Unprocessed Vocal Tracks

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schismatic

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Can anbody point me in the direction of some unprocessed vocal tracks that are on professional recordings?

I basically want to have a look at the quality of the initally recorded vocal track, with a view to possibly being able to use it as a reference track of sorts for my vocal recordings.

It would be very handy if there was an A/B type thing between a raw unprocessed vocal, and then the processed vocal within the track.

Thanks,

Tom
 
A very peculiar question indeed. Are you not confident in you recordings?
 
I don't think it's necessarily a case of being confident in my recordings, it's probably that I am looking for a yardstick of sorts :). Hearing what is good i.e. reference material can only help me develop further.
 
umm...

i don't think you're going to find dry/scratch vocals on any recordings as of late... or as of really late... but the good news is nobody in the universe can stand the sound of a dry vocal track... especially their own! why do you think eq's, compressors, limiters, tube pre-amps, delays, reverbs, effects processors, fancy microphones and all those other things with colorful lights and bouncy needles sell so well in the recording section of your local music store?

s
 
Maybe I didn't clarify my question properly. I'm fully aware of why EQ's, compressors etc are used, that is not the point. The point is to be able to understand and hear the quality of the initial dry recording compared to the mixed, processed vocal because I want to see how my dry tracks compare to professional dry tracks.

If I don't know what quality I should be starting with, then I am going to spend the rest of my recording career using those lovely EQ's, compressors, limiters and the like to polish a turd.

So basically, any vocal tracks I can A/B from dry to processed that have been done by pro's please!
 
Youre going to have a hard time finding recordings with unprocessed vocals unless you can find some old (i mean really old) recordings. Way back, say circa 1950 maybe, when many recordings were basicly one room, whole band at once, mono, lo-fi, and largely "undoctored." I don't think many vocals have been left as they were recorded since the advent of reverb, I'm certain not many have been left "as is" since studios first began using 3 & 4 track tape machines.
 
You cant polish a turd it will always be dirty. If your recordings are crap hopefully you will realize or you can post them on the mp3 clinic and somebody will tell you. Its all about developing your ear and being sensitive to all the nuances. Soon you will hear the difference.
 
I wonder if there are any tutorial-style DVD's out there that take you through mixing a vocal, you would surely be able to hear the original dry track before an explanation of the processing that gets applied. With regards to training the ear, there is no point training it unless you know what the end goal is - if I get used to thinking that what I'm hearing on my own recordings is good, when in fact its bad, then I just won't improve and I would just be under the illusion that my turd is in fact well-recorded.

Having that reference material is essential.
 
Don't know why I bother. Nothing useful yet again from this forum. I'll try elsewhere thanks.
 
TheChikenMaster said:
You cant polish a turd it will always be dirty. If your recordings are crap hopefully you will realize or you can post them on the mp3 clinic and somebody will tell you. Its all about developing your ear and being sensitive to all the nuances. Soon you will hear the difference.
Click to expand...

Spot on. It's down to a combination of others opinions (those who know what they're talking about with any luck!) and flatout practise/experimenting.

I imagine you want to work out where to start from and what to do to make it fit in the mix? There are a few things you could try...I find singing using the most consistent stream of breath you can get (this helps you focus more on hitting the notes, of course it's down to how you want to express your voice, but helpful for a general rule all the same. Also experiment with different mics to find what mic brings out the colours of your voice the best. I used an e385 dynamic mic up until recently, but have found using one of my condensor mics is more what I was chasing, but again it's down to what captures your voice accurately, or the desired effect you're chasing.

What I'm trying to say is, experiment with different gear and different techniques so you can get the best raw track you possibly can. Just don't fall in to the trap of relying on after effects (EQ, Reverb etc), so you are more likely to really focus on the performance more than anything, so you can improve the take from the from there on...do the best you can with what you can with what you have...and if that's not good enough, get some better gear already haha
 
You could always rent a Nuemann mic, plug it in and boom...there's what you want.
I think you'll find it almost unattainable to get from that to what a professional mix has without a $1500 compressor and a killer tube mic pre IF you are looking for perfection. If not, you can have fun with plug ins and do your best like me!

Good luck.
 
I think its a more valid question if you are trying to hear how much of the final vocal track is down to effects and how much is down to mic quality, room quality and vocal technique - then it would be useful to hear how a "professional recording" of dry vocals differs to yours - but I still agree with ebveryone hear. Either you have captured a dry vocal that you like, or you haven't - the rest is irrelevant really.
 
YorkshireTrippe said:
I think its a more valid question if you are trying to hear how much of the final vocal track is down to effects and how much is down to mic quality, room quality and vocal technique - then it would be useful to hear how a "professional recording" of dry vocals differs to yours...
Click to expand...

This is precisely what I'm looking for. I take onboard fully all of the other comments, they're valid and important and I know that I can't get 100% the same from my untreated small room setup with inferior equipment. What I do believe I can do though is improve the quality of the dry tracks, and it would be useful to have a reference so that I can move as close as is possible to a pro quality track given my equipment and setup.
 
I wouldn't call this a professional track, because I recorded it, but it can give you an idea of what my dry recorded vocal tracks sound like.

This is all I have at the moment. Listening to it, I think I do have some compression and a little eq on the vocals, but it can still give you a general idea. I know I have the raw sample somewhere, I just can't find it. Hope it helps.

http://www.bozrecords.com/mp3s/kara/song4/tracks/vox.wav

Finished song:
 
I think its worthless to hear one of those dry tracks. Besides you might be pleasantly surprised if you hear one of those tracks.
 
Here you go. Here's a completely dry take. It's a different song, and I haven't finished mixing it, so I don't have the final version, but it's the same singer.



I don't think it's worthless to hear. I mean, it's good to get at least some calibration to make sure you're on the right track. I don't think he's trying to copy anything but I think it can be helpful to hear what a raw dry track sounds like so you can tell if you are getting the first step (tracking) at least in the ballpark.
 
If you know your tools and understand how things work and have decent equipment there shouldnt be a problem. whether knowing what a good dry track sounds like or not.
 
bozmillar, thanks very much for posting those tracks, that singer has a lovely texture to her voice. Can I be cheeky and ask you what your setup is? I'm interested in recording environment, type of mic used (large-D condenser I assume) and whether there is anything in the signal chain.

The dry take sounds so much more upfront than mine and has more warmth. Maybe I need to improve my room and mic placement.
 
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