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#361628 - 02/18/13 07:38 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Dnj]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14268
Loc: NW Florida
Oh, and BTW... guys! Give that vocal reverb a rest! It muddies you up more than it disguises any pitch problems.

Don't forget, for YOU, you are hearing your head sound (dry as a bone) as well as the artificial reverb. So, for YOU, that extra dry component might make you think that the reverb is about right. But your audience (and a recording) doesn't hear your head voice. All they get is the drowned out sound.

Usually, if YOU think that you are just a bit too dry, out front it's usually just about right!
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#361629 - 02/18/13 07:41 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Fran Carango]
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
Originally Posted By: Fran Carango
Donny, I am wondering if we hear different because of our monitors or headphones...I know you always cut bass ..where I always think it is fine...

After your eqing I loss the more live sound ..at least on my best headphones..

Anyone else have an opinion about the EQ?


Fran you can only eq so much of the original recording....this eq was only to let me hear the vocals a bit clearer not a master Mix...... and yes too much bass is so over used by many drowning out so much detail in songs especially live bands.JMO

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#361631 - 02/18/13 07:49 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Dnj]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14268
Loc: NW Florida
About EQ.... personally, I am pretty happy trusting the factory flat settings as the best jumping off place for a good recording. Only change it from there if you make a recording and it sounds bad.

Your biggest problem with EQ on globally is that, yes, a bit more sparkle might help your vocal, or brighten up a flat piano sound... But, at the same time, it turns your hi-hats into a nasty sibilant presence, makes your snare drum louder, all kinds of nasty things.

You are usually best served leaving the EQ off, and addressing each individual problem in isolation. If the piano needs brightening, do it on the piano part ONLY! If your vocal wants a hair more presence, do it on the vocal channel EQ (and don't forget, vocal presence EQ isn't up there in the 16kHz range!). But if you EQ the entire mix, you are usually creating as many problems as you are solving.

One last little trick I always do to a mix... Listen with the sound turned down VERY low! When you get your mix down that quiet, it is pretty easy to hear if one component is popping out too much, or getting lost. Turned up, you'll tend to be able to hear everything, but way down, and the balance becomes much more apparent.

Hope this helps.
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#361634 - 02/18/13 08:01 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Diki]
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
Originally Posted By: Diki
About EQ.... personally, I am pretty happy trusting the factory flat settings as the best jumping off place for a good recording. Only change it from there if you make a recording and it sounds bad.

Your biggest problem with EQ on globally is that, yes, a bit more sparkle might help your vocal, or brighten up a flat piano sound... But, at the same time, it turns your hi-hats into a nasty sibilant presence, makes your snare drum louder, all kinds of nasty things.

You are usually best served leaving the EQ off, and addressing each individual problem in isolation. If the piano needs brightening, do it on the piano part ONLY! If your vocal wants a hair more presence, do it on the vocal channel EQ (and don't forget, vocal presence EQ isn't up there in the 16kHz range!). But if you EQ the entire mix, you are usually creating as many problems as you are solving.

One last little trick I always do to a mix... Listen with the sound turned down VERY low! When you get your mix down that quiet, it is pretty easy to hear if one component is popping out too much, or getting lost. Turned up, you'll tend to be able to hear everything, but way down, and the balance becomes much more apparent.

Hope this helps.


Diki why not take a shot at Eq'ing Frans original posted recording just for fun would love to hear your mix.

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#361638 - 02/18/13 08:09 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Diki]
Saswick Offline
Member

Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 875
Loc: Garstang, Preston, Lancashire,...
Originally Posted By: Diki
TBH, most arrangers don't offer the kinds of control I would want to use if VH was a part of my act (it isn't!). I would like easy footswitch control of whether the harmony part was above or below me (on the fly) and an easy way to go from one part to two and back (and off) without taking my hands off the keyboard.



Diki:

Point 1: It's difficult to kid the audience when you are stood in front with the VH in full veiw. I always make a joke about having my backing singers in a box because of the exorbitant cost of real ones.

