lo-fi vocal sound?

[aznrambo481]

I'm writing a song... and think sort of a lo-fi, broken-up sound is called for... something along the lines of the vocals on "video killed the radio star". For the Asia reunion tour (the keyboardist for Asia co-wrote "radio star"), the singer sang the song through a handheld loudspeaker like this:


what would give me a similar sound? Should I dial some distortion in through a guitar amp? I don't expect this sort of sound to be anybody's forte... just wanted to see if anybody had an idea of what to do. Something inexpensive

[jussishow]

1: What are You recording it with ?

Maybe a cheap "my first microphone" could do the trick ? And/or some narrow bandpass filtering ...

[The Saint]

I record a lot of bands who want this sound and I've collected a small arsenal of tools to accomplish it - namely small low-watt tube guitar amps (Valco, Silvertone etc.) , a re-amp box (I like the Radial X-Amp) and some lo-fi mics (the Shure "Green Bullet" harmonica mic is great for this).

If the vocal is already recorded with a good mic, you can re-amp it through a small guitar amp and dial in the distortion and eq to taste.

If you are working in a DAW, any of the guitar amp plug-ins will work as well. I like SansAmp or Amp Farm.

Hope this helps

[woodman]

maybe mike your track through a crappy stereo speaker?

[aznrambo481]

I just realized that I bought a dynamic mic element (Kobitone 25LM032) in the hope of creating a harmonica mic. I think that I'll slap that together, and try it through my vox AD30 (with some crunchy overdrive setting). Seems like the recipe is generally crappy mic+OD... I'll give it a try! thanks.

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by The Saint

... namely small low-watt tube guitar amps (Valco, Silvertone etc.) , a re-amp box (I like the Radial X-Amp) and some lo-fi mics (the Shure "Green Bullet" harmonica mic is great for this).

That's exactly what I was going to say. Get yourself a typical harmonica setup and leave out the harmonica. I have a 520dx (Green Bullet), and can get similar effects from little amps like Champion 600, Epi Valve Jr, AD15VT.

[pango_twango]

It's trendy to bash Behringer gear on internet forums, but their Virtualizer line includes several settings that are "lo-fi." Some of the patches are called that, others are called things like "old record player"

The Boss COSM effects engine also includes a "Lo-Fi" bank of patches, including one that puts "scratches" onto the signal, ala old LPs, and even a fairly convincing "AM Radio station" patch.

I never realized so many people want their sound to be lo-fi, but I guess there's a market for it

[getbent]

If you are doing a recording... There are a bunch of free filters that will give you the effect. My advice would be to record it clean and in tune, then run it through a filter or three to get you the level of lo fi you seek. Garageband has the filters built in, but if you do a bit of googling, you'll find some free bit crushers that will work.

[Ben Harmless]

Either the bullhorn or the Shure Green Bullet are good options. I've heard both work very well. I especially love the Green Bullet.

On the other hand, Radio Shack sells a pretty cheap smallish bullhorn. That might be the most economical approach.

On my current band's latest one-evening recording, we used a guitar-related distortion plugin, and it worked great. There are lots of options.

[woodman]

the bullhorn idea is growing on me!

[Tdot]

Green Bullet

[Rizo]

I love the lo-fi sound, I always go for it myself.

The green bullet is great if you have one handy... I remember seeing a video of Aerosmith where Steven Tyler was doing a harmonica solo, but at the end of the solo (either by mistake or design) sang through the green bullet. I thought it sounded way more interesting than the Shure he was using before.

The bullhorn is cool too, Tom Waits obviously likes it, if you have one. Running a mic through a guitar amp gets some great lo-finess.

Here's two suggestions no one has mentioned; Running a mic through a distortion/overdrive pedal. One of my favorite artists (J Marinelli) holds a kazoo in his mouth and sings through it into a mic . By keeping your mouth around it or not, the sound changes. Pretty cool idea.

[elmerbumpkin]

you might have luck by simply flattening the EQ on the vocal track, then notching a single fader at a time through the mid range till you hear the right 'tinny' sound. A TINY bit of phase can give it the 'minaret' effect if that's what yer after, too.

[J-man]

EQ can do a similar thing, simply take out the bass and high frequencies, so you're just left with the mids, it works pretty well.

Another trick is simply to use a distortion plug-in on the vox in question.

[pengipete]

Hope nobody minds me adding to an old question.

If you are using VST capable software for recording then you can get effects such as Grungelizer which allow you to degrade the sound and add crackle hiss and vinyl effects such as crackle and rumble in real time or as a send effect.

Pete

[winny pooh]

As stated before Tom Waits has used the bulhorn extensively from Bone Machine onwards. For Real Gone he also used a sm-58 direct into a casette tape recorder whilst standing in a bathroom for a number of tracks.
Many posters on the recording forums also love the "copperphone" designed by the bassist from the polyphonic spree. Its a bit pricey though.
+1 on using amplitube etc with a dynamic mic, its the cheapest option.