chorus on vocals

[Jan Saalbach]

hi all,
i am currently trying to learn about "engineering" vocals. Meaning, i am
trying to make vocal tracks sound good. I made an interesting, at least to
me, discovery which is chorus on vocals. i put some, very little reverb
(more like room simulation, very short reverb time) and some chorus effect
on an aux to the vocal track. I think this sounds great with the particular
vocals i am dealing right now.
My question: is this a common effect on vocals,i know there is no "this
always works". And are there popular examples where you know for sure that a
chorus effect was used to make a fairly "weak" sounding voice sound "bigger"
/more harmonical, don´r know if that is the word. Can chorus cut the dynamic
range, in a negative way, where to be careful?
thanks.
Jan

[White Swan]

A lot of what you hear as "chorused" vocals on commercial recordings
is "real" chorusing. The singer actually sings the same part two or
more times, trying to match their original as closely as possible. It
is the little variances that inevitably occur that make double or
triple tracking more interesting (and musical) than a mechanical
chorusing device.

But it takes a certain amount of skill from the singer. If they just
can't do it, then cheating and using a chorusing device may be your
only option.

[Garthrr]

In article >, "Jan Saalbach"
> writes:
>My question: is this a common effect on vocals,

In my experience, no, it isn't common. I've done it now and then for a special
effect.


<< Can chorus cut the dynamic range, in a negative way, where to be careful?
>thanks.
>Jan

I'm not sure you are stating your question properly. I dont know of any way
that chorusing could nominally affect the dynamic range of a vocal part. Maybe
you dont mean dynamics.

Garth~


"I think the fact that music can come up a wire is a miracle."
Ed Cherney

[JR]

It was very popular in the 80's and 90's for R&B vocal groups ala Boyz
II Men and Jodeci....Even with the harmonies quadrupled, chorusing was
still used...Actually the patch usually used was "Rich Chorus" from an
Eventide H3000....For years my H3000 never changed from that patch....

JR



In article >,
"Jan Saalbach" > wrote:

> hi all,
> i am currently trying to learn about "engineering" vocals. Meaning, i am
> trying to make vocal tracks sound good. I made an interesting, at least to
> me, discovery which is chorus on vocals. i put some, very little reverb
> (more like room simulation, very short reverb time) and some chorus effect
> on an aux to the vocal track. I think this sounds great with the particular
> vocals i am dealing right now.
> My question: is this a common effect on vocals,i know there is no "this
> always works". And are there popular examples where you know for sure that a
> chorus effect was used to make a fairly "weak" sounding voice sound "bigger"
> /more harmonical, don´r know if that is the word. Can chorus cut the dynamic
> range, in a negative way, where to be careful?
> thanks.
> Jan

[BEC]

That's a good point. I work on a lot of high profile pop mixing sessions, and
most superstar mixing engineers seem to love the AMS-DMX for micropitchshifting.
They also like the eventides for the same effect. Micropitchshifting is very
similar to chorusing, only they modulate one side up and one side down slightly.
Sometimes an even amount, sometimes variable (more similar to chourusing). Of
course, in the pop world the vocals are doubled or stacked, usually an even
number like 4.

JDN

JR wrote:

> It was very popular in the 80's and 90's for R&B vocal groups ala Boyz
> II Men and Jodeci....Even with the harmonies quadrupled, chorusing was
> still used...Actually the patch usually used was "Rich Chorus" from an
> Eventide H3000....For years my H3000 never changed from that patch....
>
> JR
>
> In article >,
> "Jan Saalbach" > wrote:
>
> > hi all,
> > i am currently trying to learn about "engineering" vocals. Meaning, i am
> > trying to make vocal tracks sound good. I made an interesting, at least to
> > me, discovery which is chorus on vocals. i put some, very little reverb
> > (more like room simulation, very short reverb time) and some chorus effect
> > on an aux to the vocal track. I think this sounds great with the particular
> > vocals i am dealing right now.
> > My question: is this a common effect on vocals,i know there is no "this
> > always works". And are there popular examples where you know for sure that a
> > chorus effect was used to make a fairly "weak" sounding voice sound "bigger"
> > /more harmonical, don´r know if that is the word. Can chorus cut the dynamic
> > range, in a negative way, where to be careful?
> > thanks.
> > Jan

[[email protected]]

> My question: is this a common effect on vocals,i know there is no "this
> always works". And are there popular examples where you know for sure that a
> chorus effect was used to make a fairly "weak" sounding voice sound "bigger"
> /more harmonical, don´r know if that is the word. Can chorus cut the dynamic
> range, in a negative way, where to be careful?
> thanks.
> Jan


Listen to anything Ozzy has done since 1983. He uses generous
helpings of chorus to get his signature sound. I personally could take
it or leave it (leave it really). It does make a vocal sound "larger
than life." I mean, people's voices don't really sound like that. It
is also a method of distracting a listener's ears from poor intonation
because of the chourus' inherent pitch modulation. But like many
things, chorus was abused in the 80's and tends to sound corny these
days unless used VERY sparingly.
I couldn't see chorus effecting the dynamic range of a track
unless it is a really cheap device.

Brendan Flaherty

[Jan Saalbach]

BEC wrote:

> in the pop world the vocals are doubled or stacked, usually an even
> number like 4.

4 what? halftones, percent, cent?

[Kendall]

"Jan Saalbach" > wrote in message
...
> BEC wrote:
>
> > in the pop world the vocals are doubled or stacked, usually an even
> > number like 4.
>
> 4 what? halftones, percent, cent?

He means 4 tracks. The singer would sing through the part 4 separate times,
and the would be blended in the mix. Not sure how universal the "even
number" thing goes, but he might be right. I would guess that it depends on
the producer, and the talent more than any particular number, whether even
or odd.

Kendall