Getting "breath/air" in vocals

[pkcraft]

I'm looking for advice on how to add "breath" or "air" in
vocal takes. Professional recordings that I hear on
the radio (Sarah McClaughlin for example) have a breathy
quality about them that gives them presence that I can't
seem to get.

Clearly the quality of gear is an issue, but I've got
pretty good stuff now (U87, Avalon 2022), and I'm still
not there.

Is this an EQ issue, and if so, at what frequency? I've
tried adding high-end, but the sibilince gets out of control.

Should I squeeze the vocal to increase the quieter/breathier
parts? Jack up the high end and then compress the sibilince
with a deesser/multi-band-compressor? Find a different room
to record in? Sacrifice a chicken?

Please help

[bjoneill74]

A U87 and a 2022 are indeed very high end pieces of gear. It doesn't make them the right ones though.
She was probably using a Ela M 241, a C12, U47, Sony 800 or something else.
Perhaps something else. You may also want to consider a preamp from the colored camp (Neve, Great River NV, Manley, API).

EQ can get you air, but use a very good EQ. It's always better to try and get where you want to be by mic, mic pre and such.

What are you using for AD/DA conversion?

[pkcraft]

Thanks Brian,

Sadly, a C12 or U47 is out of my price range

Can you or anyone else suggest a mic that costs less than
my car that might get me there?

Your EQ point is well taken. The only EQ that I've used
on these vocal tracks is the Waves plug-in, and I'm
fairly certain there are better options out there.

What frequency range is "breath" at, anyway?

I recently picked up a Chandler LTD-1 (1073 clone) that
I've yet to try. Maybe that will do the trick.

Thanks again for the advice.

[pkcraft]

Oh, I forgot to answer your last question..

Lucid 9624 S/PDIF into 002.

[QuikDraw]

I have nothing but cheap mics, converters, and preamps. Here's a trick I've used to "fake" the air in a vocal part. Works pretty well actually.

I use a reverb (D-Verb, again 'cause I'm cheap!) on an Aux. I send the vocal to the verb and set the verb filters so that only the "airy" frequencies are affected. You can even put an EQ ahead of the verb if you want. Then I mix the verb with the main vocal track to taste. I set the pre-delay as short as it'll go, and the tail pretty short as well so that it doesn't sound like a reverb at all. Of course, when using verb on an Aux, the mix is 100% in the plug-in.

This is NOT used as my vocal reverb. Just as "fake air" for the vocal track(s). I use a separate D-Verb on another Aux for my acutal reverb sound. Works surprisingly well once you find the right settings (which I can't remember off-hand).

Mike

[Andrew_k]

I was reading an article on vocal eq the other day, from memory it was 7-10K sibillance & around 15K for the "breathe" sound. But the type of mic. has definitely got a lot to do with it. There was a thread on the forum about a month ago about how Mariah Carey gets that airy voice sound, it might be helpful.

Cheers

[Nad4]

i have found that most of the "breath/air" you're talking about is about the singers
vocal technique; i.e. if a singer brings out all the words in a seemingly over-the-top
accentuated way, then it will come across much more intimate (and much nicer) on the recording.
Also, close miking is a must when you're after the Sarah McLachlan type vocals.

And about the mic thing: I believe that if it's a great singer, then the mic won't matter much.

just my two cents.

greets
Nad

[Matt Whritenour]

instead of a U47 check out the

Laswon L47 www.lawsonmicrophones.com

its a U47 replica and it is amazing
i like it a million times better than the U87
honestly i would never spend 2,800 bucks on
a U87, i've used them before and am just not a fan
right now i am in the proscess of saving up for
some new microphones, and on that list is the L47

[gYs]

have found that most of the "breath/air" you're talking about is about the singers
vocal technique; i.e. if a singer brings out all the words in a seemingly over-the-top
accentuated way, then it will come across much more intimate (and much nicer) on the recording.

I agree with that. If the singer doesn't have this 'air' technique in his/her way of singing it is quite hard to get it in, no matter what mic or EQ you use.

But assuming he/she does have it and you want to EQ it a little bit, the Bomb Factory EQP-1A might work. Experiment with a broad bandwidth and boost around 8, 10 or maybe 12 kHz on this EQ. Of course every voice needs different treatment, but maybe this will do the trick for you.
The EQP-1A has a more 'airy' sound to it than those waves plug-ins I think.

[Shan]

Ive used whisper tracks in the past. The singer would sing the parts again but with a whisper. There is a bit of a technique to it but you get use to it. Then I roll off the lows, boost the highs and compress the 'H' out of it and bring it slightly under the vocal. If you do a search you will find various techniques on the TDM DUC try searching for 'whisper track' and 'Mutt Lange vocals'. You'll find a bunch of stuff.

Shan


Here is a link. And another. Some more Airy info. And here. And another.