting and boosting the mentioned frequencies to see how that affects the sound.
If anyone else has insight.... I'll be checking back periodically.
Thanks for the help offered so far. I'll do some more playing with it and see what I come up with.
Take care.
John
Sorry for the confusion John. The de-esser is a feature on some mic pre-amps or channel strips that reduces sibilance (the whistly "s" sound) in vocal tracks. The BBE Sonic Maximizer is an inexpensive plug-in (or can be a hardware device) that is supposed to boost the high-end in audio to make things more "sparkly." It is generally a plug/device that is not very highly regarded, but for creating an airy effect, it works pretty well.
Thomas Battaglia :wq! ----------------------------------------------------------- Intel DP35DP, Q6600, 6GB RAM, Win7Pro x64; RME HDSPe RayDAT; RME ADI8-DS x2, RME ADI-2.
|
alxi
Max Output Level: -86 dBFS
- Total Posts : 230
- Joined: 2006/09/14 22:52:48
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/01/24 12:32:40
(permalink)
Here's a trick a learn recently for airy back vocals. Send all your Back vox to a Bus called Airy ( per say ) On that Bus put ( let say ) The VC-64 in the Fx bin. Hi-Pass everything under 4 or 5 khz ( to taste ) Add a hi shelf at 10-12K ( to taste ) and boost tremendusly ( 10db) Then compress the heck out of it ( 10db of gr ) Blend with the original back vox... you'll get a beautiful shine and a smooth top end -Alxi-
post edited by alxi - 2009/01/24 12:33:58
|
landonjohnson
Max Output Level: -89 dBFS
- Total Posts : 91
- Joined: 2009/02/06 16:23:59
- Location: Sperm and Egg just like you
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/07 08:53:48
(permalink)
When I read somewhere that it woul;d help to layer background vox I tried it and I like my backing vox better than my lead vox!
I set up track templates - BV Hi L, BV Hi R, BV Mid L, BV Mid R and so on, and I just keep loading rracks and recording the same phrase over several times, then move to the next phrase, etc. until I have at least two of each voice point - more if I want a smoother sound.
At the end, I will have at least 4 hi, 4 mid, and 4 bass backing vocal tracks. DO NOT do this by copying one vocal and trying to make it sound different via nudge or EQ - the effect won't be the same.
Also, it's important to manage your sibilants - emphasize them a little in each pass, and make sure they are performed the same way for each track timing-wise (that's why I do one phrase at a time). Use v-vocal to slide the occasional off-time attack closer to the target time (recording by phrase also helps in the v-vocal process- no need to split tracks into phrases).
I will then solo the BVs and get the mix and field the way I want it; assign the entire BV section as a group, and adjust the relative volume of the BV mix. You can compress (I normalize) the tracks before you create your submix.
That's just what works for me - with the caveat that if you listen to my work it does not sound like the harmony I would like, but that's more a question of lack of talent than lack of mixing ability.
Good luck!
LJ
|
ohhey
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 11676
- Joined: 2003/11/06 16:24:07
- Location: Fort Worth Texas USA
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/07 12:03:59
(permalink)
ORIGINAL: shinsofsteel
All,
I've heard many songs that use a really airy, ethereal sounding set of background vocals...usually ah's or ooh's... but they are very smooth and "dream-like". Enya is one example of the type of thing I'm thinking about. Does anyone have any idea how they get from "regular" vocals to those really airy, smooth background vocal effects? I'm running Home Studio 4 and I have an Audio Technica AT2020 Condensor Mic if that info helps. Are they using particular EQ settings, reverbs, or a complicated combination of several manipulations?
Any insight you can offer would be appreciated.
Thanks!
John.
To make the background sustain you can use a delay and then reverb. You can even stack two reverbs or have one before and after the delay. Use the mix control on the reverb plugin adjust the amount of dry vs effect. Often with that type of track you want more effect then dry so it washes out and gets airy.
|
tarsier
Max Output Level: -45 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3029
- Joined: 2003/11/07 11:51:35
- Location: 6 feet under
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/07 16:55:03
(permalink)
|
mcourter
Max Output Level: -41 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3442
- Joined: 2006/02/27 16:57:11
- Location: Los Angeles area
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/09 12:07:01
(permalink)
I managed to get that effect with reverb and delay with a long tail preset
A few guitars, a couple of basses, a MIDI controller, a mandolin, a banjo, a mic, PodFarm2 Unbridled Enthusiasm My music: www.Soundclick.com/markcourter
|
Philip
Max Output Level: -34.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 4062
- Joined: 2007/03/21 13:09:13
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/11 12:45:49
(permalink)
Sounds like this might be a job for Perfect Space (smooth reverb) or Z3ta (emotive dramatic delays)
post edited by Philip - 2009/02/11 12:46:13
|
mitchpetel
Max Output Level: -85 dBFS
- Total Posts : 275
- Joined: 2007/11/06 12:19:41
- Location: London, Ontario, Canada
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/18 15:50:32
(permalink)
I don't know if there's any truth to this and I've never tried it but.....
Producer Mutt Lange (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain) was said to have triggered and mixed in a small amount of 'white noise' on the background vocal submix to get his signature huge sound.
Sonar X1 Studio, Win 10 64bit , Roland Quad-Capture, (Alesis MultiMix16 USB 2.0 , Zoom R16), M Audio KeyRig 49 USB controller ezDrummer, NI Studio Drummer, Groove Monkee MIDI loops, PODxt,
|
ohhey
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 11676
- Joined: 2003/11/06 16:24:07
- Location: Fort Worth Texas USA
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/18 16:22:04
(permalink)
ORIGINAL: mitchpetel
I don't know if there's any truth to this and I've never tried it but.....
