EMINEM VOCAL TRICKS?!! DOES ANYONE KNOW

[tdmaniac]

Out of curiosity, I was just wondering what type of protools plugins can be used to add effects to hip hop vocals. The one used on eminem's tracks makes his voice sound more..how can I describe this.. more rugged, tougher and simply cooler sounding ..can anyone offer suggestions?

[BrandonABrown]

Try a plug-in called sans-amp. Makes things distorted, generally intended for use with a guitar, but can also make someone's voice sound awesome.

Hmm.. also try recti-fi, moogerfrooger, metaflanger, mondomod, etc. These are generally goods ways to distort vocals or sounds.

Good Luck.
-Akira

[Mike Tholen]

that's simply the way he (Eminem) sounds.

[tdmaniac]

Hi Mike, I do agree Eminem has good flow, however, extra processing is being used on his vocal for certain tracks. I know that for a fact because I listened to eminem's recordings before he got big, and his voice was more dry and flat (of course, since he wasn't having Dr. Dre producing his songs at the time). I first heard him freestyle on this hip hop dj mix cd by DJ RECTANGLE. If you compare there two there is a BIG difference.

Thanks for the tips Brandon!!

[Kenny Gioia]

He uses alot of chorus and he'll triple a vox and pan 1 left and 1 right and 1 in the center.

He's also great though.

[Dopamine]

<<He uses alot of chorus and he'll triple a vox and pan 1 left and 1 right and 1 in the center.>>

Hey Produceher, do you think Dre does stuff like that or is it the mixer? Just made me think, because in my productions I usually temp some ideas like that, then get the mixer to perfect them. What's your take on this?

[Hardnox]

I have followed Eminem's recording for a while now. One thing I have read about Dr Dre productions/sessions is there is minimal outboard gear and he doesn't use pro tools much...old school analoge. (Yea, I call it old school...I'm 23 and never recorded to tape in my life thus far). I get all of the singles in the mail so I have the opportunity study the acapellas. I hear slight delays and some doubling. I think I hear about about 4 vocal tracks with Delay in "Whithout Me" Panned wide. Whereas "Lose yourself"...those seem doubled or tripled and right down the middle with the guitar occupying the "wide" space.

Yes Eminem does sound very different from early in his career. BUT I would have to first attribute that to his own improvement as an artist and his ability to constantly improve at the way he delivers vocal. I think Dre helped him with this (Em said that in a book that Dre tought him how to do more things with his voice.)

I'm gonna have to say that the sound is Eminem and not much processing. Other than the little "radio" effects he does sometimes. Seams like some good compression and just that "rough" sound.

I don't claim to know EXACTLY so correct me if I'm wrong.

Hey! Mike Elizondo (Dre's keyboardist) will be speaking at NAMM in So California next week. Somebody ask Him...He's in those sessions!

[tdmaniac]

Hey everyone thanks for the insights. I agree 100% that the sound primarily comes from his own vocal delivery, however, I was just wondering what techniques were used:
"I think I hear about about 4 vocal tracks with Delay in "Without Me" Panned wide. Whereas "Lose yourself"...those seem doubled or tripled and right down the middle with the guitar occupying the "wide" space."
These tips are exactly what I was aiming for. I'm thinking of helping my friend out with some hip hop tracks, so I wanted to be prepared with some cool techniques before starting. Thanks for the heads up hardknox! I agree Dr dre comes from the OLD SCHOOL, so you are probably dead on about his love for analogue gear. I'm definitely a new schooler. I started straight out on the motu 2408 3 years ago and I finally got an HD system a month ago after realizing it's power (and getting the courage to be ain debt for the next 6months to pay it off =) ..Ah..but its all worth it to see my access virus as a plugin. Anways' I'm going to be at the NAMM show so I might just hit up that Elizondo dude.

[bluemt]

Eminem's genious cannot be replicated. Don't even bother trying.

You should focus on lesser forms of music such as Miles Davis'.

[Peter Steinbach]

"You should focus on lesser forms of music such as Miles Davis"

Please please please tell me your kidding!