A whole lot of singers and vocalists (especially in Nigeria) seem to address or know any form of effect as
echo”..
Breaking that bubble, that’s one of the greatest deceptions and misconceptions about effects on vocals while on stage.
Many of us have felt like the “echo” engineer is giving you is “too much.”
Well guess what? If the engineer is experienced & also learned or skilled in the job, then he’s doing 1 of a few things –
“saving you” or “also worshipping” or “he’s feeling the groove/jam” and if the singer at the time is experienced or matured
enough, his/her duty is to flow with what’s happening, even if its “spoiling your plans” The major use of the effects in
live sound Aldo applies to the studio environment — create space or make the music Larger than Life.
So how do singers avoid making mistakes of sounding horrible on an effect? I bet you I have GO-TO Persons in my life right now that if I want to catch fun on a reverb unit, or a delay unit, i call them up, either for a soundcheck or studio session.
But before we go further, we need to understand what effect units are.
Examples of effects units are: reverb, delay, chorus, expander, etc but we will dwell on the common ones which are *Reverb
and Delay.
Reverb – this unit is created to emulate or mimic real life spaces. You know when you hear that you sound like you’re in
the bathroom? Or like you’re in a church hall, or in a padded studio? It is the reverb unit that makes that possible.
Also have you wondered why you sing a sentence and you hear a repeat after a brief or long pause? Yeah. That’s the
Delay unit doing that.
So therefore, one major mistake singers make is singing too much or over crowding adlibs in worship/RnB songs… When you
have a reverb unit and a delay on, its job is to “reemphasize” what you have said if you give it apace to work.. It makes
sure your words sink in into the audience giving you enough time to catch your breadth and also allowing the crowd and/or
background vocals to take the push on the music.
So, in conclusion for now, I will advice that whenever or wherever possible, have an engineer you’re familiar with,
and ask that he/she play around your vocals with these effects units… In so doing, you’ll find the preset that suits
your voice, singing style, and ambience.
A-List Artistes have their own engineers, they go around the world with them -to replicate their signature
tone/sound….
This is not paparazzi or a show of wealth NO.
EVERY singer, artiste, and band have what works for them and their sound interns of Effects usage and mix…..
So therefore, a constant practice and/use of these effects units in personal or group rehearsals would HELP YOU WITH
CREATING AND/OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR TONE AND SOUND….
Thanks for your TONE of rear… Your Boy
@Jubalford
#JubalsBEAT
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