Andrew Scheps Vocal Mixing Trick | Get Your Vocals To Cut Through The Mix 

where i wanna see him do it

Right. I may have misspoke in the video. Thanks for the clarification.

It's levioooosaa not levio-saa

Indeed. So it's more a case of the higher frequencies triggering the compressor more than the lows. It's like a very low-tech / basic de-esser, though not a very transparent nor a particularly effective one. The that little knob/pot on the LA-2A is somewhat like a tilt-eq. But it has a peculiar frequency curve, and it may even be level-dependent. I know that from a very obsessive plugin analysis session I did a while back. Bonus-fact: Chris Lord-Alge does sorta the same. He boosts the highs on vocals before compression, for that exact de-essing effect.

@@Tazmanian_Ninjahappenin because there too much highs and the compressor over react ?

The irony in your comment is delicious. lol It is only compressing ("reacting" as the OP wrote) the high end. The fact that it's not a sidechain is irrelevant.

Thank you! Glad you like the channel.

You're welcome! Nice Fat Channel tip - it's a great tool.

I just wanted to write that :D

Pro Tip: Read Manuals =D

Yes. It's an unfortunate position they did of that bandwidth control, when they made the Pully. Confusion-wise akin to the LA-2A's position of the output gain on the left, leading many to think it controls the input gain. And then there's the 1176, with its counterclockwise attack and release controls 😅

Absolutly! I see many people making and commenting the same mistake ;}

I can’t believe that ppl call them self engineers snd copy past setting eq without even knowing how they work..

Glad to help!

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

Happy to help!

Happy to help!

Happy to help!

Thanks for watching!

That’s right!

You mean like nearly every other parallel process?

@@GreenLightSound not when you actually compensate for that volume gain beyond the effect. .... come on. He is right. take it.

@@GreenLightSound You know you're supposed to compensate for that, right?

my thoughts exactly.

This guy gets it.

Happy to help!

Thanks!

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

Glad to help, and glad that the timing worked out for you!

it's such a cool technique. glad it helped you out so much, i'm going to be looking for a chance to use it, especially since i just got the waves LA2A

I'm saying dude. This shit just changed the game

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

Thanks for watching!

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

You're welcome!

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

Hey how are you, I was wondering if you could help me out, the thing is that I am a blind producer not completely and can’t follow along, I use logic, and of course ProTools I’m guessing he is using this on a bus regardless if he isn’t I’m wondering if he could create a logic channel strip for me with the settings that he’s done so I could have it ready to go in logic, if you don’t use logic I also ProTools do you think you could create a session with the plug-ins that he is using and just send it to me with the presets already in place and I’ll do the rest it will mean the world thanks

I agree. Though when I tried this I am watching my levels and not seeing a visible increase in vocal or overall volume but I understand how I have to be aware. Still, it does seem to sharpen my vocals, even them out and help them sit in the mix, more legible.

@@dawmix are you watching the levels on a vocal bus that the parallel channel is also being sent? There’s no way you could increase the level of a parallel track and it not essentially be adding gain to the overall signal. I really think this trick works because it’s just adding more volume to the vocals. I’d be interested to see if there was a way to do this inside of single plugin with a mix knob that you could throw on the main vocal and see if it actually works

@@slayabouts this discussion is important. Buses are necessary for various reasons but add gain into the mix which is seductive. A fair thing to say? If the fx is in the bus then the more volume on the bus the more fx. But the you have to lessen the track volume to compensate. And the there is gain staging so once that is set then bus and track volumes must be worked until volume/effect balance works with the rest of the tracks. This is how I interpret it.

@@slayabouts thank you for your reply. Very much appreciated.

I have to agree. I've been waiting until the end of the video to find out what the "trick" is - when it's just essentially adding volume and a bit of processing to the vocal. I'm not saying that adding volume alone would have the same result, I'm sure the EQ/compression step makes a difference, but mostly it's adding volume - which you can clearly hear and see when he starts riding the fader. The difference in volume is huge.

