Your best tricks recording vocals

[prosodio]

Hello!

I´m having some problems to achieve good results when I´m recording vocals. How may tracks do you mix for you main vocal track? Do you mix tracks with eq, without eq others with short reverbs, long reverbs, delays... I know the main voice ALWAYS goes in the center and the chorus panned..Please tell me your tricks...


Thank you

[Ollie]

There are some tricks you can do, but I feel that good signal path basics are essential


A high quality mic that flatters the artists voice and fits well with the track
A high quality mic pre amp. Interesting tone and color can be a great help
A high quality compressor. Modest compression while tracking can add smoothness and eveness. This can also add tone and color
If needed, a good EQ while tracking. Sometimes you will need to scoop a bit of low mids or add a pinch of another frequency
The most important ingredient is the vocalist. If they cannot sing at all, forget about it. If they can reasonably sing, then helping the vocalist get an interesting performance that communicates and has emotion is part of our job. It also helps if they can work the mic correctly, but again we can help the vocalist learn how to do this effectively


Now you will have a real good sound to start with. So what do I use during a mix. It really depends. Finding the right space for the vocal to sit in takes time. A complementary reverb or delay. Sometimes all it takes is to make small fader movements. Other times it is more compression and or eq.

When instrumentation starts to layer up in choruses or other parts of the song, sometimes I will copy the vocal down to another track and treat it with eq or compression, maybe even a pinch of slow rate chorus and then mix the untreated and the treated vocal together. Whatever it takes to make it sit correctly and have the right attitude and presence.

This is what makes engineering fun. I am continually learning new ways to complement the song and performance.

[Les Woollam]

Completely agree with all that Ollie says. Basically, 'get it right at source'.
I record a lot of radio jingles and tend to use maybe a little more vocal compression. The compressor in SAW is very good when set-up correctly. As a starting point, I tend to go for about 7ms attack, 50ms release, 3:1 ratio and then tweak the threshold so the GR meter is kicking at about 6dBs or so.
It's not 'set in stone' that you have to pan choruses - a lot of my vocal mixes are right down the middle. A good trick for 'fattening' a chorus is to 'stack' it - in other words, get your singers to sing it exactly the same 3 times (on 3 seperate tracks). Autotune is also very good for getting killer backing vocals.
Experiment. . . .with SAW it's fun!

[Lance]

I agree with Ollie as well but would add that one of the most important things to getting a good vocal is to make sure that the headphone mix is entirely comfortable to the vocalist. This meanse that they can hear the rhythm and the cords without thinking about it, and also that their voice has "space" in the phones. Some reverb or delay can do wonders to the way a vocalist performs. Above all, they need to hear themselves.

When working with less experienced vocalists, you may need to have them take off one ear of the headphone so that they hear themselves the way that they're used to...

Be aware of what they hear in the phones, sometimes, tracking them while listening to the same headphone mix, in phones can be good to give you a clue what more they may need. If their pitch is a bit wobbly, give them more guitar or keyboard. If their time is a bit out, give them more snare, etc.

Working with vocalists is actually a fine art. Coaxing performances out of somebody without an audience is one of the most difficult things in recording.

Backgrounds are another whole subject. Panning, EQ, effects, these all directly relate to the way you want the BG to sit in the track. They can be part of the instrumentation, or part of the vocal mix. Most importantly, is that you want to achieve a blend. This means that the different BG voices complement each other. EQ, Panning, Doubling or Tripling can help this.

Pitch correctors can definitely help BGs, and the artifacts get hidden quite well in the ensemble. But get the pitch right from the beginning and everything will just sound better, less electronic.

BGs should fit the track, that's the real recommendation....oh and stay away from the barbershop quartet:D ... that will kill a track faster than anything.

Lance

[mghtx]

1. A great mic that fits the voice. After years of listening we finally found a mic that fits my wife's voice.

2. I have found that I need to take out low mids on her voice. Depends on how much by the type of song and how she's singing.

3. Only compress/limit if needed.....usually with a fast attack and a fast release. She has a very powerful voice and although she has a pretty good mic technique, sometimes she's too into the song to think about backing off the mic. :D

4. The thing for me is to get a good, clean, natural take.

5. Record EVERYTHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Warming up, scratch takes, etc. It took me a LONG time to teach her that we're not gonna run out of tracks (this ain't tape baby......just keep going......you can always do it over so don't worry about it ). :)

I also copy the track to another track and treat only the copied track with any effects. I always keep that clean, natural track like it is. Many times I don't need that copied track, and other times I just need a bare hint of it. Automation is your friend.

[mghtx]

OH YEAH, Lance is right on the money! Headphone mix. VERY important.


Working with vocalists is actually a fine art. Coaxing performances out of somebody without an audience is one of the most difficult things in recording.

Right again. Getting the right performance is vital. If we're doing a fast tempo song.....before I record her vocal we'll have some cappuccinos and get the heart beating by dancing to some old-time rock and roll. It works for us anyway. :D If it's a real slow song I have her chill out for an hour or so, she will usually sit/lay outside. We live way out in the country so it's VERY quiet. And sometimes you say, "to heck with all that bull just go for it." :D

[Yura]

Along with all this mentioned I use one of my "tricks" to make weak vocal to sound better.
I do not limit the quantity of recorded repetitions of vocal tracks by 10. the more is the better for this case. then I do my handwork to syncronize every phrase of them until perfect... then I choose the best solid track as the main vocal track. All the rest 15-20 tracks (compressed, synced, hand-tuned) is for adding. I make them about 20 db quiet (the minimum relative value!) in compare to the main track. slightly different formant filters are applied to them and as well as little panning near the center.

[tomasino]

N' try and stay away from DeSSSers, just turn the mic off axis slightly to roll of any sibilence problems.


LAYERS Man, use the SawStudio track layers. Best way ever to quickly A/B and compare pieces of different takes. Fastest best way in the world to collect all the best of different takes n' slap 'em down on a lower layer. Use SoftEdge on any ruff spots. Boom - you're done.

[Burkeville]

I think feel and performance are the most important things . Some live performers especially rappers like to use a hand help. I will use that with a stationary condensor if they don't jump around too much. There is a RIAA 4 million seller that was cut like this in my studio.

Then you could try using a good microphone. I usually will do a shoot out with the singer and pick the best one for their voice. The AKG c12A is my favorite but the u87 works well in almost any situation although you may have to roll of the very bottom from 50 downward and cut a little low mid around 250 to make it "clear". I never add High Freq. . I do compress a little 2- 3 db. Then more in the mix. In the mix I will use Bob's freq analyzer to find the sibalence point and use the waves de esser because you can select the freq. I rarely use this but sometimes if neccesary.

If you are getting pops you could use a screen or a pencil taped vertically across the front of the mic to diffuse P's.

Every act winds up being different.

good luck

[mghtx]

I use an AKG C535 for my wife's vocals. It fits her voice perfectly.