Building a (home-based) vocal recording chain to send tracks to a producer

[Lakeling]

Trying to build a (home-based) vocal recording chain to send tracks to a producer​

So, I am a female singer-songwriter currently working with a producer on my first EP. We've completed most instrumental layers in his studio and are now missing only a few more and then vocals.

There are two reasons why I am looking to do the next steps (vocals) alone in my home, instead of at the studio. Firstly, the producer lives far away and it's very difficult to arrange sessions. It's causing major delays to the project. Secondly, I am not an experienced or confident vocalist or a studio recorder. Under pressure in the studio I lock up and am usually not happy with my voice. At home when demoing, however, I find my voice again. So instead of training and waiting for years to get ready for a studio session, I would like to move forward with the project and get our first single and EP out before next century.

With this in mind, I am looking for recommendations and advice on how to set-up my home and my workflow in a way that leads to a quality vocal track that I can send to the producer. I'm already decent with the basics (have recorded my demos at home), and can do basic vocal editing.

Vox type / music style:
My vocal type is a deep alto, I sing quite softly and quietly on the low- to mid-register (D2/E2-F5/G5) with some dreamy bright highs. My music style is quite melancholic, dreamy, dark, brooding indie folk - think Sumie, Ghostly Kisses, Mazzy Star, Lisa Hannigan, Maro, Portishead, London Grammar, etc.

Gear:
My gear: SM86 -> Audient iD14 MK II -> MacBook Pro -> Logic Pro X. I have a sound booth for my mic, but my room is not loud and it's quite well insulated. The most annoying is the fridge and the AC which the building turns on automatically at certain times of the day.

Vocal recording chain?
After this, I am still unsure how to develop the appropriate recording basic chain inside Logic. I usually record my Vox with a plugin reverb as it makes singing easier than dry singing. I may change the reverb afterwards to something else. I use compression, but probably not correctly - I'm trying to learn through YouTube. I suck at EQ, I usually just do a HP and LP filter and then lift the boominess of my lows a bit. I do multiple takes and then choose the best ones, sometimes recording difficult sections phrase by phrase.

But still, my producer often says the recording quality is not suitable for him to work with. There's for instance too much background hiss from the MacBook and/or preamp and/or mic. This is also because I have to up the gain a lot as my voice is so soft/weak.

Now after days of searching online, I invested in an AT 4047 mic, which I understand will help with this and has a low self-noise level.

I also struggle with muddiness due to the depth of my lows and low-mids, given the guitars, pianos etc are all quite deep they get easily muddied when brought together.

So basically: how to prepare a clean, put good sounding vocal track that the producer can work with?

Suggestions for reverb/delay FX?
It's also difficult for me to experiment with reverb and delay - I know this is for the producer to eventually do professionally, but I want to experiment as well for songwriting.

There are vocal sections where I am aiming for something similar that Courtney Swain does in the below video (00:30-00:45; the rig rundown part; and again at 9:45-10:15). She uses real-world guitar and vox pedals, which I've never used and have no idea how to even record with those. But those are the kinds of choral, layered effects I'd like to apply. But where in the chain should I apply them to prevent muddiness, and how to ensure pro quality? How would you achieve this FX just with plugins? (Do you happen to have a particular plugin set you could recommend?)

Sorry for the very long post, but I've been trying to work this out myself by watching countless of videos and reading online, but hard to make sense of all of it. Thanks million for your advice, and please be gentle, I know I'm a total noob.

 

[ecc83]

Hello Lakeling and welcome. That mic> https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audio-technica-at4047sv

Gets a thumbs up there* especially for its very low noise. I would say your room and its environs are going to be several dB noisier than the mic/interface combo (this is actually the case with most home recordists) Unless of course the interface is faulty! A remote possibility so post a test recording. Just speech averaging -20dBFS and then be quiet for 20 secs or so. It helps ME if you attach it as a 320k MP3.

But, what mic do you use in the studio? Maybe some $3000 Neumann jobby which you cannot afford but there are some clever bods here who might be able to suggest a close sounding 'clone' in the $500 ball park? N.B. I do NOT mean a Chinese rip off!

After a good microphone, and they can be VERY personal to voices, especially lady's voices, the next issue is...The Room! All, and I DO mean all domestic rooms are crap for recording and you will need to hang duvets and stuff front and back of the mic. *That place has an excellent forum BUT DON'T DESERT US! SO few ladies here, and they have decades of back issues of home studio techniques you can study for free. And, unlike YT stuff, they ALL know that of which they speak.

