Vocal Recording and Mixing Advice for Pop Punk / Rock

[grimtraveller]

I'm here to enjoy the process and get down a satisfactory vocal

When I say 'satisfactory' don't get the impression that this means substandard or that I'll take any old shit as long as it's in tune. But a vocal that took 24 takes and 7 hours to accomplish isn't by default better than one that was done and dusted in 35 minutes.

 

[Papanate]

Thank you Papanate for the listen! Are there specific sections that sound notably off?

All the transitions and trailing notes.

I also wanted to ask generally in regards to re-recording: how many takes does one recommend?

I recomend one or two - if you can get it - then you need to practice a hell of a lot more - till you’ve got it down.

I know one could say "do as many as it takes." For motivation purposes and to not be too much of a perfectionist, I've set my goal to release my 20ish songs by years end on Spotify, with vocals that are "mostly on pitch and not annoying." Lol. Mostly just hope to promote it locally and try to find a group of musicians around me who wanna form a band and have some fun.

Don’t do as many as it takes - do it without recording till you’ve got it down - then track it.

 

[TalismanRich]

I also wanted to ask generally in regards to re-recording: how many takes does one recommend?

Echoing what the other said... as many as it takes to do it right.

If you're a professional singer, that might be a 1 shot for a perfect take. If you're a hack singer like some of us, it might take 10 takes or more. I've done some where it's right in my range and I kicked out the whole song in 2 shots. It was like doing a live performance, and I was very familiar with the words. I've also done a couple where it took a half dozen times just to get the first verse done right, then I moved on to the next verse and repeated the process. I prefer to do it like that, just like you would do "punch ins" on a tape. I don't chop up verses and comp snippets together.

 

[pj11]

I rarely do a complete vocal in one take, although I try. Depending on the song in how I do the tracking. I use a stand alone recorder and import tracks to pc. I'll use a touch of reverb when tracking which doesn't transfer so all fx are done at mixing except for eq with the mixer while tracking. But I typically do verses, chorus's, and bridges separate. And use an A/B switch that I hold in my hand for punch ins. It's a process that works well for me.