Producer Mutt Lange (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain) was said to have triggered and mixed in a small amount of 'white noise' on the background vocal submix to get his signature huge sound.
Mutt has a huge bag of tricks. To get that wide stereo vocal with little or no reverb like Shania Twain use a stereo pitch shifting plugin or send to two mono pitch shifting plugins. Set one side to +1 cent, and the other side to -1 cent and pan them hard right and left. He may have used some hardware device for this but you can do it easy in a DAW. If you don't have a pitch shift plugin that works in real time just export the track in mono and make two copies of it. Use your wav editor to pitch shift each one by 1 cent each direction and import them back in so you end up with 3 vocal tracks. The normal one center, and the other two panned hard right and left.
|
Ikaru
Max Output Level: -86 dBFS
- Total Posts : 214
- Joined: 2005/12/13 19:13:04
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2009/02/18 16:36:39
(permalink)
ORIGINAL: ohhey
ORIGINAL: mitchpetel
I don't know if there's any truth to this and I've never tried it but.....
Producer Mutt Lange (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain) was said to have triggered and mixed in a small amount of 'white noise' on the background vocal submix to get his signature huge sound.
Mutt has a huge bag of tricks. To get that wide stereo vocal with little or no reverb like Shania Twain use a stereo pitch shifting plugin or send to two mono pitch shifting plugins. Set one side to +1 cent, and the other side to -1 cent and pan them hard right and left. He may have used some hardware device for this but you can do it easy in a DAW. If you don't have a pitch shift plugin that works in real time just export the track in mono and make two copies of it. Use your wav editor to pitch shift each one by 1 cent each direction and import them back in so you end up with 3 vocal tracks. The normal one center, and the other two panned hard right and left.
|
Desafinado
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2
- Joined: 2011/10/07 19:15:22
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2011/10/07 19:18:26
(permalink)
A fantastic plugin for achieving this effect is: MDA Detune It's free and it sounds fantastic. Very simple yet very effective. You can adjust the detune and latency. It's also great for bass guitar (Hooky from New Order style bass sounds) Vocals is where it really shines though :-)
|
Desafinado
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2
- Joined: 2011/10/07 19:15:22
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2011/10/07 19:20:13
(permalink)
Prefab Sprout also have this airy effect on a lot of their tracks. There's some patches on Atmosphere that have it aswell. The Fairlight Vox style patches which are the same sound as used on Moments In Love (Art of Noise) I'm gonna attempt this tomorrow and see if I can get close! Some SoundClick examples wouldn't hurt in this thread :-)
|
Middleman
Max Output Level: -31.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 4397
- Joined: 2003/12/04 00:58:50
- Location: Orange County, CA
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2011/10/07 20:17:37
(permalink)
Go here: http://techbreakfast.com/dvd2/ listen to the song playing. Are those the type of background vocals your are referring to? If so, for the price of a plugin you can purchase the DVD which outlines how to get those type of background vocals for R&B. On the chance that this is not the type of BG vocals you want to emulate, list a couple of songs you think have these type of vocals so we can all run over to Youtube and hear an example.
|
bitflipper
01100010 01101001 01110100 01100110 01101100 01101
- Total Posts : 26036
- Joined: 2006/09/17 11:23:23
- Location: Everett, WA USA
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2011/10/08 12:49:48
(permalink)
One of the classic examples is Fleetwood Mac's "Tell Me Lies", with its incredibly fat and smooth chorus. The technique was straightforward: LOTS of overdubs and heavy compression. Because it was recorded to analog tape, there is naturally a lot of white noise from the cumulative tape hiss after multiple bounces.
As someone mentioned above, it's important to keep consonants soft for the overdubs, as they will add together. This is a good general rule for any overdubbing, even basic double-tracking of a lead vocal or adding harmonies. Only one of the tracks needs to have all the "k"s, "t"s and "p"s in their normal proportion.
 All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. My Stuff
|
Bristol_Jonesey
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 16775
- Joined: 2007/10/08 15:41:17
- Location: Bristol, UK
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2011/10/10 09:14:31
(permalink)
MarlboroMan23
Try this signal chain for dreamlike oohs and ahs:
parametric eq (reduce lows and highs) -> chorus -> delay (adjust times and repeats to taste) -> reverb (Hall setting 100% wet)
You can put these in your fx bin and try enabling/disabling them one at time to see the effect each has within the chain.
If your reverb is in the track Fx bin you probably don't want it to be 100% wet - adjust to taste.
CbB, Platinum, 64 bit throughoutCustom built i7 3930, 32Gb RAM, 2 x 1Tb Internal HDD, 1 x 1TB system SSD (Win 7), 1 x 500Gb system SSD (Win 10), 2 x 1Tb External HDD's, Dual boot Win 7 & Win 10 64 Bit, Saffire Pro 26, ISA One, Adam P11A,
|
jamesg1213
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 21760
- Joined: 2006/04/18 14:42:48
- Location: SW Scotland
- Status: offline
RE: How to get "airy" ethereal background vocals?
2011/10/10 14:17:15
(permalink)
I was just about to welcome 'Sonic the Hedgehog' back when I noticed this is a resurrected thread from Jan '09.. 
Jyemz Thrombold's Patented Brisk Weather Pantaloonettes with Inclementometer
|