There are times we want a vocal to sound more “airy”. Usually we reach for an EQ or multi-band compressor. But the “Whispering Delay” method is more selective and offers greater control in how much “airiness” we add and where it occurs in relation to the signal.
[TIY means “Try it yourself”. Follow along with your own tracks, hopefully learn something new and useful, and then experiment and play for your own sound!]
What is “Whispering Delay”
It’s just a fancy name I thought of for this effect. We are going to delay the signal, bring out the high end (or “airiness”), and then compress the results. Each step makes for more control over the effect as it is mixed back into the original through a send bus.
What you need (to start, then you can go your own way!)
- A vocal track.
- A delay.
- An EQ.
- A compressor.
How to set it up
- Create an aux bus, preferably a mono one. (Mono is going to give you a better space for experimenting with this.)
- Put a delay on insert 1.
- Put an EQ on inset 2.
- Put a compressor on insert 3.
- Set up a send on your vocal track to the aux bus.
You now have an aux bus with a delay, followed by an EQ, followed by a compressor. You vocal will go to this aux bus through a send control.
Start with these settings
(Of course, you will be playing with all of them later!)
- Set the send on your vocal track to 100%.
Delay
- mix: 100% wet.
- delay time: 55 ms.
- feedback: 0.
- modulation: none.
- anything else like filters, etc: none.
EQ
- Attenuate everything below 2k with a shelf or high pass filter.
- Boost 6 or more db around 8-10k.
Compressor
- medium attack.
- fast release.
- 4:1 ratio.
Adjust the settings
EQ
- You are looking to find a setting where most of the low end is eliminated and the high boost is creating an airy, but not brittle, feel. It may just sound like a lot of highs. This is where you keep tweaking.
Compressor
- You want it to hit hard at the beginning of the signal, but then quickly recover. The goal is to create airiness as the words/notes end. The recovery time controls when this starts happening, and the ratio and threshold how subtle or obvious it is.
Delay
- 55 ms creates a nice fullness without any chorusing effect, and slightly separates the effect from the main sound. (You can play with this later!)
After it sounds reasonably good (as in creating a sense of airiness at the end of words/notes), set your vocal track send to 0. Slowly bring it up to hear the effect and adjust the overall amount you want.
At first, you will have to go through and keep making little adjustments. Each voice is different, and the tempo of the song matters as well. You have to find what sounds good and bad in the context of the vocal and the song.
Try it yourself
Delay
- Play with the delay time. Be aware that shorter times are going to start sounding phasey.
- Adding slight feedback will create an airy reverb.
EQ
- After you find a nice sound, experiment with notching or very narrow bands. There are all kinds of possibilities!
Compression
- The more you gain reduce with a fast release, the more air is going to come through at the end of the word or note. Mess with those settings to see how it effects the overall sound.
Not just for vocals
Adding a bit of brightness this way sounds good on a lot of instruments. Try it yourself on snare, synths, or boost the low end EQ instead of the highs and create a boomy, slappy or dull tail at the end of a kick.
More playing
- Experiment with the order of the effects.
- Send more than one track (or instrument) to the bus. They will interact with the compressor and create unusual effects.
- Try a stereo delay, and some LR effects.
- Whatever else you can think of!
Here are a couple of presets to get you started if you use Waves or SoundToys:
- Waves Studio Rack preset (requires Waves H-Delay, PuigTec EQP1A, CLA-76).
- SoundToys Effect Rack preset (requires SoundToys EchoBoy, FilterFreak, Devil-Loc). This is quite aggressive sounding, be prepared!