Quiet Vocalist

[7string]

Ok, I'm recording a vocalist that has a pretty voice. The good news is she is Cuban, has INCREDIBLY large... um... eyes.. yeah, that's it.. eyes, a tiny waist, great face, great hair and great legs. The bad news is she doesn't sing very loud. I keep at her to sing louder and try to hit the higher notes in her natural voice but she invariably goes into falsetto which is significantly quieter. I can tell from listening to her that she can belt those notes out with no problem but she just goes into the falstetto. Now, I can do a BOATLOAD of automation or a BOATLOAD of compression but no matter what I do, you can still tell that she is not singing up to her potential. Any ideas?

 

[Kryptik]

< censored >

 

[Matheon]

i've had luck telling vocalists after recording a track. "try this one like this behind the other one to help fill it out a little.. i know it feels wierd to sing this way but if it sounds bad we'll scrap it"

then when you play the new track sometimes they'll say "wow that is cool lets redo the whole thing"

dunno if it helps but i've used this approach with success.. you have to trick them sometimes.. its can be easier to sort of trick them into finding by "accident" the "hidden greatness" in their voice than it is to just instruct them on how they can sing better.

people are just a lot more open to messing around than they are to sitting down and learning. especially the people who have been doing it a certain way for a long time.

 

[seismetr0n]

you could turn down her vocals in the headphone mix, she'll sing louder to compensate...
or.
maybe get her a couple glasses of wine --or shots of whiskey

help her loosen up a little bit, but caution--too loose will be bad too

gl

 

[guttadaj]

Does she sing the same way live as in the studio? If you see her perform live, will she break into falsetto at that part or do it in full-voice? If she's doing it differently, then it could just be a "getting used to the studio" kind of thing. If she's not used to hearing her voice really crisp and loud when she is singing (as it would be in a studio headphone mix), then it could be sort of surprising and different and may be part of the problem. Maybe have her do her warm-ups with the cans (headphones, not the other things you were implying ) on and spend a little more time getting used to how her voice sounds like that. And, like was mentioned earlier, do some "warm up takes" where she should can feel free to play around, but make sure they get recorded so you can use any really good pieces.

If she always sings timidly, then I dunno... Time for a vocal coach. I think you may have done all you can. Try to capture it as best you can. There are some really great "soft-singers" out there. Maybe double the phrases that go into falsetto, add a whisper track, or have her double the vocals down an octave which you can add in lightly...

Good luck! And try not to let your mind wander when tweaking knobs. Keep your eyes on the board, man!!
-Jeff

 

[7string]

Does she sing the same way live as in the studio? If you see her perform live, will she break into falsetto at that part or do it in full-voice? If she's doing it differently, then it could just be a "getting used to the studio" kind of thing. If she's not used to hearing her voice really crisp and loud when she is singing (as it would be in a studio headphone mix), then it could be sort of surprising and different and may be part of the problem. Maybe have her do her warm-ups with the cans (headphones, not the other things you were implying ) on and spend a little more time getting used to how her voice sounds like that. And, like was mentioned earlier, do some "warm up takes" where she should can feel free to play around, but make sure they get recorded so you can use any really good pieces.

If she always sings timidly, then I dunno... Time for a vocal coach. I think you may have done all you can. Try to capture it as best you can. There are some really great "soft-singers" out there. Maybe double the phrases that go into falsetto, add a whisper track, or have her double the vocals down an octave which you can add in lightly...

Good luck! And try not to let your mind wander when tweaking knobs. Keep your eyes on the board, man!!
-Jeff

Great ideas! Thanks! And you made me think of something else I can try. I think I will sit her down in the middle of the room and place the mic about 10 feet from her. Then I will tell her to listen to herself singing from there. Then move her up close to the mic and try to get her to 'hear' the difference. Maybe try to get her to understand the proximity effect. Then move her back to the middle and tell her to sing loud enough to overtake the proximity effect. That may open her, uh, eyes.

And you're absolutely right. It's extremely hard... um... DIFFICULT to concentrate with those... uh.. HER in the room.

 

[giraffe]

to get a good take before i've
killed all white light, hung a bunch of blue x-mas lights, bought a bunch of tea lights, and brought in a few potted flowers.... all for the same girl, it helped a lot.

she's a girl and she feels exposed when she sings. you have to be uber non-judgemental (except for honest compliments) and supportive.



i'd probably have better relationships if i treated girl friends like i treat some clients.

 

[giraffe]

Great ideas! Thanks! And you made me think of something else I can try. I think I will sit her down in the middle of the room and place the mic about 10 feet from her. Then I will tell her to listen to herself singing from there. Then move her up close to the mic and try to get her to 'hear' the difference. Maybe try to get her to understand the proximity effect. Then move her back to the middle and tell her to sing loud enough to overtake the proximity effect. That may open her, uh, eyes.

don't bother with technicalities, you actually need to humanize the situation, not de-humanize it.

 

[Robert D]

maybe get her a couple glasses of wine --or shots of whiskey

help her loosen up a little bit, but caution--too loose will be bad too

gl

With eyes like those there's no such thing as too loose.


I've read that Tom Petty sings very quietly, almost a whisper. It makes the engineer work a little harder, but the result is measured in platinum. So the problem isn't necessarily whether the singer is singing loud enough, but whether they are emoting appropriately. If the vocal just isn't delivering the feeling of the words and music due to lack of power put into it, then no amount of gain will fix it. This is where you have to put on the producers hat and talk to the singer about whether her smooth falsetto delivery is in line with what the song wants. Maybe it is, and you need to re-think what the music and lyrics are really asking for, or maybe she needs to step back from the mic, fill those big lungs of hers up and drive it home.

-RD

 

[7string]

With eyes like those there's no such thing as too loose.


I've read that Tom Petty sings very quietly, almost a whisper. It makes the engineer work a little harder, but the result is measured in platinum. So the problem isn't necessarily whether the singer is singing loud enough, but whether they are emoting appropriately. If the vocal just isn't delivering the feeling of the words and music due to lack of power put into it, then no amount of gain will fix it. This is where you have to put on the producers hat and talk to the singer about whether her smooth falsetto delivery is in line with what the song wants. Maybe it is, and you need to re-think what the music and lyrics are really asking for, or maybe she needs to step back from the mic, fill those big lungs of hers up and drive it home.

-RD

I think the last of what you said is correct. She needs to step back and belt it out. I know she can do it and this is also the first time she has heard herself so clearly and maybe it's intimidating her a bit. The song doesn't need the falsetto, which is so much quieter than the quiet voice she's already using. I think she's just afraid to let loose.

I wasn't trying to dehumanize her so much as trying to teach her about the proximity effect and hope that maybe it would help her understand that singing louder is better and would really fill up the song as well as put across the emotion. I guess I'm just trying to get her to PERFORM the song instead of just singing it.

 

[giraffe]

I wasn't trying to dehumanize her etc...

i never said you were trying to de-humanize her.
i said you were trying to de-humanize the situation, ya know, make it cold and work like.

it's not the type of thing that's going to give her the confidence she needs and retain her humanity both, she no care about how it works.....

that's your job.