Distorting live lead vocals

mrdeville · 5th February 2007, 02:43 AM

hey Kevin,

I've been investigating how to distort lead vocals but am interested to hear if you have an opinion as to what I should do to achieve a vague studio quality to distort vocals 'cleanly' (ie. so they are still intelligible).

Would you recommend studio gear in a live setting or is there an easier/better way to achieve similar results another way live?

thanks!

Josh.

Kevin Killen · 5th February 2007, 04:48 PM

Josh,

The best method may be using a couple of mic pre's strapped together. Increase the gain of the first mic pre until you begin to hear the first hint of distortion, then drop it back one or two clicks. Patch its output into another input and adjust its gain until you get the desired result.

As always with distortion its a trade off, distortion versus intelligiblity. In a live context its harder because of the backline volume, so you are also affecting the spill.

Kevin

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5th February 2007, 02:43 AM	#1
mrdeville Gear interested Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1	Distorting live lead vocals hey Kevin, I've been investigating how to distort lead vocals but am interested to hear if you have an opinion as to what I should do to achieve a vague studio quality to distort vocals 'cleanly' (ie. so they are still intelligible). Would you recommend studio gear in a live setting or is there an easier/better way to achieve similar results another way live? thanks! Josh.

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5th February 2007, 04:48 PM	#2
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Josh, The best method may be using a couple of mic pre's strapped together. Increase the gain of the first mic pre until you begin to hear the first hint of distortion, then drop it back one or two clicks. Patch its output into another input and adjust its gain until you get the desired result. As always with distortion its a trade off, distortion versus intelligiblity. In a live context its harder because of the backline volume, so you are also affecting the spill. Kevin