Richtig. Die Qualität der Zutaten macht zwar den Unterschied zwischen sehr gut und Spitzenklasse, aber am Ende ist das Essen immer nur so gut wie der Koch.
Einer der Besten in diesem Bereich ist m.E. Mick Guzauski. Was der insbesondere für Boyz II Men, Mariah und Toni Braxton an Vocal-Porn abgeliefert hat ist echt der Wahnsinn. Da konnte er sich auf Random Access Memories ja eher weniger austoben. Hier mal einige Gedanken von ihm aus dem Mix Magazine, die sehr lesenswert sind:
"The vocal ambiences on your records are always very clear; you may have a lot of reverb going on in a ballad but it doesn’t get in the way.
I always try to make sure that the low end of the echo isn’t in the way of anything. Often, I’ll EQ the reverb to attenuate lows, so that when it rings in the lower register of the voice, it doesn’t cloud any instruments. Usually, I’ll roll off some low-mids, around 200 or 300 Hz. I’m very careful that I don’t lose richness, but most of the main keyboards and pads will be right in that same area, and it can be a balancing act to keep the vocal clear. I also work very hard on the high-end detail in the vocal to make sure that it’s very present—not sibilant, but with enough diction so that you can hear the vocal in the track without putting it incredibly up front.
Are there particular compressors you like to use on vocals?
I’m using UREI LA22s a lot; they were only made for a couple of years. I like their flexibility. In addition to variable attack and release time, the detector is variable from peak to average. Also, you can use it as a frequency-selective compressor—not in the way that a sidechain is frequency-selective, but like a dynamic EQ that will dip a certain frequency. If you have a vocal that at certain levels and frequencies jumps out and gets harsh, you can use a channel of it and actually detect the threshold of that jump, then dip that frequency.
In general, do you vary the attack and release times a lot on compressors?
Actually, for vocals I’ll usually leave them set pretty much the same. What seems to work is about a 3-to-1 ratio, with a 20 to 40-millisecond attack time and a 100 to 300-millisecond release. I don’t just leave it set that way for every voice, of course, but I find for most applications, that range works. I usually adjust attack and release a lot more for instruments than on vocals—the envelope of the voice in general is usually close enough so that when a compressor is set this way, it will attack pretty well without pumping. With a slower attack time, you’ll hear the vocal attack and then you’ll hear the compressor grab—it will be audible. If the attack is faster, you sometimes don’t get the transient of a word that’s being emphasized. So in general these settings work. Once in a while, if something is sung very staccato, I’ll have to speed up the release.
It sounds like you ride reverbs and delays a lot during the mix.
Yes, usually I have a couple of automated channels on the console that are sends to different delays and reverbs, mainly for lead vocals and lead instruments. Sometimes it’s an effect to really make a word swim, but more often, the reverb that would sound plenty wet in a sparse part of the track will be too dry as the track builds dynamically. So, often I’ll ride the reverb and delay as the track builds.
You’ve done a lot of group lead vocals like Boyz II Men and All 4 One. How do you deal with so many vocals?
You’ll usually find when you place each individual vocal in the track that certain frequencies will pop out in certain areas, while in other areas they won’t be loud enough. When they are soloed and un-EQ’d, they sound good, but there may be little spikes that stick out in relationship to the track. So I’ll EQ each vocal individually to be smooth, generally with parametric equalizers with the bandwidth set pretty narrow. I’ll boost a frequency a lot to tune right to it, then cut it back to be smooth and in context with the rest of the spectrum. Sometimes I’ll split a vocal on two channels and have a different EQ for verse and chorus. And sometimes frequency-selective compression will help. If you have a vocal EQ’d pretty bright that sounds nice when the vocalist is singing soft but which gets a little nasty when they sing harder, that kind of compressor can automatically ride those changes.
If I’m going to cut a frequency back that’s sticking out in the mix, I’ll tune it narrow and sharp to find the exact center frequency and boost it to find it, then broaden it up and cut it back as much as I need to. Most of the boosting I’d do is very high-shelf, broadband, so you don’t hear one note jump out, unless, of course, something is deficient in one small area.
And with backgrounds?
With BGs, I’ll EQ for smooth response; I don’t compress them that much. Usually, I get them in stereo pairs per part—one part that’s a chord, and a counterpart to that. Sometimes the parts are individual. Then I’ll bus them to a pair of channels so that I can work on them as a whole. I’m always listening for the chords. They may sound perfectly balanced soloed, but something may get lost when it’s in the track. I have to say, though, most of the vocals I get are very high-quality, very well-recorded. Well-balanced within themselves and also with the track."
http://www.mixonline.com/news/profiles/mix-masters-mick-guzauski-march-1998/365636
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