Motown\Gospel techniques

[PapillonIrl]

Okay, I'm recording a cover for my cousin (female vocalist), which is a bit of a departure for me.

The song is an old track by The Staple Singers, called 'The Ghetto'.

It's a lush gospel number with a simple but uplifting string arrangment, which I am going to try and reproduce (with the help of a talented violin and cello player I know - also a first for me).

Anyway, my question is more to do with the mixing of the backing vocal tracks.

The song is being recorded soley for the purpose of geting my cousin into a prestigious audio course. All vocals must be done by her in my garage, so please don't tell me to arrange a couple of U87s in a church.

I'm looking more for any tips anyone may have as far as EQ, compression and reverb goes for the backing vox. And also for recording and mixing the strings. I am, (or rather she is) prepared to meet any reasonable equipment hire costs that this may involve.

Thanks in advance.

pAp

[darrin_h2000]

You could use a pair of ecm8000s. but I wouldnt use the garage in fact renting a movie theatre after hours is cheap if they are a dollar show anyhow. I would try to use an apmosphere like the church or an open room, I know that most pastors will let that sort of thing happen for a small donation.

[Buffalo Bob]

"Anyway, my question is more to do with the mixing of the backing vocal tracks."

Motown only used plate reverbs, because that's all they had back then. Try using a plate reverb with a lot of pre-delay to keep the vocals crisp. Use the same verb on the lead vocal. Pan the backups at 10 and 2. EQ depends on the singer's voice, but if you're trying to reproduce the motown "sound", keep the EQ simple, maybe a low cut and a bit of top end for sparkle. As for the strings, I've never recorded them, but if I had to I'd rent a good ribbon mic for the session.

Good luck,

Bob