Old Time Sound
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2020 2:09 pm
Which effect is best for giving a vocal track an old-time sound and feel...???
Try the Graphic EQ. Start by pulling-down all of the sliders below (about) 300Hz and above (about) 3kHz, and then just experiment from there. (You have to hover the mouse over the sliders to see the frequency. (300-3000Hz is approximately the frequency range of a regular-old land line telephone.)
"T" and "S" sounds contain higher frequencies so reducing/removing the high requencies can affect intelligibility. So, just experiment to make sure the results are OK for you.
Pushing-up some of the sliders between 300Hz and 1kHz may help too.
You can "preview" the effect and/or you may need to "undo" and/or start-over and re-load the file a few times.
If you boost, run the Amplify or Normalize effect (before you export) to make sure your peaks don't go over 0dB (to prevent clipping/distortion).
But, you may actually want to add some distortion and you can do that by setting the Limiter to "Hard Clipping". Amplify or Normalize first to get a "starting point". Then try limiting to -6dB or more (more negative).
You can also "degrade" the sound by mixing-in some white noise or pink noise, and/or by exporting as a low-quality (low bitrate) MP3. But start with the equalizer, and maybe some clipping, first.
...If this is a "fresh" recording you can try changing your voice to mimic the effect you're looking for, or at least to get started before using effects.