Vocal recording levels

[MusicKen_]

Hello,
I am fairly new to recording vocals but have been recording instrumentals for a few years now. My daughter is a singer and we have recorded a few tracks. I need advice on recording vocals and post processing them.
She sings with emotion, and her voice varies in volume. It sounds great live, but when recording it doesn’t work very well. Her soft parts seem quiet, and her louder parts are very up front. Any recommendations on processing a vocal and evening out the overall level?
I’ve tried compressing but I seem to over compress to get the quiet parts on the same level as the louder parts.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Hello,
I am fairly new to recording vocals but have been recording instrumentals for a few years now. My daughter is a singer and we have recorded a few tracks. I need advice on recording vocals and post processing them.
She sings with emotion, and her voice varies in volume. It sounds great live, but when recording it doesn’t work very well. Her soft parts seem quiet, and her louder parts are very up front. Any recommendations on processing a vocal and evening out the overall level?
I’ve tried compressing but I seem to over compress to get the quiet parts on the same level as the louder parts.

Manual gain editing.

What DAW are you using? What compressor?

 

[Deleted member 196982]

Sometimes you have to result to automation, i.e., changing the volume fader throughout the track, but compression should get you pretty close. The trick is learning how to use all those settings, like ratio, threshold, [makeup] gain, attack, release, and knee (when present).

Lots of information on using compressors, and I probably do it wrong according to someone, but here's how I'd tackle that track.

First, it really helpls to use a compressor that gives visual feedback on what it's doing. So if you can put one of those in the chain, the first thing to start doing (IMO) is setting the threshold so it's only compressing the peaks. Just watch how they get compressed, i.e., which ones and how much. You don't want to compress everything! Play with that knob for a while to see how it works.

After that, you play with ratio, attack & release to get the amount of compression you need to make things even out as much as needed, and then start to add in some makeup gain to push up the bottom, i.e., to restore the overall loudness of the track. Go slow with each of these, but don't be afraid to twist them all the way to see what they're capable of.

If it turns out to be really impossible, I'd suggest you somehow get the singer to watch some videos about mic technique, or even better, take a lesson from someone that knows how to teach it.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Sometimes you have to result to automation, i.e., changing the volume fader throughout the track, but compression should get you pretty close. The trick is learning how to use all those settings, like ratio, threshold, [makeup] gain, attack, release, and knee (when present).

Lots of information on using compressors, and I probably do it wrong according to someone, but here's how I'd tackle that track.

First, it really helpls to use a compressor that gives visual feedback on what it's doing. So if you can put one of those in the chain, the first thing to start doing (IMO) is setting the threshold so it's only compressing the peaks. Just watch how they get compressed, i.e., which ones and how much. You don't want to compress everything! Play with that knob for a while to see how it works.

After that, you play with ratio, attack & release to get the amount of compression you need to make things even out as much as needed, and then start to add in some makeup gain to push up the bottom, i.e., to restore the overall loudness of the track. Go slow with each of these, but don't be afraid to twist them all the way to see what they're capable of.

If it turns out to be really impossible, I'd suggest you somehow get the singer to watch some videos about mic technique, or even better, take a lesson from someone that knows how to teach it.

Absolutely yes to the above ^^^^

Though depending on the DAW, you may be able to simply adjust the gain level in pieces of the performance. Cut events and adjust gain. It a Cubase thing...

 

[JohnnyAmato]

Two words: Clip Gain. Just make sure her quiet words are still decent enough volume. If some of her louder words clip while recording, it's no big deal because of floating point. It'll be a combination of bringing loud parts down, and quiet parts up to "meet somewhere in the middle". Sometimes I'm adjusting whole phrases, sometimes words, and sometimes even just syllables. It's tedious and can take some time, but worth it. You want to end up with the track averaging out somewhere around -16 to -20.

Get it as even as you can all the way across the board, then adjust the level of the entire clip as a whole if need be. THEN bring in your compressor. But EQ before the compressor to hi-pass and pull out the sub-lows, usually around 80-120hz. Then search for nasal-y mids and pull those down a tad with a narrow Q. Then set up your compressor so it's getting anywhere from 2-6ish db's of gain reduction, but without too much of a boost in volume, frequently bypass the compressor to check. Medium attack and release are good starting points. Which compressor are you using?

I'm assuming your DAW has Clip Gain Automation?

 

[Tadpui]

I use 2 stages of compression in those situations. The classic "1176 into an LA2A" thing works pretty well if you have compressors that behave similarly to those old standbys. UA has some info about the technique here: Chaining the 1176LN and LA-2A Compressors for Maximum Control | Universal Audio. I do this with hardware compressors, but there's no reason it wouldn't work with VSTs as well. Good luck!

