KORG Professional Engineer PA3 - Manual (Page 99)

97 Voice Processor
Voice Processor Setup: Mic Tone
Ad
vanced
• High band shelving
The 2 “Shelving” EQs boost or cut all frequencies below or above
the the frequencies set by the Low and High controls respec-
tively. These are most like the common Bass and Treble controls
on a stereo system.
The “Parametric” EQ boosts or cuts the frequencies within a
selected band that is defined by a center frequency (lower Mid
knob) and a width control (center Mid knob). For vocals, the
gain of a narrow parametric band is typically reduced to over-
come room or voice resonances and smooth the sound although
experienced users may boost a band felt to be missing in a par-
ticular voice as well.
The 3 Gain (upper) controls allow +/-12 dB of adjustment. The 3
Frequency (lower) controls range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Low Gain
Boosts or cuts the range of frequencies below the frequency set
by the Low Frequency control.
Low Frequency
Allows you to define the frequency range for the low shelf by
choosing the highest frequency below which boosting or cutting
is possible.
High Gain
Boosts or cuts the range of frequencies above the frequency set
by the High Frequency control.
High Frequency
Defines the frequency range for the high shelf with the selection
of the lowest frequency above which boosting or cutting is possi-
ble.
Mid Gain
Boosts or cuts the band of frequencies centered at the setting of
the Mid Frequency control and its associated Mid Width.
Mid Frequency
Defines the center of the parametric band.
Mid Width (Q)
Defines how narrow or wide the parametric band is to be. The
ends of the control range are labelled “Narrow” and “Wide” to
add meaning to the numbers in the middle of the control range.
Compress/DeEss
Adaptive
This activates the automatic Compressor/DeEsser algorithm and
changes the control set. When the Adaptive checkbox is checked,
most of the adjustment is done automatically so fewer controls
are required.
Compress/DeEss with Adaptive On
When Adaptive is checked, it allows for simplified editing.
Compress
With the Adaptive control activated, the Compress control
reduces the amount of range between louder and softer singing
to produce more even-sounding vocals. It does so by listening to
your singing over time (less than 30 seconds) and adjusting
accordingly.
Typical compressors require multiple controls, knowledge and
experience, and time spent testing and refining over a perfor-
mance. With TC-Helicon’s Adaptive Compress feature, these are
not required.
The factory setting of 50% strikes a good balance between mod-
erating dynamics in your singing without incurring feedback, a
side effect of compression used in a live mic setting. If you have a
high quality monitoring/amplification setup with a flat fre-
quency response and you want more compression, by all means
add more with the Compress control. Be aware though, that
average quality systems have frequency peaks that may cause
feedback with lots of compression combined with Adaptive
Shape EQ.
Compression: A Primer
You may not notice this effect as easily as with Shape. It can be
quite subtle until you educate your ears to compression. Follow-
ing is a very brief description.
We typically sing dynamically, like this (capitals are used to show
louder dynamics):
“I LOVE to watch you WALK down the STREET ”
At acoustic singing levels with no, or very quiet instrumentation,
this would sound fine. When amplified however, the loud words
become strident and even worse, quiet words can be lost in the
instrument sounds. The louder the amplification system and
band the more pronounced the loud parts become. Compression
seeks to do the following to your dynamics:
“I LOVE to watch you WALK down the STREET”
Applied appropriately, the difference between loud and soft is
reduced without killing the interesting dynamics in your perfor-
mance.
DeEss Level
There is a side effect that comes from adding high frequencies
and compression to your voice, and that’s excessive sibilance.
Sibilance can be described as the brief whistle that accompanies
“S”, “T” and “D” syllables in your vocal performance. Again,
when singing acoustically, there is no issue with these sounds. It’s
when you amplify and combine with boosted highs and com-
pression that they can become piercing.
The DeEss Level control monitors the level of sibilance and,
when it is detected, will quickly and transparently reduce it.Typ-
ically, it’s only briefly required and it then gets out of the way
allowing the silky brightness to remain on the voiced portion of
your singing.
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