Now I shall leave you to the top blokes who actually record for a living. I can help with technical stuff but I am just a very old, half blind deaf valve amp tech on ten tablets a day!

Meant to say (Old, see!) I suggest you don't worry about such things as EQ? Concentrate instead in getting as good a recording of your voice as you can. I am sure the studio guy will thank you for it. He can do all the fancy stuff and will have far better hard and software. Grannies and eggs notwithstanding I think most studios want tracks that are not too hot? Keep an average of -20dBFS peaks no higher than -8 or so unless he tells you differently.

Dave.

 

[TalismanRich]

I'm questioning the SM86 for recording. For live work, it should be fine, but for recording, the self noise is quite high, and the output is quite low (23dBA self noise and only 3.15mV/PA). Even moderate large diaphram condensers will be in the range of 15dB or lower. The NT1 is around 4dBA and output is 25mV. That means that you don't need to crank up the preamp, and the mic is incredibly quiet. An AKG P420 is 15dBA and 28mV.

For reference a difference of 25mV would be close to 20dB higher output.

Your 4047 has a self noise spec of 9dBA and 17mV output so it should give a much better signal level and 17.7mV which is about 15dB higher than your SM86. I would expect a much quieter recording. I would expect there to be almost a 20dB improvement which is a lot.

Once you get the new mic, I would set both up, try to set the inputs to get the same signal level (you can use your phone to make a 1kHz test tone). Make a recording and then listen to the ambient noise to see if there is significant sound coming from the room itself, and how much hiss you are getting from the mics themselves.

I think Dave's suggestion of giving the producer a plain track is a good one. He can add appropriate reverb, compression and EQ. You just need to give him the cleanest most natural track possible. If you are getting muddy sound, you might be getting too much proximity effect. Back off a few inches and see how that sounds.

Live performances are different from recording. When I sing live, I'm pretty much right on the mic. Recording I'm usually 6 inches or so, using the pop screen to keep me from getting too close. I still get a very close perspective. For singers that have very powerful voices, it's not unusual to be a foot or 2 away. Look at old photos of people like Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Beach Boys in the studio.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

So, I am a female singer-songwriter currently working with a producer on my first EP. We've completed most instrumental layers in his studio and are now missing only a few more and then vocals.

There are two reasons why I am looking to do the next steps (vocals) alone in my home, instead of at the studio. Firstly, the producer lives far away and it's very difficult to arrange sessions. It's causing major delays to the project. Secondly, I am not an experienced or confident vocalist or a studio recorder. Under pressure in the studio I lock up and am usually not happy with my voice. At home when demoing, however, I find my voice again. So instead of training and waiting for years to get ready for a studio session, I would like to move forward with the project and get our first single and EP out before next century.

With this in mind, I am looking for recommendations and advice on how to set-up my home and my workflow in a way that leads to a quality vocal track that I can send to the producer. I'm already decent with the basics (have recorded my demos at home), and can do basic vocal editing.

Vox type / music style:
My vocal type is a deep alto, I sing quite softly and quietly on the low- to mid-register (D2/E2-F5/G5) with some dreamy bright highs. My music style is quite melancholic, dreamy, dark, brooding indie folk - think Sumie, Ghostly Kisses, Mazzy Star, Lisa Hannigan, Maro, Portishead, London Grammar, etc.

Gear:
My gear: SM86 -> Audient iD14 MK II -> MacBook Pro -> Logic Pro X. I have a sound booth for my mic, but my room is not loud and it's quite well insulated. The most annoying is the fridge and the AC which the building turns on automatically at certain times of the day.

Vocal recording chain?
After this, I am still unsure how to develop the appropriate recording basic chain inside Logic. I usually record my Vox with a plugin reverb as it makes singing easier than dry singing. I may change the reverb afterwards to something else. I use compression, but probably not correctly - I'm trying to learn through YouTube. I suck at EQ, I usually just do a HP and LP filter and then lift the boominess of my lows a bit. I do multiple takes and then choose the best ones, sometimes recording difficult sections phrase by phrase.

But still, my producer often says the recording quality is not suitable for him to work with. There's for instance too much background hiss from the MacBook and/or preamp and/or mic. This is also because I have to up the gain a lot as my voice is so soft/weak.

Now after days of searching online, I invested in an AT 4047 mic, which I understand will help with this and has a low self-noise level.

I also struggle with muddiness due to the depth of my lows and low-mids, given the guitars, pianos etc are all quite deep they get easily muddied when brought together.

So basically: how to prepare a clean, put good sounding vocal track that the producer can work with?