 

[rob aylestone]

Record her without any compression - just make certain the loudest isn't going to peak. Then you can try all sorts.

There is often this problem when singers are self-taught, and have trouble learning or re-learning proper mic technique. Is she singing lips on grill style, as in live, or is she singing at more of a distance 6 to 12" or so. Lips on mic, to lips 4" away from mic drops the level very quickly, and changes the tone from mellow and murky, to open and thin - the cardioid response being the problem. I'd suggest trying something like a popper stopper - not really for stopping pops, but for preventing her getting too close - this reduces the need for compression to be severe, and it can be gentle, and you just need to eq to get the sound you want, assuming the mic is decent quality and your pre-amp/input device quiet, noise wise.

 

[andrushkiwt]

Manual gain editing.

This is what you need to do. Do this first, get them close to the level you want, then compress. Compression alone won't fix the problem; you'll be getting 20db of gain reduction before you're there, and then you'll have a brand new problem. Manually edit gain first.

 

[Farview]

All of the advise above is valid, but the one thing that was never mentioned was the song arrangement.

If she has quiet parts and loud parts, the music surrounding her should go quiet when she does. (Or at least thin out)

If her dynamics are appropriate for the song, the mix and arrangement should be changing with her. When that happens, you no longer have to find ways of making a quiet part of the performance the same volume as the loud part. Or, at least, you don't need as much processing to keep everything where it needs to be.

All of the techniques above will help you get the vocals to sit correctly once the dynamics of the song match the vocal performance.

 

[Steenamaroo]

learning or re-learning proper mic technique.

All great advice in here, but I'd have put this first, at the very top of the list!
If it's an operatic performance miked at distance then fair enough, but if she's close to the mic it will go a very long way learning how to 'work' the mic.

 

[ecc83]

All great advice in here, but I'd have put this first, at the very top of the list!
If it's an operatic performance miked at distance then fair enough, but if she's close to the mic it will go a very long way learning how to 'work' the mic.

+1 ^ Also some form of fold back can help, a single "bud"? Many singers benefit from a bit of confidence boosting reverb, this can be tricky to provide from a computer based recording setup with sufficiently low latency but there are plenty of small, cheap mixer about with FX that are quite good enough for this purpose.

There is also vocal training. Almost any singer can be improved and prolong their working life with some expert voice coaching and I really have no idea but I would guess most coaches would include mic technique in their programs these days?

Dave.

 

[rob aylestone]

We work lots in theatre style venues, and the smaller music venues and some of the things you hear and see are simply crazy misunderstandings of what should really happen, and very often why they get it wrong is easy. There appear to be rules.
1. Microphones are magic, and always work for everyone.
2. You can spot a singing microphone because it looks like an ice cream cone, and the golf ball on the end must touch your lips to work properly.
3. Ignore 2. above at the end of every sentence. To work properly, pull the microphone away from your mouth at the end of each line.
4. If you drum your fingers on it in time with the music this helps.
5. If there is a compressor fitted, turn it up full, and insist the sound operator does not adjust the fader, as this guarantees you will be loud continually, even when you follow rule 3.
6. During sound check, if there is time for one, sing quietly so the sound operator can hear the nuances in your voice. This will help them know how good a singer you are. Don't forget that during the set you MUST sing as loudly as possible. The operator will need you to do this.
7. If you have stage monitors, you will want to sing quietly, because that is what monitors are for.
8. If you did your sound check with your lips touching the microphone, remember to pull away a little for the set especially if you wear lipstick. You don't what the microphone to smudge it.
9. It is vital you insist on a radio microphone if at all possible. If you never remove it from the microphone stand, having a cable-less microphone is critical because cables look so bad.
10. Always bang the microphone to test it. If you do not hear a very loud bang through the sound system, it is faulty. Double check if you do not hear the bang, by blowing very hard into the microphone. This is doubly important if the microphone says 'ribbon' on it.

Remember, if you want to be a professional singer, you need to watch a Maria Carey video. Study the hand movements very carefully and copy them for your performance. The movements look wonderful on stage. Sometimes sound operators will tell you this spoils your sound. Ignore this, it shows they are incompetent.

 

[ecc83]

You forgot one Rob!

Never 'cup' the rear ports of a directional microphone at a sound check. ALWAYS cup the ports at show time, the resultant feedback is the fault of the sound tech.

Dave.