Getting that great vocal sound
- Thread starter sajemusic
- Start date
postalblue
New member
what meshuggah said plus-
don't boost over 3db on any freq.
cut more than boost if you have to do a lot of eq.
don't go overboard when adding high end eq.
if you're having to add a lot of highs, try tracking without a pop filter, using it only during the troublesome parts. that's how i do it at least.
if your reverb gives you access to a lot of settings, play with it to get the best sound for the voice you're mixing. don't settle for presets. if you don't know what each knob does, do a little search so you know what you're doing. don't just turn the knobs.
if you're doing a ballad, you can get away with longer reverbs, if the songs is fast tempo you should stick with shorter reverbs.
i really like to compress vocals, so i always do it, even if just a little bit. if you're going to do it, do it during mixing, not tracking.
don't boost over 3db on any freq.
cut more than boost if you have to do a lot of eq.
don't go overboard when adding high end eq.
if you're having to add a lot of highs, try tracking without a pop filter, using it only during the troublesome parts. that's how i do it at least.
if your reverb gives you access to a lot of settings, play with it to get the best sound for the voice you're mixing. don't settle for presets. if you don't know what each knob does, do a little search so you know what you're doing. don't just turn the knobs.
if you're doing a ballad, you can get away with longer reverbs, if the songs is fast tempo you should stick with shorter reverbs.
i really like to compress vocals, so i always do it, even if just a little bit. if you're going to do it, do it during mixing, not tracking.
postalblue
New member
also, the main vocal should be dead center. you can play with panning backing vocals or doubling parts and panning them to the sides, but the main vocal is always dead center.
The Green Hornet
New member
Yo Yo Yo: Postal Blue in Brazil? I recorded "Brazil" a number of times but it's an older standard, like me.
Regarding good vocals:
Good ARTICULATION by the singer can help a great deal. Like spitting out the t's and emphasizing soft "s" sounds.
Then, there is the mic. You can do the vocal on the "main" mic and have another mic a few feet away picking a weaker signal and then combine the two when mixing.
Or, you can route the vocal to two tracks to give you more punch.
All other items mentioned by the crew are true and necessary.
I'd like to have one of the mics Sinatra used when he did tunes. If you can get your vocal as clear and articulate as Sinatra did, you be doing very good stuff.
Green Hornet
Regarding good vocals:
Good ARTICULATION by the singer can help a great deal. Like spitting out the t's and emphasizing soft "s" sounds.
Then, there is the mic. You can do the vocal on the "main" mic and have another mic a few feet away picking a weaker signal and then combine the two when mixing.
Or, you can route the vocal to two tracks to give you more punch.
All other items mentioned by the crew are true and necessary.
I'd like to have one of the mics Sinatra used when he did tunes. If you can get your vocal as clear and articulate as Sinatra did, you be doing very good stuff.
Green Hornet
John Sayers
Solar Power!!
I eq and compress to tape. Usually a boost at around 7Khz and sometimes a slight high end shelf and 6:1 compression. I then recompress on mixdown if necessary. I also use a high pass filter at around 80hz if I have one.
Make sure the singer has a good headphone mix where they can hear their own pitching against the track. I add reverb to the headphone mix to make the singer feel comfortable.
Record multiple takes and bounce the best take of each line, phrase or even word down to a final take.
Try to keep the number of people in the studio to a minimum. There's nothing worse than a crowd when you are trying to record vocals.
For reverb I always use a predelay in tempo with the song and usually keep the reverb short. 1.2sec or so. Longer in a slow ballad.
cheers
john
Make sure the singer has a good headphone mix where they can hear their own pitching against the track. I add reverb to the headphone mix to make the singer feel comfortable.
Record multiple takes and bounce the best take of each line, phrase or even word down to a final take.
Try to keep the number of people in the studio to a minimum. There's nothing worse than a crowd when you are trying to record vocals.
For reverb I always use a predelay in tempo with the song and usually keep the reverb short. 1.2sec or so. Longer in a slow ballad.
cheers
john
nave
Cave Relic
A pretty popular technique to record heavy distorted guitars is to double them or layer them.....Start by recording one guitar; select a channel; a eq tone; record it......Then record another guitar track using a different channel, a different tone, and maybe even a different chord voicing......When your done with that then pan both of them hard and equally in opposite directions....Repeat the process if desired...Use shampoo with conditioner for the best results 
note : even when recording heavy guitar you don't need as much distortion as you think you do...So, don't use as much as you would live...
hope that helps
- nave
note : even when recording heavy guitar you don't need as much distortion as you think you do...So, don't use as much as you would live...
hope that helps
- nave
Cyrokk
Farce of Nature
Experiment with the panning. You can get a thicker, more "walled" sound by panning distorted guitars at 3 and 6 o'clock.
Recording each take separately (as opposed to copying one track to another and slightly adjusting delay) can produce a more dramatic effect at times. YMMV.
Cy
Recording each take separately (as opposed to copying one track to another and slightly adjusting delay) can produce a more dramatic effect at times. YMMV.
Cy
postalblue
New member
strange
hey, how come sajemusic posted twice on this thread alone, and only has a weird 'posts: 1' under his/her name??
hey, how come sajemusic posted twice on this thread alone, and only has a weird 'posts: 1' under his/her name??
LongWaveStudio
New member
if you're gonna reord stuff in sections, make sure you have a vocal take which is sung all the way through aswell. you may play back the vocals the next day and realise you can hear the different takes
LongWaveStudio
New member
6:1 is quite a big commitment to put down to tape isn't it John?
John Sayers
Solar Power!!
Not if you are only stopping the peaks from saturating the tape. A voice has a pretty wide dynamic range and if you are looking for a punchy, loud outcome you are going to have to reduce it down quite a bit. I the use a softer 2:1 on mixdown.
cheers
John
cheers
john
cheers
John
cheers
john
LongWaveStudio
New member
well, you're using a low threshold then i guess.
unless im recording a singer with very poor mic technique, i dont really go that high in compressor ratios.
unless im recording a singer with very poor mic technique, i dont really go that high in compressor ratios.
TexRoadkill
Audio Bum
Another trick on vocals and guitar is to add a fast stereo delay. That will help thicken things up a bit. It can also give you that Robert Plant type of vocal sound.
