add emotion to vocal tracks

[Jt06]

for this specific project, its only acoustic guitar and vocals. recorded seperatley, but the goal is to make it sound like a live, all-in-one, performance. with that being said, we are intentionally NOT piecing together parts.. we'll do different takes, but the song is being played, or sung, all the way through.. (with all due respect, please leave negative comments on that to yourselves. each project is different and there are reasons to every approach.) on the vocals, the singer gains emotion as the song goes on. from verse 2 and on the emotion in the vocals are perfect. the first verse and first chorus seem like their lacking some emtion a bit. but the key and whatnot are fine. Therefore, we don't want to redo the whole thing.. what kind of mixing/eq can i do to the beginning to add some emotion to the vocals while making it blend with the whole song??

[albee1952]

I heard it said that the key to great acting is honesty, and once you can fake that, you're all set

Sadly, "emotion" is the one thing that just can't be faked. If the player played to a click track, then its easy enough to take from several "takes" and make the best "comp", but in the end, I suggest concentrating on mixing to make the most of what you have, and see if maybe the vocal can "build" as the song progresses. Do critical listening to the first verse, then jump to the last(best?) and let your ears tell you what might be different.

Maybe on the last verse, the singer leaned in closer to the mic? add some lows or low-mids in the first verse to try to match the proximity effect that happens when a singer gets close to the mic.

Or maybe the singer gets "edgier" in the later parts so you might add some upper-mids on the early part. Remember that you can automate any EQ parameter, or you could insert 2 or 3 EQ plugins, set one for verse 1 and automate it to bypass the rest of the song. Next EQ plugin could be bypassed until the middle and the 3rd EQ plugin could come on for the last part.(IOW, you have a lot of possibilities available)

Or maybe listen for breaths and actually bring them up in the mix as they may give the impression of more "emotion"(it never hurt Michael Jackson).

[philgrab]

Side chain the vocal through a distortion unit. Add in as needed. It will sound like the singer is pushing the mic.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by philgrab

Side chain the vocal through a distortion unit. Add in as needed. It will sound like the singer is pushing the mic.

This reminds me of another(and very similar) trick for a vocal that won't "pop". Add a send to an AUX(Mono is fine). On the AUX track, insert EQ III and turn on the hi-pass and slide the frequency way up to like 3KHz. In the next insert, add a distortion plugin(Sansamp or AIR Distortion will work). Set the distortion plugin to a preset with mild-moderate overdrive. Bring the fader up to taste. More subtle than phil's method, but still can make a world of difference

[Southsidemusic]

Originally Posted by albee1952

This reminds me of another(and very similar) trick for a vocal that won't "pop". Add a send to an AUX(Mono is fine). On the AUX track, insert EQ III and turn on the hi-pass and slide the frequency way up to like 3KHz. In the next insert, add a distortion plugin(Sansamp or AIR Distortion will work). Set the distortion plugin to a preset with mild-moderate overdrive. Bring the fader up to taste. More subtle than phil's method, but still can make a world of difference

Yes or best advice - Redo everything from scratch and make sure that the signal chain is 100 and make sure the "talent" used friviously can do the job required or look elsewhere.

A flat vocal will never be good enough for any release for the public as it can't be made up to scratch no matter how much processing you add. Sorry.

[JFreak]

Easiest way out: insert a Maag EQ by plugin alliance and you have instant gratification with the AIR band :)

[albee1952]

I'n not so sure any plugin will make that kind of improvement, BUT, you never know...Indeed, the Maag is a great plugin and the only one besides a good Pultec that can do "air" well. The Waves Puigtech ends up in every mix I do here, on all lead vocals, most BGV's, most acoustic guitars and more(and the Maag is a worthy replacement)