Vocal chain for "whispier", lighter male vocals

[nadumr]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

Just curious what anyone here uses for pre,compression, and most of all Mics for these type of vocals...To make it stand out in front in a more medium to dense mix...

Sm-7 works for guys like john mayer and jason mraz - is that whispy?

[Stoneroses6300]

I really need to try one out...Any suggestion's for pre or compressors?

[chandlersonic]

I like the Sm7 through the chandler ltd1/la2a combo. But any decent mic pre with enough gain will do the trick.

[Benmrx]

Interesting. I don't have an SM7, but even if I did, it wouldn't have been my first choice.

I just did this last week, and it worked out great. Chain was

4033 - DVC with opto limiter engaged. Recorded in an extremely dead room.

[Stoneroses6300]

I really need a channel strip like the DVC...I need to hear something different besides plug compressors...

[chandlersonic]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

I really need a channel strip like the DVC...I need to hear something different besides plug compressors...

What's your budget?

[Stoneroses6300]

Ha, I'm out of a budget...Seriously, After the pair of Oktavas I got, I can't do anything...Sucks...I need to get a job again. I've spent the past 3 months recording this album I'm doing...What are your suggestions though...

[chandlersonic]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

Ha, I'm out of a budget...Seriously, After the pair of Oktavas I got, I can't do anything...Sucks...I need to get a job again. I've spent the past 3 months recording this album I'm doing...What are your suggestions though...

On a budget the safesound channel strip sounds pretty darn good.

[Benmrx]

Budget compressors (all of which I need) that I've used and loved are the RNC and DBX160A, haven't ever used the RNLA, but people say good things.

BTW, for plug compressors, have you tried the Chandler?

[Stoneroses6300]

No I haven't tried it...Is it just one plug compressor? How does it compare with the hardware?

[Benmrx]

I've only heard the hardware version in action once, when a freelancer came to my place, and in all honesty, I didn't like much anything that guy did, so I couldn't really tell if I liked it or not.

But I can say that the plug version is nice. To me, the Chandler and the Massy CT-4 are the only comp plugs that give any character.

[warhead]

The CAD Trion8000 does wispy well.

War

[redddog]

Man, War. You love those Cad mics.

I got to try one.

[Acoustic Cloud]

sorry, I have to ask

What are "whisper" type male vocals on, or for??

[uncle duncan]

Heil PR40 is really open sounding, but sounds better through a 'fizzy' pre like a A-Designs P1, or even a focusrite Platinum series box, which adds fizz to the top end of everything you run through it. (Sytek burr brown channels also do that, to a degree.) The Safesound mentioned above actually smooths out the high end, and although it's a really rich, round sound, you'd lose the 'whisp' of your 'whispy' if you used it for that application.

[Metatone]

I don't usually do 'wispy', myself...but one time, I recorded myself with this kind of vocal and was very pleased with the result. Here's what I did:

Gefell M582 with M7 cap into an Avalon 737sp. I backed off the mic like I would for backing vocals (my room at the time was really sweet sounding, lots of books and wood and heavy curtains and carpet). I'm usually working the prox effect--really close to the mic, so this was very different for me. I had the gain set fairly high on the Avalon, no compression...eq in...with a little low added, a tiny bit pulled out of the low mids, and what sounded like a lot of air added, though the setting was actually really minor. I find the high end on the Avalon's eq just 'sings'....so sweet!

Anyway, wispiest vocal I ever recorded...worked for me.

[Metatone]

Just for clarity...you are asking about 'wispier' not 'whispery', right? There's a big difference between the two, in my mind at least.

For the record, mine was a recipe for 'wispy' or 'wispier'.

I'm curious about the sm7 suggestion....strikes me that it could work for 'whispery' but am having trouble imagining 'wispier' coming out of a chain that begins with that mic. Then again...I've barely used my sm7 yet and as I mentioned, wispy's not really my thing anyway so I'd defer to those who have used it in that way.