noob vocal recording

[mixinstrings]

when you are recording vocals what are you playing in the vocalist headphones? do you use a click track/metronome? do you give them their own voice or do you EQ them? do you play what you have for recorded for music for that song? any help would be great as I have nover done anything l**** this. I'm using a MXL 990 into samson mixpad 4 into a M-Audio fast track into my PC. I'm recording my wife who is a beginer voalist and it sounds like crap. I want to make sure I'm providing the best enviorment for her to record before she is totaly discoraged

[iceyflame]

if she is singing to a backing track/accompiant of music you'll want to be playing that to her, if shes not and if its just solo vocals she might want to play to a clicktrack. It all depends on what shes used to, if she is used to singing this song to an accompniment, get that in her headphones

chris

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Yeah, if she is a beginner vocalist, click tracks and such are probably foreign and uncomfortable to her...BUT, ask her first and try out a few things.

That said, though, I'd probably (after discussing it with her and getting her ideas first) want to try her out first with a rough mix of the accompaniment, since that's how she's probably used to singing au natural. She may or may not alos want some degree of her own voice mixed in also. The vocal level in the mix is up to the tastes and needs of the individual singer, some may want little to none of themselves, others need to hear themselves clearly in order to keep themselves in tune.

Also, if she's one of those who likes or needs to plug one ear when they sing in order to hear themselves the way they want to, don't be afraid to provide an accompaniment mix to her phones but have her wear just one can or wear both cans but have the accompaniment panned to just one side.

Because she's new to this game, just make her feel comfortable, try out each of the above options, and see what she seems the most comfortable with.

G.

[Somnium7]

I usually send most of the mix in at a low level along with a guide track if necessary. The guide track is just me playing the melody she's gonna sing if it happens to be divergent from the melody in the mix. A simple synth sound using a triangle wave is easy to follow since it has little harmonics.

[someguy]

I often find having the bass a little louder in a singers headphones helps them with tuning problems since the bass often plays the root note of the chord. Especially for first timers since they sometimes have tuning problems because of wearing headphones and aren't used to how their voice sounds in the headphones.

[mastertracks]

The bass a little loud is a great suggestion as is playing the vocal melody. Below is my perferred method when working with a "shaky" or begining vocalist,

1. Play the melody part on the piano (or guitar) a couple of times.

2. Have them them sing along, with the melody I am playing

3. Record the vocal (me playing along only in the headphones)

This works great and once an in key line or two is captured the singer seems to relax, gain more confidence, and perform much better for the rest of the session.

[chessrock]

Originally Posted by mixinstrings

do you give them their own voice or do you EQ them?

Um ... if you think it's important for someone to actually hear themselves when they sing, then it might be a good start.

do you play what you have for recorded for music for that song?

Unless I want them to simply guess what the music sounds like, what key the song is in, etc. etc.

I'm recording my wife who is a beginer voalist and it sounds like crap. I want to make sure I'm providing the best enviorment for her to record before she is totaly discoraged

Can't imagine why it would sound bad. Beginner vocalist ... beginner engineer. Look, you're going to get discouraged -- she's going to get discouraged. At least until you get this whole recording thing down and she gets the whole singing thing down. Just have fun with it. Sing silly joke songs that make you laugh ... enjoy the bonding time together, make mistakes together and learn together. It will make the frustration worth it.

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