How does he get this vocal sound

[highriser]

Hey guys I'm sure you've heard of Boyce Avenue on youtube. They became famous through youtube and over the years they have made some major improvement in their videos and sound quality.

I was just wondering because he uses the same mic in earlier videos as the later ones so that is not it. What is your best guess at what changed to give him that sound and how can I replicate it.

here is an example of an earlier video: Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover) on iTunes - YouTube

and this is more recent: Bruno Mars - It Will Rain (Boyce Avenue cover)(Twilight Soundtrack) on iTunes - YouTube

 

[singer202]

The earlier vid is most definately recorded along with the video and most likely with lower quality pre's, interfaces and so on.

The newer vid I believe is an overdub. I would say that it was pre-recorded in a studio with much higher quality mics, pre's, interfaces, effects and so on and then dubbed over the video so its not actually the same mic. With that said, I think I also hear a touch of autotune applied, and some nice quality reverb along with some "likely" professional mastering that was not done in the first vid.

Now, all that said, the fact is there is no one but Boyce Avenue's recording engineer who can tell you exactly what they did to get that sound. The only way you can possibly figure it out is experiment and use your ears until you figure it out. No one but a baker can tell you how exaclty how they make a cake, but if you experiment with the ingredients long enough, you'll probably get pretty darn close.

Here is the general guidelines for vocals though:

First, you need a good singer.

Then, you need to make sure they are ACTUALLY a good singer. (WWSS, What Would Simon Say? He's a jerk, but he's right.)

Then, if you're sure its a good signer, you need a good mic that works best for that singer. (experiment)

Then, for best results, you need a great mic pre and learn how to use it to get the most out of the mic.

Finally, you need really high quality effects to apply, subtly.

Or, use your ears and do the best you can with what you have. Upgrade as needed.

 

[twixer01]

I know this thread is pretty old, but figured I would respond since I record the Boyce Avenue stuff. For vocals, I use an Audio Technica 4060 mic with a Neve 1073 preamp and a custom 1176 compressor. I use Protools and a few different plugins for compression and eq. I use Solid State Logic's X-Verb for reverb. Hope this helps!

adaM barbeR
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