SpinTunes 18 Round 2 Challenge: 'Escape the Grid'

[DutchWidows]

But both the lead and the secondary vocalist have that same pinched quality to them, so the overall sonic experience of the song in the aggregate is akin to a fire alarm. So the whole song is this hot electric color, and it's grating after not very long at all. The drastic EQ on the vocals further highlight that midrange color. Makes me long for some cooler, rounder tones somewhere.

Cheers Jim - that was pretty useful feedback. I'd been trying to record vocals via a bus rather than direct to a channel for a while, and it had a pretty harsh EQ on it right at the start of the chain. What I hadn't appreciated was that that EQ colour was embedded on the stem and so everything that happened to the stem post-recording retained that initial EQ imprint, irrespective of what I subsequently did.

I can't remember why that EQ ended up in the chain - I vaguely recall using it to correct for some weird resonances in a cheap condenser mic I have, but it ended up being kept as part of the default bus setting and I'd just forgotten it was there and what it was doing.

Because you'd mentioned it, I revisited all the vocal settings and removed that EQ for Round 3. Hopefully it'll be less 'pinchy' as a result, although the vocals this time are much more affected by a throat infection!

[Jim of Seattle]

But both the lead and the secondary vocalist have that same pinched quality to them, so the overall sonic experience of the song in the aggregate is akin to a fire alarm. So the whole song is this hot electric color, and it's grating after not very long at all. The drastic EQ on the vocals further highlight that midrange color. Makes me long for some cooler, rounder tones somewhere.

Cheers Jim - that was pretty useful feedback. I'd been trying to record vocals via a bus rather than direct to a channel for a while, and it had a pretty harsh EQ on it right at the start of the chain. What I hadn't appreciated was that that EQ colour was embedded on the stem and so everything that happened to the stem post-recording retained that initial EQ imprint, irrespective of what I subsequently did.

I can't remember why that EQ ended up in the chain - I vaguely recall using it to correct for some weird resonances in a cheap condenser mic I have, but it ended up being kept as part of the default bus setting and I'd just forgotten it was there and what it was doing.

Because you'd mentioned it, I revisited all the vocal settings and removed that EQ for Round 3. Hopefully it'll be less 'pinchy' as a result, although the vocals this time are much more affected by a throat infection!

I think you have no idea how much I needed to hear that at least SOMEthing I put in my reviews was useful to someone. I've been feelings bad about them all week. I gotta figure this thing out.

Hidden effects chains are a nightmare. To this day I'm still pretty much positive I'm doing it wrong .

[DutchWidows]

Hidden effects chains are a nightmare.

This is what I'd forgotten was in my vocal chain...

I guess one's ear gets attuned to it, and you don't notice it's there...

[Chumpy]

I think you have no idea how much I needed to hear that at least SOMEthing I put in my reviews was useful to someone. I've been feelings bad about them all week. I gotta figure this thing out.

Thanks for writing reviews Jim, I personally really enjoyed reading your insights, even when they perhaps came off harsher than you intended. No good deed goes unpunished.

[Jim of Seattle]

Wow! As for what you're showing me, yeah that looks like a recipe for vocal issues. But beyond that, your EQ plugin is way more sophisticated looking than mine. I don't know if I'm jealous or relieved. Some of both.

[crumpart]

Wow! As for what you're showing me, yeah that looks like a recipe for vocal issues. But beyond that, your EQ plugin is way more sophisticated looking than mine. I don't know if I'm jealous or relieved. Some of both.

I believe that’s the standard, in-the-box Logic EQ.