Point 2: The Voicelive Touch has 5 favorites which you can set up any way you wish and select instantly on the fly, no different than selecting different voices, variations or performances on the keyboard. Apart from the favorites you can also switch up to four voices of harmony plus doubling in and out as you wish.

Point 3: In my book it's a lot easier with a touch screen than a foot switch at least you don't have to look down to make changes.

Perhaps it's time to try some more up to date equipment, they say that Dinosaur's became extinct because they did not change. LOL

Col

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#361668 - 02/18/13 09:27 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Dnj]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14268
Loc: NW Florida
Dinosaurs became extinct because a meteorite or comet wiped them out. They were doing just fine (and had outlived mammals by an order of magnitude!) until then. Perhaps you read about this? rolleyes

You kind of made my point with the VoiceLive thing. Nothing like that on an arranger VH.

And, coming from an organ background, having 25 pedals at my feet and being able to play basslines without looking (honestly... do you look at your feet when you play a piano? LOL), a few buttons to do hands free arranger operation is hardly a feat of extraordinary skill! (Feat... get it?!)

Perhaps it's time to watch the Science channel more often?

bart
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#361669 - 02/18/13 09:30 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Dnj]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14268
Loc: NW Florida
OH, and Point 1... You are kidding the audience that a full band is inside your arranger? It's not exactly stretching them to say the vocalists are in there too!

That's kind of the whole thing about OMB's. Nobody thinks for one minute you are doing it all by yourself... The hard part is convincing them you are doing anything at all!
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#361670 - 02/18/13 09:39 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Diki]
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
Originally Posted By: Diki
OH, and Point 1... You are kidding the audience that a full band is inside your arranger? It's not exactly stretching them to say the vocalists are in there too!

That's kind of the whole thing about OMB's. Nobody thinks for one minute you are doing it all by yourself... The hard part is convincing them you are doing anything at all!


lol hey you two ...is this what they call English Humor?.. rotf2


Edited by Dnj (02/18/13 09:39 AM)

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#361675 - 02/18/13 10:06 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Dnj]
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15576
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
Originally Posted By: Dnj
Originally Posted By: Diki
OH, and Point 1... You are kidding the audience that a full band is inside your arranger? It's not exactly stretching them to say the vocalists are in there too!

That's kind of the whole thing about OMB's. Nobody thinks for one minute you are doing it all by yourself... The hard part is convincing them you are doing anything at all!


lol hey you two ...is this what they call English Humor?.. rotf2


One of the things I try to do once during the first hour of any performance is to somewhat educate the audience as to what I'm actually doing and those sounds are emitted from the system.

I usually say something along these lines "I know it's hard to believe, but yes, it's really me playing and really me singing. And, when you hear harmony, it's still me, and I'm singing with me and me." At this point I usually fire up the keyboard and turn off everything other than the right hand voice, which for demonstration purposes, is the grand piano. I then go into a rendition of As Time Goes By. After the first verse, I kick on some style-accompaniment parts, then kick on the vocal harmony. They love it, but ironically, some of them still don't seem to comprehend what we're up there doing. In the middle of a song, while you're singing and comping with your right had and changing chords with the left hand, there's always someone that comes up, tries to strike up a conversation, then tries to lean on the Bose speaker tower as if it were a leaning post. And, I'm not talkin' about nursing home residents - this happens with the young and dumb set in restaurant and nite-club settings.

As for British humor, what ever happened to Tony Hughes? I haven't seen his name on the forum for quite some time. Same holds true for Scott Yee, and I really miss Ian The Voice Of Reason.

Cheers,

Gary cool
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#361676 - 02/18/13 10:10 AM Re: S950 VH2 test demo 1 [Re: Dnj]
tony mads usa Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/16/02
Posts: 14376
Loc: East Greenwich RI USA
Originally Posted By: Dnj

lol hey you two ...is this what they call English Humor?.. rotf2


... speaking of ... what's happened to Tony Hughes???
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t. cool

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