HELP WITH VOX TREATMENT NEEDED

[rayc]

Hello Folks,
I've been writing lyrics for a couple of different song writers lately - it means I can use/explore stuff that is not in my usual preference or to my taste and can be a useful exercise in writing.
Sadly some of the resultant arrangements & mixes haven't been fabulous but was was/is/will be uniform is the lack or care taken in vocal recording.
THis recently completed, project is a case in point.
the writer composed a melody and arrangement then asked me to write a set of words to match the melody - so far so easy.
Then the fellow sought out a singer.
He chanced upon a fellow that has a pretty good and interesting voice. BUT the singer records in a large, empty room becasue he likes the sound in there.
I know - singers need the comfort and support a wet sound provides but the room is printed onto the vocal track and it also exaggerates essing and does a couple of other EQish things. He also records his voice in stereo.
It's near impossible to match the singers room with any otehr reverb so he sounds outside of the mix to me - and a bit drainpipe too.
The songwriter posted the song on forums and was happy but the essing drove me nuts - it was REALLY prominent.
I asked for a copy of the vocal and one of the backing to try to deal with some of the issues.
Here's the voice

Searching (Voice).mp3

Her it is post some treatment from me

ParadisetweakD VOX.mp3

and the post tweak in context

Paradisetweakd.mp3

ANY ideas on how to deal with the stridency, reverb etc?
I've suggested the bloke NOT record in his happy space but he's not keen on having the blankie removed.

[SweetDan]

A challenge indeed!

Unfortunately, the processing you've added has gone too far, and the intelligibility of the lyric has been compromised by processing artifacts in the "tweaked" track..."s"'s nearly replaced by "th"'s:

"We thearch for a paradithe
We theek a utopia"



Could you try blending the raw signal back into the processed signal? (Not unlike how one might set up a hyper-compressed, parallel track for drums, and blend in the compressed track with the drum bus?)

[rayc]

A challenge indeed!
Unfortunately, the processing you've added has gone too far, and the intelligibility of the lyric has been compromised by processing artifacts in the "tweaked" track..."s"'s nearly replaced by "th"'s:
"We thearch for a paradithe
We theek a utopia"

Could you try blending the raw signal back into the processed signal? (Not unlike how one might set up a hyper-compressed, parallel track for drums, and blend in the compressed track with the drum bus?)

Thanks SD,
Oddly there are quite a few instances of lost syllables in the untreated version too.
I can back off easily enough and trying a "Motown Exciter" blend is a cool idea.
I'll give it a whirl and post the results.

[rayc]

[mention]SweetDan[/mention]
I tried the blend but the essing is soooo annoying to my ears I couldn't cope with any level of it.
As the majority of treatment was simply pre-fx volume automation I adjusted that to get a compromise.
Previously I'd adjusted the spots to my ears sensitivity to sibilance with little regard to the side effects partially becasue I knew the lyric and was "singing" it in my head as I went I suppose.
The tweaked back off is annoying to my ears but less lispy - it's my sibilance sensitivity that is at issue.

ParadisetVOXweakbackoffcde.mp3

Paradisetmixweakbackoffcde.mp3

[SweetDan]

I like this one much better:

Paradisetmixweakbackoffcde.mp3

[rayc]

[mention]SweetDan[/mention],
thanks for the help & good ears.

[musicturtle]

I agree with the one Dan said sounds better. It is a weird blend of styles though. The instrumental portion is a groovy jazz thing I picture in an intimate setting. Then the voice is coming from an off site echo chamber. It is not bad...just a bit odd I think. But the performances are very good to me.

[Greg_L]

One thing you really can't fix is someone being set in their ignorant ways. Someone set in their ways is fine, set in bad ways is not. If some guy is singing in an echo chamber and he likes it, you'll never convince him to not do it that way. If he can't hear how dumb his vocals sound, in what sounds like a gym's tiled shower room, then he'll probably never get it.

Anyway, whatever you did to the last mix is passable. It sounds okay. I think the silence edits are a little abrupt. You can really hear the inserted silences popping in and out.

[rayc]

I agree with the one Dan said sounds better. It is a weird blend of styles though. The instrumental portion is a groovy jazz thing I picture in an intimate setting. Then the voice is coming from an off site echo chamber. It is not bad...just a bit odd I think. But the performances are very good to me.

I agree - weirdness of a style mix. Thanks Tony.

[rayc]

One thing you really can't fix is someone being set in their ignorant ways. Someone set in their ways is fine, set in bad ways is not. If some guy is singing in an echo chamber and he likes it, you'll never convince him to not do it that way. If he can't hear how dumb his vocals sound, in what sounds like a gym's tiled shower room, then he'll probably never get it.

Anyway, whatever you did to the last mix is passable. It sounds okay. I think the silence edits are a little abrupt. You can really hear the inserted silences popping in and out.

Greg,
You are correct - I've even had to explain what a wet vocal is. I'd have wanted to improve the sound were I the singer but he was fine with it - there you go - wrapped up. "It's what I do" seems to be a BIAB users mantra of sorts. Few are interested in improving after they post a song.
I'll get onto the silences.
Thanks.

[rayc]

[mention]SweetDan[/mention] , [mention]musicturtle[/mention] & [mention]Greg_L[/mention],
I've read, listened and tried to apply the observations.
I've reduced the severity of the level cut between phrases and focussed on the most egregious noises.
I've tried my best to match the BIAB reverb on the backing with something that also subsumes the reverb from the vocal room.
Here're the results:

ParadisetVOXweakbackoffcde.mp3

ParadisetMIXweakbackoffcde.mp3

[SweetDan]

The new mix gels pretty nicely, [mention]rayc[/mention] .

[Armistice]

You can get de-reverbing plug ins, buy nothing free I've found, alas.

[vomitHatSteve]

One thing you really can't fix is someone being set in their ignorant ways. Someone set in their ways is fine, set in bad ways is not. If some guy is singing in an echo chamber and he likes it, you'll never convince him to not do it that way. If he can't hear how dumb his vocals sound, in what sounds like a gym's tiled shower room, then he'll probably never get it.

Yeah, ultimately you'll eventually have to roll with it. I don't know if spending the time to polish a turd is worth it.

I might even be inclined to double down and just add MORE reverb. The thing that's sticking out in the last mix is that there's a ton of 'verb but the tails are really short. Layer up more of that shenanigans.

Ooh! Or! or! Get him to clap on mic. Build an impulse of that. Use that 'verb on everything. Put the entire band in his shower!