Suggestions for reverb/delay FX?
It's also difficult for me to experiment with reverb and delay - I know this is for the producer to eventually do professionally, but I want to experiment as well for songwriting.

There are vocal sections where I am aiming for something similar that Courtney Swain does in the below video (00:30-00:45; the rig rundown part; and again at 9:45-10:15). She uses real-world guitar and vox pedals, which I've never used and have no idea how to even record with those. But those are the kinds of choral, layered effects I'd like to apply. But where in the chain should I apply them to prevent muddiness, and how to ensure pro quality? How would you achieve this FX just with plugins? (Do you happen to have a particular plugin set you could recommend?)

Sorry for the very long post, but I've been trying to work this out myself by watching countless of videos and reading online, but hard to make sense of all of it. Thanks million for your advice, and please be gentle, I know I'm a total noob.

There are multiple signal chains to get your results. The room noise being an issue, fix that first. Turn off the AC, Fridge, etc if you can while tracking, or isolate yourself from that noise. Your sound booth should isolate you from those noises. I’ve had singers in closets filled with coats to isolate them before.

Finding the perfect mic for your voice might take some experimenting, however a Shiure SM7 is a great mic for up close vocal miking while rejecting the background noise. Many great rock records had the vocals recorded with one. They are very good at rejecting background noise and you can get right on them with your voice. They are used a lot for voice over work in film and TV. If you sing quiet you can put the foam right up to your mouth to get a thick but intimate sound, esp when you saturate the preamp a bit.

I’d suggest an outboard mic preamp besides the one in your interface. A great one that is a full vocal chain is a UA LA610mk2, which is a channel strip that has a tube preamp, with a EQ and 1176 style compressor built in. Put something like this in front of your interface input. These have a lot more headroom than the preamps in your interface which allows you to gain them up a lot before they sound bad and the analog EQ and Compressor gives you a lot of options with your sound.

The mic you have could be fine, but if you put the preamp/channel strip in front of the interface input, the sound will take an immediate step forward. There are a lot of other preamps to choose from, but I find the UA to be reasonably priced with a big sound and very versatile controls. I would make this the priority over trying a different mic from the ones you already have.

Using the analog tube compressor on your mic pre vs the compressor plugin in your computer will immediately makes things 100% better and change your life.

Putting something like that into your signal chain and cleaning up your room sound will be the ticket that makes your produce like your recordings. Getting the gain structure on the front end tips important too. If you have a lot of headroom in your preamp you can drive the mic and preamp to maximize its performance. If the gain structure is off it could be too weak with no dynamics or too hot with too much saturation.
A great preamp immediately solves a lot of those issues.

You should not send the producer vocal tracks with effects, such as reverb or delay. You can easily monitor with reverb in your headphones while tracking to get the feel and energy but do not print the reverb to the track being sent to the producer. They need a dry clean track with no effects that is clean with a signal that is not too hot or too weak.

No matter how quiet you sing, gain up the preamp to get some preamp saturation so the vocals do not sound too thin. The ID4-MacBook-Logic should be all be fine.

 

[rob aylestone]

There is a quite well known singer here in the UK - Rumor - she often uses a Shure 58 in the studio - it fits her voice, but if you do buy the other mic, why not cover all bases? Use both - the 86 close in, and the new one a bit further away. Like everyone says, give the producer the clean, un-EQ'd tracks. However - there is nothing to stop you adding things within Logic to give you reverb and eq on the output you monitor? So you hear the nice round voice you want with bags of reverb which really helps confidence, but the producer can put his own choice, his own eq, his own processing on it. With respect, as the artist, that's not your job. sending him a clean close and a clean distant he can use is real belts and braces. He will certainly have his own favourites and if it's all washy and boomy - he cannot do anything with it. If you sing in his studio, he sends you effects, but they're just for you.

 

[ecc83]

There is a quite well known singer here in the UK - Rumor - she often uses a Shure 58 in the studio - it fits her voice, but if you do buy the other mic, why not cover all bases? Use both - the 86 close in, and the new one a bit further away. Like everyone says, give the producer the clean, un-EQ'd tracks. However - there is nothing to stop you adding things within Logic to give you reverb and eq on the output you monitor? So you hear the nice round voice you want with bags of reverb which really helps confidence, but the producer can put his own choice, his own eq, his own processing on it. With respect, as the artist, that's not your job. sending him a clean close and a clean distant he can use is real belts and braces. He will certainly have his own favourites and if it's all washy and boomy - he cannot do anything with it. If you sing in his studio, he sends you effects, but they're just for you.

yup "K I S Sally!

Dave.