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Advanced Recording Tips for Kool Karaoke Studio 2

I’d like to start this week by thanking everyone who has downloaded the new software for your continued support and your everlasting enthusiasm for innovative Karaoke products. Over 11,000 have already taken advantage of our free trial offer in order to test out the dynamic new interface and advanced record effects. Development of add-on’s as well as exciting online services to support the software continues and you can expect more improvements to this already amazing software in the near future.

In this second installment of using the “Vocal Effects” in Kool Karaoke Studio 2, we will be looking at each of the individual effects, what they do and some suggestions as to how they can be used.

Chorus

This is an effect that can be used to thicken the vocal track, add dimension or change the character of the voice. A copy of the original signal is de-tuned and then mixed back in using the ‘Amount’ slider.

Compressor

This signal processor can be used to bring out a vocal performance by compressing the dynamic range where loud passages are lowered and soft passages are raised. The end result is a vocal track that has less loud and soft parts whereby it can be made louder in the mix. As the ‘Threshold’ value lowers, more of the vocal performance will processed.

Distortion

An effect typically associated with the electric guitar where small amounts can add a particular color to the voice when looking to alter the character. Use the ‘Edge’ slider to vary the amounts of distortion.

Flanger

This effect that can be used to fatten a vocal track or add a moving sound to the voice. A copy of the original signal is gradually and randomly slowed down creating a kind of “whoosh”. The amount of this effect is can be heard using the ‘Amount’ slider.

Echo

The original signal is copied and then played back a small amount of time later. The time for the sound to be played back is set by the ‘Echo Delay’ and the ‘Amount’ slider sets the amount that is heard of the Echo effect.

Reverb

This effect reproduces the spatial sound of an environment such as a stadium or small room. The ‘Amount’ slider determines how much of the reverb will be mixed in with the original signal. The ‘Revert Time’ sets the length of time that the reverb lasts.

Here are some suggestions as to how effects can be used to process the vocal recordings...

To create a spatial environment

Effects:

Tips:
For fast tempo songs, use a short Reverb Time. For slow tempo songs, use long reverb time.

Echo delay time should be set according to the tempo of the song. A quick way to calculate the time of a quarter note in a song to set the delay is:

  1. Count the number of beats in the song during 30 seconds.
  2. Multiply this number by 2
  3. The result is the Beats Per Minute (BPM) of the song
  4. To get time of 1 beat do the following calculation: 1 beat (quarter note) = 60,000/BPM

Delay times can be halved, quartered or divided by three depending on the desired effect and the program material.

To fatten up a vocal track

Effects:

Tips:
Use either Chorus or Flanger to achieve a simple effect. An Echo with a very short delay can be added or used separately. Use only small amounts of these effects. When using these effects to fatten a vocal think of them as being felt and not heard. In other words, we may not notice the effect until it is removed.

Change character of voice Effects

Effects:

Tips:
This is almost an “anything goes” category where extreme settings are quite normal. The most important decision would be how much of the original vocal track you want to hear.

Bring vocals more to the front

Effects:

Tips:
The compressor can almost always be used to help add more presence and punch to the vocal track. If the vocal recording was quite good all the text clearly heard, you can use small compression ratio of 2:1 . On the other hand, if the vocal track has both some loud and soft passages, you could try a higher ratio 6:1 or even 8:1. The compressor only starts working when the volume of the track exceeds the threshold level. For more of the signal to be compressed lower the ‘threshold’.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s article. Do you have a style in mind that you would like me to write about? If so, send your suggestions to: drkaraoke@eatsleepmusic.com

Until next time, get up and SING!

Dr. Karaoke