That's right - a copy of the vocal is sent to a buss or this processing.

Awesome, thank you!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad to help - it is a great trick!

Thanks!

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

Agreed, and that's the one I use. But you can get by with the stock plugins if you don't have a decent Pultec emulation.

I feel like those graphic eq have created a serious phase shift and resulted in some phase issues in the “stock” case

the pultec boosts and attenuates in a different way than any other eq, its not like any graphic eq,

Pultec has tube emulation which will result in saturation and he has 2 of them. Saturation helps things cut through the mix also.

@@entity9588 Yep. I was about to add this comment. If you add experiment with a saturation plug in or two you might get close.

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

Jay Clifford - "Paralyze"

@@GreenLightSound Thank you!

Happy to help!

You're welcome!

I'd reccomend you read the manual too. There are some mistakes in the video.

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....

You're welcome!

It's sent to the vocal buss.

Hey what’s up, I was wondering if you can help me out the thing is is that I am a visually impaired producer and can’t follow along in the video, I don’t know if you use logic or ProTools, but do you think you could save the preset in logic so I could import it, or if you could just create a session in ProTools with the plug-ins that he has with the proper settings and then I could do everything from there and just send me the session? It would mean a lot thank you so much hopefully you can help me out

Since the Scheps vocal bus send is separate from the reverb/delay sends it's dry, but you could certainly send a copy of the Scheps effected vocal to reverb/delay if you felt it needed it.

you're correct. there's a lot of technical ways to do the same. but pultec & LA-2A are famous for their saturation and "musical color". So, i guess, if you need some extra warm and crisp you'll do this way:)

1. Multiband compressing introduces phase shifts and flips (or pre-ringing) at the crossover frequency. The Scheps method comes with different phase issues. 2. LA 2A is a wideband compressor no matter what - making it less reactive to the low end does not mean it doesn't compress it. Similar effect - kind of... but the sound difference is significant enough to try both imho.

@@TomiSimatupang You're right. But had multi-band compressors been largely available when this technique was created, I suspect they would have gone that way. This 'trick' is a byproduct of an era where you had to string together 3 expensive boxes to do what he wanted...have a very dense mid-range in the vocal. So we glamorize it because AS uses it, but not because there isn't some other way to do something similar (and potentially faster / less resource intensive.) FWIW - I use it sometimes as it's in my template, but it's worthwhile for people to understand what is really going on so they can decide for themselves (and the song) what they should do. :)

@@ParadNorthProd Thanks. I agree that it is very old school, but it does sound much better than a multi-band compressor to me. The old school method tends to sound in your face, crisp with a lot of character. I don't care who invented that, it just works :) A friend of mine does the multi-band thing to every vocal and I hate it 80% of the time. I've tried it, used linear band and dynamic eq, too. Especially with non linear phase mb compressors I get weird phasing effects or just a hollow, unnatural mhf or disconnected consonants.. How do you get it to sound nice?

After.

Right, these plugins are on a separate buss from the main vocal channel.

m using a Waves NS1 Mono API 560 Vocal Preset R Dessor Dave P setting against Harshness and Last in my Vocal Change.... I've got the VLA 3A by Black Rooster (Pretty Much the BEST) Vocal and Bass Guitar Plugin online....) Going into my UAD 476 Volt with 48+ Phantom, 1176 Compressor and Vintage Effect in ... Honest sounds like I'm singing into an analog Mixer with Gate and a UAD Textronic LA2A...all in the Box on the Computer Once again....I do not claim to know more than Andrew Scheps...but....his Idea might work better if your Using a $3000 interface with a $2000 LA2A comp.....so in the Box with a great vocal interface like Volt....trust my vocal chain sounds warmer, clearer and is cutting through my mix sharper and smoother than your suggestion above...no offense I just went into my Vocal Closet Set up and shot your Idea against mine...I won....LOL ....the Black Rooster VLA 3A, API 560 EQ and Volt 476 UAD Interface for vocals...three must...if you want to compete with the $200,000 studios.....as far as vocals....