Best way to create a vocal break in a live drum track?

[soul]

Hey guys,

I want to manufacture a "vocal break" or a "hole in the music" for one measure then bring the performance back in. What is the best way to do this (particulary drum tracks) ??

Listen to my quick mock-edit here using a reverse: http://www.fourstarriot.com/production/mfgd_hole.mp3

What would you use, fade? reverse? tape stop? I would edit in something but, I dont have any other parts where it goes from that same drum beat to a hit or crash and then stops.

Obviously this will sound manufactured. Thats OK, but I want it to sound good. Any advice?

Im using and old TDM Mix+ rig, but I also have PTLE 7.4 on my laptop. I just downloaded my PTLE8, but havent installed yet. This topic was also posted on Gearslutz yesterday. Hope you guys have some suggestions.

Thanks!
Steve

[Stig Eliassen]

I'd probably use a combination of all the things you mentioned, and just try out different methods. I think the break sounds cool, except that the last snare hit is choked by the edit.

[soul]

Thanks, Stig! Good to hear from ya.

[Stig Eliassen]

You're welcome. You know, my first reply wasn't much help to you I guess, but with these kind of breaks anything goes. A reversed guitar chord, reversed cymbal, maybe some cool modulation fx on the reversed elements, some rhythmic filters that fades in during the break, etc...the sky is the limit.

With that said, I still think the break you have is cool. Just tighten up that drum edit, and you're golden.

[O.G. Killa]

what throws me is the reverse in the drums. It kills the groove. I suggest using some sort of riser/sweep into the stop instead of reversing the drums. Here's what I would do...

Create maybe 3 or 4 new tracks... on the first one add a reverse cymbal from any sound library you can find, even if you have to record a regular cymbal crash out of xpand or BFD or Strike and then reverse it after you recorded it to audio. Then do the same thing on the second track with a sampled snare hit or clap. Try to find a hit with a long reverb tail. When reversed it will create a nice "suction" sound (hopefully).

On the third track, open up Audiosuite Signal generator and print maybe one or two bars of white noise, stopping right on the downbeat of the break. If you have any type of filter plugin (I use filterfreak) insert that and automate a Bandpass filter sweep and play with the resonance and the amount of poles... if you don't, you can use Digi EQ3. Automate one band to sweep from very low to very high with a very narrow Q. You might also need to automate a low and high shelf to get rid of any extra sound around the band you are sweeping.

On the fourth track, play a guitar chord that matches the last chord they play before the break. Strike the chord and hold it for a couple bars. Then reverse it, and fade it in so that it builds to the stop. Chop it right at the stop. Or you can look for a sustained guitar part from somewhere else in the song and use that so long as it will work musically when reversed.

Then add some fun effects for taste. Mono to Stereo Phasers work really well for a lot of these types of sounds, maybe put one on a couple of the tracks. Pitch shift can sometimes be cool, and slap delays that mute right at the cut are really cool too.

After that's all done start playing with the relative volume of the 4 tracks. It might sound cool to have one fade down towards the end as another one comes up. play with automation. You can then leave it like that or bus it to a new stereo track and print it to audio, your choice.