Members Rumorsband Posted January 28, 2015 Members Share Posted January 28, 2015 Sorry for posting in 2 locations, but after initially posting in vocals I feel live sound might actually be a better spot because the issue is during live performances. I suffer from sinus issues that can really be only corrected thru surgery which is not an option. I take meds but I feel my vocals some times sound nasally/honky. We use a mixer with a main 7 band eq and each channel has 3 band trim's - high, mid, low. I keep the main eq basically flat (all music - we play to tracks runs thru the system) so I feel I need to make the adjustments on my channel. What adjustments should I attempt to cut down on that nasal tone? I'm thinking a cut back on the mids may help? Yes? No? Cut somewhere else too? Add highs? Don't really know procedure to follow ...if you were our soundman what would you do?... How about microphone selection. i'm using aShure Elvis style mic (supposed to be an SM58) SM 58's seems to be the only mic I've ever really owned. is this contributing to nasal tones Should I be looking at another mic option? I also have a larger mixer with 4 band eq per channel ( hi and low mids) would that be a better option for control? Thanks in advance to everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dookietwo Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 When you have the time and area set your pa up. Put both the Main EQ and channel EQ flat. Talk into your mic and start BOOSTING Freq. on your 7 band eq. Find the one that makes the nasally/honky sound Worse. Then of course cut that out. Its always better to Cut what doesn't sound good than add more to hide it.Dookietwo EDIT: Wanted to add you don't want to eq too much as everything else is "riding" on that eq. Take a look at each channel input on your mixer. Is there a insert jack per channel? You may be able to insert a 15 or 31 band eq in just your channel to give you what your looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Seems to me, that if you can hear the nasal sound in your voice, you should also be able to eperiment and find it on your channel strip or global EQ. Your nasal, might not be my nasal, but obviously it's somewhere in the mids. Just don't be surprised if taking it out also negatively effects your overall tone. How about a different mic? I've never been fond of the "Elvis" Shures, and even a regular Shure SM58 can be a little honky. A Senheisser e835 is a bit more scooped in the middle, and there are also offerings from EV and so on. As well, if you're doing originals or something similar, maybe that nasal sound can just be "your sound". Worked for Barbara Streisand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks I'll work with the eq suggestions when I setup this weekend. As a clarification - this nasal sound is more obvious to me in the upper registers. ( which may be natural) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Use as little eq as necessary to do the job and no more. A little generally goea a long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 There's not a lot you can do with a 3 band EQ and no mid-sweep. Your suggestion of backing off the mids a bit and possibly adding a some highs is the first thing I'd try too. Without being able to sweep through frequencies to cut back more specific tones though, you don't really have anything else you can do that doesn't require "more gear". A different microphone is certainly an option, but it's a static solution that will either be better or worse. The SM58 isn't the crispiest mic in the world so something with a brighter tone could make a meaningful difference and be something different that just boosting the highs on your channel. I'm assuming you don't have channel inserts, but if you do you could put a 31 band EQ in your channel as an insert. That would give you a lot more precision. TC-Helicon also makes a series of stomp box style vocal processors. One of them is called the VoiceTone T1 . It has an adaptive EQ that automatically adjusts. I use a TC processor that has this built in and can testify that it works well. It can bring up the high end and de-ess at the same time to keep things bright yet smooth. On "duller" mics it makes a big difference. I'd probably try this before buying a new microphone. Buy from somewhere with a good return policy and you would only be out shipping charges if it doesn't float your boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks absurd. My mixer does have insert. I will look into the Voice Tone - I use the voice live touch - that wouldn't be a feature built into it would it? if it is - I never saw it.When you mention midsweep could you elaborate? I also mentioned I have another mixer that has two midrange adjustments...would that give me more control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Just looked the manual it has adaptive Eq.not sure what it's set at now but what would u suggest? There are 9 settings to choose from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 The mixer with the 2 midrange knobs is a sweep and gain. You will see the one has frequencies on it, and the other is a db scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks absurd. My mixer does have insert. I will look into the Voice Tone - I use the voice live touch - that wouldn't be a feature built into it would it? if it is - I never saw it. When you mention midsweep could you elaborate? I also mentioned I have another mixer that has two midrange adjustments...would that give me more control? From the manual your settings are: Tone - Applies adaptive Shape EQ, compression, de-ess and gate functions. Off Normal No Gate Normal Less Bright NG Less Bright Warmth NG Norm + Warmth More Comp NG More Comp First, note what it's set on now. If you think your sound is stuffy then it's likely off. You can try all of them, but I'd set to "normal". If it's been off then you're going to notice a pretty big difference. It should sound more open with a nice high end. This may fix things for you. Set your channel strip to flat all the way across when you're experimenting then tweak to taste after. As for the "other mixer" having 2 mid knobs. It's likely that one is the frequency sweep. That knob determines where your mid adjustment frequency is centered. It's known as a "semi-parametric" EQ. The parametric part is that you can adjust the frequency. The "semi" part is because you can't adjust the "Q" or shape of the adjustment (to make it a broader adjustment that changes a wider bandwidth of frequencies, or a narrow setting that just affects a small band). It would be like the knob being able to change 1 slider on a 31 band EQ or 10 sliders when you turn the knob. That "other knob" will have frequencies printed on it. There's also a chance it's just a "low mid" knob and "hi-mid" knob, in which case it's just another fixed tone control. It's better to have it than not, but not as flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks - cant wait to see what its been set to. Just in case it is on a setting - I will try normal first - any order I should go through or just keep trying different settings? Any I should avoid? Thanks again - what a great group here at HC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 The other mixer has low mid and high mid knobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted January 29, 2015 Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks - cant wait to see what its been set to. Just in case it is on a setting - I will try normal first - any order I should go through or just keep trying different settings? Any I should avoid? Thanks again - what a great group here at HC They all have their place. It’s a bit microphone dependent as well as stage volume. Warm adds some lows. I generally avoid that setting. It will sound nice and full when just you through the PA, but once everything else is going it will likely sound better without it. Gate could be a good or bad thing. Using it will keep bleed out of the mic, but only if it's "not that bad" in the first place. What you don’t want is the gate opening and closing when you’re not singing as you’ll hear it chattering through the PA. You also don’t want it to close on you while singing, cutting off beginning and ends of phrases. For being “automatic” it’s actually not that bad. I leave mine off though because I play tambourine and the gate won’t open sometimes when it’s just tambourine and no singing. We also have very controlled stage sound and all other mics are already gated so the amount of gak coming through the FOH is next to none. Less Bright just has the high end rolled back. You probably won’t want this unless with the SM58 because it doesn’t hype the high end and could generally stand a decent amount of brightening. Compression settings will depend on your gain structure. I actually like a decent amount of compression, but our set up can handle it. If you have high stage volume, or like your monitor loud, then the “more” setting may not work for you. I think all settings have some compression though as there’s not a “no compression” option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2015 We are a sequence band and everything runs through our system.I'll tell you my gear: 2 JBL PRX 612's , 2 JBL PRX 715 XLF's and 1 x 8" Sampson monitor. Stage volume is very low: To give you an idea - on small gigs I use 1x12 and 1x sub setup right behind us and we get zero feedback...so we are not lod at all. In the bigger rooms with FOH out in front of us the 8" monitor is plenty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hfc7713 Posted January 30, 2015 Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 I always find that my voice sounds very different to me if I record myself than it does hearing it in my own head. If you have a way to do it, why don't you record yourself and make EQ adjustments whilst playing it back?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted January 30, 2015 Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 The suggestion above by hfc7713 could certainly have it's merits, especially if a recording confirms or perhaps doesn't even support the original assumption.. It also leads me back to my question of what is nasally and is it all that important. Here's a clip of Esther Phillips, who had a successful blues and later soul career despite of, or maybe because of her nasally sound. Maybe the nasal only needs to be tamed a little, not a lot - as others have suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted January 30, 2015 Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 Have you thought about working with voice teacher, to learn how to raise your mixed voice into your head voice range? This could possibly be the most beneficial approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 30, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 My nasal sound is due to congestion from sinus - very difficult to draw breaths in through my nose - I'm 62 years old and have been playing almost every weekend with my current band for 26 years now -so it probably bothers me more than anyone else...just was looking for adjustments that I could make to limit it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted January 30, 2015 Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 My nasal sound is due to congestion from sinus - very difficult to draw breaths in through my nose - I'm 62 years old and have been playing almost every weekend with my current band for 26 years now -so it probably bothers me more than anyone else...just was looking for adjustments that I could make to limit it... FWIW, I carry nose spray in my gig bag and take shot before the show. It helps get the air into the instrument. I know the stuff can be addictive, but it's the only time I use it. One bottle lasts me over a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kalina2 Posted January 30, 2015 Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 I think there sounded good advice ....I also assume that it would be nice to try a full parametric equalizer, and, of course, to find a microphone that will give velvet voice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rumorsband Posted January 30, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 any particular brand you're using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kalina2 Posted January 30, 2015 Members Share Posted January 30, 2015 selection of the microphone is very individual thing ....I use Beyerdynamic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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