I hate it when that happens !

[Dom Franco]

Have any of you had the problem of trying to fix a vocal part at a later session, and you can't match the tone or volume level exactly?

I sometimes scribble a little diagram on a piece of paper...
Like: Tube preamp-Compressor-Delay room 5 but the EQ settings and the recorded sound are hard to match perfectly.

Do any of you have a method to match tones for overdubs?

Dom

[Henri Devill]

Hey Dom,ya recall sheets help..but vocals are tuff to match sometimes because the voice changes from day to day!Matchin' the emotion,delivery and "moment" can make it dam near impossible!Do your repairs and when you have one in the can to keep..Go for a complete new take and see if you strike gold{sometimes a singer will do their best work with a "safety"}..Thats how I approch it..YMMV..Good luck


Don

[dachay2tnr]

This happens to me quite a bit. However, I find that the differences are much more noticable at the time of the retake - when you are either soloing the vocal part, or concentrating on it intensely.

I use volume envelopes to try and match the volume levels as close as possible, and then once you slap the same effects on it and mix in the music and bgv's, it starts to blend in quite well and the diferences become much less noticeable.

I would bet if I took a mix I did a coupld of months ago (with several overdubs such as you describe) I would be hard pressed to tell you where any of the patches were. And I was there when they were done.

That said, using recall sheets to match the original equipment settings will help. At least it eliminates some of the variables.

[Harvey Gerst]

Removing some of the variables also can help when redoing vocals.

Don't use eq when tracking vocals is one good bit of advice. Use the right mic for the job if possible.

Standardize on one compresser setting for all vocals during tracking sessions (I use the RNC with all the knobs set to 12 o'clock. I adjust makeup gain to try and match the levels to the pre-recorded track.)

Always try to get the singer to remember where he/she was standing. Closer for more bottom end, further back for a thinner sound.

Try not to punch in a line from a cold start; have the singer sing the song from the beginning and do your punch when the line comes along. Or, at least, have the singer sing along for at least one verse or chorus before the punch-in.

If you have an insert button, use it to switch back and forth during a trial run to match levels and tone to the recorded track. If nothing seems to be working, forget it, and just have the singer redo the whole verse or chorus.

[DJL]

Originally posted by Harvey Gerst

Standardize on one compresser setting for all vocals during tracking sessions (I use the RNC with all the knobs set to 12 o'clock. I adjust makeup gain to try and match the levels to the pre-recorded track.)

For those of you who don't have an RNC, the 12 o'clock setting are as follows.

Threshold: -5
Ratio: 6:1
Attack: 6.0
Release: 0.5
Gain: 0 and adjust

Harvey, do you have the "Super Nice" botton on or off? I like it on.

[sjoko2]

besides noting you vocal chain settings, also note the time of day the recording was made. Singers sound different at different times of the day.

[scottboyher]

Never get rid of old vocal tracks. Sometimes after multiple takes I go back and listen and the scratch track or the one I though was bad ended up being the best... Hmmm.