Recording dynamic vocal

M

Marcell Simó

New member
Hey guys,

I am about to record a song which has a very dynamic vocal track. The chorus is very loud and the verse is quiet. What do you suggest for recorind the track? Shall I record the chorus and the verse separately? Shall I turn down the gain as soon as the chorus starts?

I am using the Rode NT1-A condenser mic.

Thank you in advance.

Marcell
 
Have the singer stand in front of the mic and record it. :D

The traditional way to approach this is to set the preamp so that it doesn't distort on the loudest bits and then ride the input fader (in the case of using a console) during the quiet bits.

Since you're probably recording completely ITB you probably don't have a console, which makes a situation like this a little more challenging. First I would try coach the singer to employ a better microphone technique. On the louder bits ask him/her to step back and on the softer bits ask him/her to stand closer to the mic. Really soft, breathy parts often sound best right up against the mic. This can help even out the dynamics naturally.

Of course, you could use a compressor, but this takes a bit more experience to get right. Finding the right ratio/threshold is probably most critical as you want to let the soft stuff through untouched while bringing down the loudest bits. It's not always the best approach but sadly, the most popular.

You could use a combination of both. I tend to use moderate compression on the way in and then use the fader to ride the soft bits. Lately I've been using two-tier compression where I'll have one compressor handling gentle, slow compression and another one handling harder, limiting-like compression on the highest peaks. It seems to work nicely.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Cheers :)
 
+1.
If the singer has mic technique down there shouldn't be a problem.
In the real world you usually have to rider the fader a bit afterwards or on the way in, depending on your system.

Everything Mo said was bang on, but I'd encourage you to forget about compressors.
Sure, you can use them to taste, but you should be able to get the levels right purely on the rest of the advice.
 
Steenamaroo said:
+1.
If the singer has mic technique down there shouldn't be a problem.
In the real world you usually have to rider the fader a bit afterwards or on the way in, depending on your system.

Everything Mo said was bang on, but I'd encourage you to forget about compressors.
Sure, you can use them to taste, but you should be able to get the levels right purely on the rest of the advice.
Click to expand...

+1

When I first started out, I used compression since I couldn't monitor as effectively. As I have become a little better at recording, compression is being faded out or as Mo stated, used more sparingly (I.E. just for extreme peaks).

Try the suggestions on a few runs and see if you can't get a good compromise between mic discipline and fader control (input if you have that option). Use compression only as a way to avoid clipping for going in.

And remember, you can always increase the signal after you have recorded.
 
If the singer can't get the correct technique, consider using 2 mics & 2 tracks, one further away and one close up.

You can mute/delete the bits you don't want at mixdown
 
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