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19 tips on sound effects
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By Paul White
1. Reverb creates the
illusion of space, but in doing so it also 'smears' the
stereo localisation of the original sound source, just as it
does in real life. If you want to maintain a specific stereo
placement for one or more sounds in a mix, consider using a
mono reverb effect and panning the reverb to the same
position as the original dry sound.
2. Reverb is very useful
for making vocals sound more musical and for making them sit
with the rest of the mix, but adding too much will have the
effect of pushing the vocals back, rather than allowing them
to take front position. Experiment with pre-delay values of
60-100mS to help counter this, and also try using a reverb
patch that has a lot of early reflections, as these help
reinforce the dry sound. You can learn a lot from listening
carefully to records you like to see how much and what type
of reverb is used. Often it's rather less than you think.
3. Bright reverbs can
flatter vocals, but may exaggerate sibilance. As an
alternative to de-essing the vocals, try instead de-essing
the feed to the reverb unit, so that sibilance is removed
before the reverb is applied.
4. Reverb is probably
the most important effect in the studio, so don't compromise
by using a low-quality software reverb plug-in just because
you're short of processing power. Use a good external
hardware reverb unit if you have one, otherwise choose a
more powerful software plug-in to treat the vocal track in
non-real time. This may involve off-line processing or doing
a real-time 'bounce to disk' of the vocal track in
isolation, via the plug-in.
5. Vocals almost always
require compression, but rather than doing all the
compressing at the recording stage, apply a little less
compression than you think you might ultimately need, then
add further compression when you come to mix. This
dual-stage process ensures you don't record an
overcompressed sound, whilst still allowing you to even out
the level of the recorded signal.
6. Compressors bring up
low-level noise just as effectively as they do low-level
signals, so try to gate the signal prior to compression when
you're mixing. Also, use no more compression than you need,
or the signal-to-noise ratio may be compromised
unnecessarily. However, it's usually unwise to gate the
compressor input during recording for the reasons explained
in the next tip.
7. Avoid gating during
recording if at all possible, as a badly set gate can
completely ruin an otherwise good take by chopping out
low-level sections of the wanted audio. Instead, gate during
mixing, when you have the chance to reset the parameters and
try again if it doesn't work out first time. A further
benefit of this approach is that any noise, crosstalk or
spill accumulated during recording will also be gated out.
8. Always gate signals
prior to adding reverb if you can -- gates can easily chop
off the tail end of a long reverb. Furthermore, if you add
reverb or echo after gating, any minor gating artifacts may
be completely hidden by the natural decay of the reverb or
echo. Any noise added to the mix by the reverb unit should
be negligible providing you've paid attention to gain
structure and level setting when adjusting the effects.
9. Don't always set your
gate to fully attenuate the signal when the gate is closed.
In some situations, it may sound more natural if a low level
of background sound is still audible between wanted sounds,
and when working with drums, you'll find the gate opens
faster if the range control is set to around 12dB rather
than to maximum.
10. Single-ended
noise-reduction units (the type that work by applying
level-dependent top-cut) can be very useful in reducing the
perceived level of hiss during material where there are no
silences that would allow a gate or expander to operate.
However, make constant A/B comparisons to ensure that
there's no obvious top-end loss when the unit is switched
in. If there is, lower the threshold slightly until you get
an acceptable compromise between high-end loss during
low-level passages, and audible hiss. As with gates,
applying reverb after dynamic filtering may help disguise
any side-effects as well as safeguarding the reverb tails
from being truncated.
11. Don't add long
reverb to bass sounds unless you have an artistic reason to
do so, as this tends to muddy the low end of the mix. If you
need to add space to a kick drum, try a short ambience
program or a gated reverb as an alternative. If you are in a
position where you need to apply reverb to an entire drum
mix, roll off the low end feeding the reverb for a cleaner
sound.
12. Chorus is a useful
effect for creating the illusion of space and movement, but
it also tends to push sounds back in the mix, rather as
reverb does. If you need a sound treated with chorus to
stand out in a mix, try either panning a dry version of the
sound to one side and a chorused version to the other, or
ensure that the song's arrangement leaves plenty of room for
the chorused sound.
13. Equalisation is
often used as an alternative to getting a sound right at
source, but the result is seldom as satisfactory as doing
things properly. Nevertheless, on occasions where
equalisation is necessary, applying cut to the over-emphasised
frequencies rather than boost to weaker ones generally
results in a more natural sound, especially with vocals and
acoustic instruments. This is especially true of in-desk
equalisers or budget parametrics, as they often sound nasal
or phasey when used to boost mid-range sounds.
14. Sounds can often be
made to sit better in a mix by 'bracketing' them with high-
and low-pass filters so as to restrict their spectral
content. Many console EQs don't have the sharp filters
necessary to do this, but the side-chain filters fitted to
many gates are often ideal for the job. Simply set the gate
to its side-chain listen mode, then use the filters to shave
away unwanted high and low frequencies. Acoustic guitars
often work better in a mix if the low end is rolled off in
this way, though the high end can usually be left alone.
15. When setting up a
mix, try to get the mix sounding close to right before you
add any effects or signal processing. Once you've got this
right, add further vocal compression if needed and also
apply just enough reverb to make the vocals sit comfortably
with the backing track. When you're happy with the overall
timbre and balance, adding effects for 'effect' should be
easier. Remember that, in most cases, effects are there just
to add the final gloss -- they won't compensate for a poor
balance or bad basic sounds.
16. Still on the subject
of effects in the mix, don't be tempted to hide poor playing
by heaping on more effects, it never works -- take it from
someone who's tried everything at one time or another!
However, thanks to the wonders of modern technology,
slightly imperfect vocal pitching can be tightened up almost
magically using pitch-correction processors, such as Antares'
Autotune software or ATR1 hardware.
17. Go easy when using
enhancers to treat complex signals such as a whole mix as
it's very tempting to go too far. Make frequent use of the
bypass button to remind yourself just how radically the
sound has changed, and if you're adding more than a little
high-end enhancement, check the bottom end to see if that
needs bringing up to keep the overall mix in balance.
18. Often it's better to
enhance just some elements of a mix so as to make them stand
out from the rest. The best way to do this is to connect the
enhancer to a pair of group insert points, then send all the
sounds that need enhancing to that group. Listen carefully
to enhanced vocals as the process can often exaggerate
sibilance problems.
19. Treatments designed
to increase the stereo width of a mix (other than the simple
mixing-antiphase-signals-into-the-opposite-channel trick)
can have detrimental effects on mono compatibility. Use your
console's mono button to check that your mix doesn't lose
too much when it's played in mono, as this is important when
material is played over mono radios or TVs. Listen to see if
the subjective balance or timbre changes by an unacceptable
degree. If it does, either use less overall width expansion
or leave the main mix elements untreated and only process
secondary sounds, such as incidental percussion, sound
effects, effects returns and so on.
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