Recording Gang Vocals

[Joner Jones]

Hello, me and my band mates are attempting to record vocals on our tracks in a couple of days. The aim is to get a relatively similar gang vocal style to 'The French open' by Foals: (Vocals start at 1:30)


(Sorry I'm not allowed to hyperlink yet )


The only tutorials I've found so far are for 'hardcore' style gang vocals, but I wanted something a little less intense

Could anyone give tips on using big/small room, what type of microphones to use, and is it better to record each vocal separately or everyone together? so far we've tried it in a dry room with a stereo spaced pair of SE 4's with a ribbon in the middle and it's sounded like each voice was popping out too well, whereas we want it to blend a little more like the example video

Thanks!

 

[biffbiffson]

Have you tried just a single large di condenser in the room? My old band did that on one track and it came out pretty well.

You could even try 2, because on our track, I did notice that certain louder voices definitely stood out (as is the nature of that kind of mike), or you could have louder people go to one part of the room and quieter ones in another, closer to the mikes, maybe even record the quiet and loud people separately, but still in small groups.

From my experience, a good rule of thumb is to use as few mikes as possible to achieve a desired sound, unless absolutely necessary (e.g. stereo guitars, drums, etc.).

I'm interested to hear what others have to suggest!

 

[MrWrenchey]

Throw a large diaphragm condenser mic in a small room (try out omni or cardioid to get desired room ambience). Stand maybe 10-15 feet away and have everyone shout into the mic. Use headphones or a small speaker so everyone knows where to come in/stop.

Voila. Beautiful gang vocals.

 

[Beck]

First attract as many gang members as possible by putting a sign on the door, "Flaming Hot Cheetos, All You Can Eat!"

But seriously, its hard to beat a stereo X-Y mic configuration for small vocal groups and choirs. The thinking is to pull the mics back far enough to allow the vocals to develop and blend before the mics pic it up. Stereo micing gives it a fuller wider sound of course and you can tweak the width by panning each channel to taste. doubling the vocals electronically with a short delay/echo, as it appears was done in the video, adds more power.