KORG Professional Engineer PA3 - Manual (Page 98)

96 Voice Processor
Voice Processor Setup: Mic Tone
Voice Processor Setup: Mic Tone
In this page you can set parameters for the microphone input,
choosing the most suitable settings for the Lead voice (i.e., the
main singer).
Lead
Level
This parameter sets the Lead voice level.
Off Lead voice is turned off.
-60dB … 0dB Lead voice level.
Pan
Adjusts panning for the Lead voice. Left/L99 (panned fully left)
to R99/Right (panned fully right).
EQ
The EQ section is different, depending on the Adaptive check-
box status.
Adaptive
This activates the automatic EQ algorithm and changes the con-
trol set for the EQ. When the Adaptive checkbox is checked,
most of the adjustment is done automatically so fewer controls
are required.
EQ with Adaptive On
When Adaptive is checked, it allows for simplified editing.
Shape
“Shape” is the name given to the automatically adjusting EQ that
is activated by the Adaptive checkbox. When the Adaptive fea-
ture is activated, Shape processing offers an EQ curve that adds
an airy brightness, or “sizzle” to your voice while reducing
“mud” due to the proximity effect from singing closely into a
cardioid microphone.
Adjusting the control from 0% to 50% reduces mud while
increasing brightness to a useful range for your voice. Turning
from 50% up to 100% adds more brightness.
Reducing Mud
For singers who have a voice with less bass frequencies, the
“mud” reduction may be less and perhaps not noticeable at all.
This is a good thing – your voice is nicely balanced regarding
bass frequencies. For the average male singer or women who
sing closely on their mic, the reduction in bass will be noticeable
and beneficial. When voices have too much bass, they tend to
become lost in the other instruments that occupy those frequen-
cies resulting in sonic clutter. Reducing bass has the natural
effect of emphasizing mid and upper frequencies which allow
the voice to cut through dense instrumentation.
Lastly, the term “proximity effect” and “cardioid” need to be clar-
ified as they can cause bass build up. The typical microphone
used by singers has a pickup pattern called “cardioid” or heart-
like, because it picks up less sound at the rear than at the front.
This intends to reduce other instruments or sounds from getting
into the front of the mic. A side effect of this that singing closely
on a cardioid mic adds more bass frequencies than your voice
actually has. This is called “proximity effect” because it is caused
by closeness to the mic. The adaptive Shape feature listens con-
tinually to your voice through your mic and adjusts to make
your voice sound like it is professionally produced and balanced.
Adding Highs
The other facet of the Shape feature is that it adds high frequen-
cies, also known as “air” or “presence” without making your
voice sound “tinny”. The vocal sounds we hear on CDs and the
radio are not typically what you hear when you listen to a singer
acoustically. Commercial vocal sounds are more of a hyper-real-
ity designed to flatter the voice or voices and make them cut
through a group of instruments and thus make a larger impres-
sion on the listener. The Shape feature, used at moderate set-
tings, emulates this sound through the average microphone and
amplification system.
When making Shape adjustments, it’s important to sing while
listening to the amplification system your audience will hear
rather than only judging by your monitor sound.
Warmth
This control returns a narrow band of low frequencies for singers
who prefer this sound. The majority of the “mud“ frequencies
are still reduced automatically when using this control.
EQ with Adaptive Off
Turning Adaptive off presents manual parametric EQ controls
for users who understand this type of equalization.
There are 3 bands of control:
• Low band shelving
• All band fully parametric peak/dip control
VPs
VPs
VPs
VPs
VPs