Dealing with fundamentally bad vocals

[Goldilox]

I've been asked by a friend of mine to record some demos of songs he writes with his girlfriend. The trouble is she does the singing, and she's just not all that good at it - warbly, out of tune, nasal and weak.

As I'm stuck with her I just thought I'd see what tricks you guys might employ to get a usable track from a sub-standard vocal performance?

 

[Goldilox]

Here's a short mp3 to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with.

View attachment maggie rough.mp3

 

[Vigo]

ahahahahahahha im sorry im sorry ok. i feel you. hmmm just say its great everytime but there's just that one little bit you'd like to redo jsut to be sure. Might be long but say they do that in big studios and stuff like that. say its necessary just say whatever to make her feel like that's how its supposed to be.

 

[ido1957]

We need more details as to how much this matters....
- are you getting paid
- are you recording/mixing engineer
- have you made any promises to make them sound "fabulous"
- just recording them raw and mixing what they have
- did you mention auto tune at all and are you intending to use it

I guess the point is are you making a "real" recording of what they sound like or, try to fix the problems so they a) have something they can listen to b) false demo for gigs lol

 

[wtfuhz]

Melodyne does wonders for um... well, exactly what you're dealing with. Try drowning the vocals underneath a mix with plenty of kick drum and snare Search Mick Jagger techniques? Haha but yeah, try to mask the vocals with some melodyne, chorus, a loud instrumental, and maybe even a touch of gain saturation for some flavor.

 

[Chili]

Maybe try a guide track; an instrumental that plays the melody so she can hear her target notes. Also, make sure she can hear herself and the backing tracks. Give her honest feedback and then give her the chance to practice.

Melodyne if you can't get any more tracks from her.

 

[RFR]

A trick I have used on a really shitty singer......myself, is to double my vocal.

In other words, sing one vocal as best as I can, then pan that hard left or right and record another one.

For some reason, hearing the first vocal helps me to improve the second. I'll make the appropriate pitch changes.

I guess because I'm in competition with myself it will coax a better vocal. Also, I can now paste together the best of each track.

 

[Goldilox]

We need more details as to how much this matters....

- are you getting paid
Bottle of Scotch is coming my way I think...

- are you recording/mixing engineer
I'm a musician who does the odd bit of recording (mostly of me, occasionally of other people) in my home studio

- have you made any promises to make them sound "fabulous"
I haven't promised anything, other than to do what I can for them. They approached me because they liked my work on another project.

- did you mention auto tune at all and are you intending to use it
I haven't mentioned it to them, but it (or rather a free version like GSnap - I'm not serious enough about all this to start throwing money at the official Antares product) would definitely be an option.

I guess the point is are you making a "real" recording of what they sound like or, try to fix the problems so they a) have something they can listen to b) false demo for gigs lol
They are looking for 'studio' recordings of the album's worth of music they have written - they mentioned that they might take it further if they are pleased with what they have. I'm not sure if they mean forming a band, or going into a real studio to produce a releasable album. Either way, they are friends, and I would like to do my best for them. What they are after seems to be a studio album in a kind of 70's mainstream rock mould.

 

[Goldilox]

For some reason, hearing the first vocal helps me to improve the second. I'll make the appropriate pitch changes.

We did try this and recorded several takes of her singing along with her first take. She thought it was better - I wasn't convinced what she put down was any better, in fact I though she probably found it easier because the 'good' take in her headphones hid some of the worse notes in her live singing.

 

[JimmyS1969]

One thing I have done for singers that are lacking in pitch control, is to take the original take and pummel it to correct pitch with Melodyne. To the point of exact accuracy. Then have them sing along with that tuned track.

It can really do wonders.

You could either use a demo of Melodyne to do that, or ask someone nice here to do it real quick for ya.

 

[RFR]

You mentioned friends and a bottle of scotch.
So its a friends deal, a favor, so to speak.

Does she know she isn't good??

If she's open to the suggestion that she needs to improve, why not just do some rough demos for her and send her on her way to practice??

All the studio trickery isnt going to fix a bad performance. Pulling out your hair to make her sound better wont help her as much as practice will.

 

[JimmyS1969]

You mentioned friends and a bottle of scotch.
So its a friends deal, a favor, so to speak.

Does she know she isn't good??

If she's open to the suggestion that she needs to improve, why not just do some rough demos for her and send her on her way to practice??

All the studio trickery isnt going to fix a bad performance. Pulling out your hair to make her sound better wont help her as much as practice will.

^^True words there^^

 

[anoopbal]

just some thoughts: Can you lower the tempo a bit? I think she cannot keep up with the tempo and that is messing up er pitch and everything. And then speed it up a bit. vocals stay pretty good if you speed than slow it.

Also some suggestions:

1. doubling
2. Adding delay( 1/8 T and 1/8D on either side with feedback) so the vocals spread out a bit and don't stick out as much.
3. Add some reverb too.

Maybe post in the "mix it" forum and a few people can take a stab.

 

[cakewalkKaKed]

i like her voice,reminds me of old world punk,tons of character n cockiness ... the backing sounds like arse imo

 

[witzendoz]

- are you getting paid
Bottle of Scotch is coming my way I think...

Ask for the Scotch first, then drink it all, the vocals will sound fine then

Alan.

 

[jhadden1412]

Nectar 2 pitch editing is the quick fix but I suppose that is "cheating". If she is up to re recording then I would suggest leaving one headphone completely off and one slightly on and plugging one of her ears. That will help with hitting the correct notes. The nasally thing just takes practice so not much you can do there other than EQing as best you can. Also doubling and reverb will help cover the gnarly bits.

 

[witzendoz]

Well, I had a listen to the mp3, no amount of scotch will fix that

Singing lessons anyone?

Alan.

 

[4tracker]

i like her voice,reminds me of old world punk,tons of character n cockiness ... the backing sounds like arse imo

it has character...sounds a bit like Grace Slick at times. The big problem is inconsistency. Some lines sound okay, some don't, and the backing track is way too low. I'd raise that and mult several vocal tracks.

 

[Farview]

I would just let it ride. Compress the crap out of it with a transparent compressor, lower it in the mix (it was too loud, which made it really sound worse than it needed to), throw some ambience on it and give it to them.

There really isn't anything that could fix that performance. Autotune will only fix the pitch. The timing, dynamics and delivery will still suck.

It shouldn't fall on you to tell her she sucks, if she figures it out on her own and asks for help, help her all you can.

 

[gecko zzed]

Her voice has an interesting sound . . . quirky enough almost to be get-awayable with.

She sounds unconfident, as if she is not sure of the tune, or can't hear properly (or both).

The mix,as some-one has said, isn't flattering. The band and her need to be brought together more.

I would not mess with autotune. I'd aim for an honest recording, and let them deal with it.