for those of you whi cant afford waves vocal rider

i57dwun4yb1pt8

http://www.terrywest.nl/compressors.html

its called steady pro

i just got this last night , and i have to donate to the guy as it does a great job for those of us with crap mic technique who have to resort to super compressing vocals to even them out in the mix
no compressor needed at with this unless you use it to thicken etc

works great in reaper .

DamagedTrax

thanks for this :cool:

Neurojazz

Holy cow, there's some absolutely amazing plugs there...

Amazing find, thanks for sharing.

GTE

Thanks for that!

Ive been using the Sound On Sound expander side chain way recently, a bit complex.

I cant wait to get this out on some mixes!

seannash

danm all vst:(

madtheory

For those on a Mac, or those on a PC looking for an alternative, Levelator works very well on most vocals.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

that one affects the wav file though Mad, steady is a real time non destructive plugin
you need to tweak a bit on some vocals with large dynamic varitions , but its 300 eunos cheaper that waves :_)

madtheory

It's not destructive, it generates a new file.

GTE

DaDumTish wrote: »

that one affects the wav file though Mad, steady is a real time non destructive plugin
you need to tweak a bit on some vocals with large dynamic varitions , but its 300 eunos cheaper that waves :_)

It creates a separate output file and the result is more or less the same however the difference is that the Steady Pro has parameters to tweak.


Though, Waves seems to react to the level of a backing track where this is, seems to be, just a compressor. So where Waves listens to the backing track and raises the volume when it gets louder this seems to squash (but not necessary in a bad way) the vocal track and automation is still needed for when the song gets louder in general.

I haven't used it much however subjectively it did just as good a job as my automation on a track that was at a consistently loud level in terms of the backing track. Maybe I missed the side chain button though

madtheory

Not sure what you mean by "more or less the same", isn't that exactly what you'd expect? The same audio with tweaks to the level where relevant? It'll vary depending on program material, that is also to be expected.

Yes, the Waves takes the backing track into account, but the thing is it isn't free . I've had quite a bit of success with Levelator, it's basically a very very good sounding compressor for vocals. It's especially useful where you've compiled from a large number of takes- it'll give a general leveling which you can then tweak. It greatly speeds up the "vocal riding" process, most of the time. Worth trying anyway.

GTE

madtheory wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by "more or less the same", isn't that exactly what you'd expect?

What I mean is that since you have no control over what Levelator does and in Steady Pro you do. The result you get from the two is from the same aim however Steady Pro can be much different depending on what the settings are set at, unless I missed a part of Levelator that has settings in it.
Tis all.

madtheory wrote: »

Yes, the Waves takes the backing track into account, but the thing is it isn't free . I've had quite a bit of success with Levelator, it's basically a very very good sounding compressor for vocals. It's especially useful where you've compiled from a large number of takes- it'll give a general leveling which you can then tweak. It greatly speeds up the "vocal riding" process, most of the time. Worth trying anyway.

I did try it (steady pro) and its handy and a grand sounding compressor. Especially to keep a vocal in its place while you sort out the rest of the tracks but need the vocals there.

In terms of actual "vocal riding" I have had better results with the SOS version which uses a send from a backing group track to the side chain of a expander on the vox. Or something like that, braid isnt working at the mo.

No doubt the plug in is handy and fantastic for a free one but upon using the plug in Im disappointed that its not really a vocal rider as such.
Thats being nitpicky though with the term vocal rider though.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

i will give the revver a go tomorrow and listen
i take it it aint some class of a normaliser ?

madtheory

Levelator is designed for spoken word recordings, but I have had quite a bit of success with it on vocals. There are no controls, it's entirely automatic.

I never said it was superior to Steady Pro, but merely suggested it as an alternative, especially for us Mac users who unfortunately cannot use Steady Pro.

GTE

madtheory wrote: »

I never said it was superior to Steady Pro, but merely suggested it as an alternative, especially for us Mac users who unfortunately cannot use Steady Pro.

Im getting the impression you thought I was overly critical and negatively so about Levelator. I didnt mean to come off like that if I did.

madtheory

No, I just wanted to ensure that the functionality was clear.

PMI

Guys I got Vocal rider on the 7 day plan and loved it, but do any of you really think its worth the money they are asking for it?

I would buy it straight away for maybe 250-275ish but 4+ uh uh I will ride the fader for that.... its not a cant afford thing its more of a its not worth that much thing.

just find waves stuff although some of it is great is slightly over priced therefore losing out?!?

PaulBrewer

PMI wrote: »

Guys I got Vocal rider on the 7 day plan and loved it, but do any of you really think its worth the money they are asking for it?

I would buy it straight away for maybe 250-275ish but 4+ uh uh I will ride the fader for that.... its not a cant afford thing its more of a its not worth that much thing.

just find waves stuff although some of it is great is slightly over priced therefore losing out?!?

Yes I agree - I also think that part of the Waves philosophy is to keep it 'expensive' and therefore somewhat 'exclusive'.

However, in terms of results, what sort of premium hardware would you get for $800 ? That wouldn't buy half an 1176 !

i57dwun4yb1pt8

id buy it if they did a non ilok version for 100 euro - maybe 150 at a push and thats a real push with guns and volcanos.

theyd clean up with the home project studio market , given the dodgy vocal takes im making

trackmixstudio

If I am tracking a vocalist who is up and down a lot, what can work is:
After recording the first pass (warm up take), write automation to push the volume up where they are louder and pull it back where they are quieter.
Send this automation to their headphone mix when tracking for real.
Usually works wonders in making them use mic technique rather than stay the same distance from the mic.
similar idea to sending LOTS of hihat to a drummers mix if they are hitting it too hard (like nearly every drummer:p)
Obviously no good if you are just mixing but extremely helpful if you are tracking.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

how do you deal with someone who uses mic technique - not superb but ok

from what i hear in my attempts
the quieter nearer parts have alot more low end than the backed off louder parts

the mic pop ssield is about 10 inches form the mic ,
and im signing close to this when quiet and about 9 inches away or more when loud ( so 19 inches from mic )

its an SM7b so needs loads of gain

tweeky

Waves vocal rider? use your finger!

DaDum, drop in the "loud bits (chorus m8 maybe?) with the mic gain dropped a few db and that will ease the proximity effect that you are getting by backing off the the mic a few feet. You need a good room to record vocals 2 feet back from a mic without getting "the bedroom effect"

i57dwun4yb1pt8

ah tha makes sense , thanks tweeky
the room is treated so i dont get honkyness - its practially dead.