Vocals in the studio?

[steve134]

Hi,
My band is preparing to enter the recording studio for a three song demo this summer. We have been practicing a lot lately, especially vocals. We are very strong musical writers, but we lack vocal talent. We sound alright when we sing some of our own lyrics or when we sing to a cover song. I have a few questions regarding vocals in a real recording studio. Will the recording studio be able to improve the sound of our vocals? I have noticed that most studios don't release songs in which the vocals are bad, so should I assume that our vocals will also sound fine at a real studio? Can a studio really improve the quality of the vocal tracks? Do most studios have the proper pitch correction equipment to make our 'alright' sounding vocals transform into 'good or very good' vocals?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Also, if anyone has any advice for ways to practice vocals without being in the studio, that would be great, because we want to be well prepared when we begin recording.

Thanks again.

 

[bennychico11]

to be honest....no. if you have a crappy vocalist, get rid of him and get a new one. no engineer is going to make a shitty vocalist sound better. there's a big difference between being off pitch sometimes and having terrible intonation all the time. some studios have pitch correction which can help problems here and there, but in my opinion, if it's used on more than a couple notes at a time, you can hear it. It just sounds fake. If you have terrible intonation, there's nothing an engineer can do to fix that. Period.

if you have to post on the forum here saying you know your vocalist sounds bad and the vocals need work...then you're not ready to enter a studio yet and start recording. go back and practice more. get a vocal teacher who can help you. why record an album that you're always going to listen to and thing "I hope nobody notices how bad the vocals sound." When it comes to your music....learn to be a perfectionist.

a good recording starts with the source you're recording. you can have the best equipment and engineer in the world, but it won't matter shit if the musician sucks.

 

[tappmusic]

If you'll be recording in parts, then I would just recommend singing through the song 3 times (without stopping) and afterward the sound engineers can select the parts that were performed the best and assemble a single solid vocal track.

If you're recording everything "live," then it may be a little more difficult, but I'm sure they can implement techniques and apply tools to help improve the vocal recordings. Just remember that many of these tools, although very helpful, can backfire if not used judiciously.

So just keep practicing, go into the studio well hydrated, and nail your performances the best you can.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

I always sound *worse* when I'm recording. There's nothing quite like the red record light and a ticking clock ($$$$$) to make someone feel *really* nervous.

Practice, practice, and rearrange. Try this line of questioning:

Why doesn't the vocal work? Off pitch? Not enough energy? too much energy? Not enough or not the right emotion? Pitches out of singer's range?

If its off pitch, practice singing slowly and controling each pitch change as you go. Its your d@mn voice, it should do what you tell it. You CAN control it. Have someone play along on a piano or TUNED(!) guitar so you can tell when you're off pitch.

Not enough energy? BREATH. Learn to use that diaphram to PUSH the words out like you want them to hear you across town. (Breathing is good advice no matter what, by the way.)

Too much energy? Sing it slowly for practice again, and focus on hitting pitches clearly and pronouncing each word clearly.

Emotion not right? Delivery is a special art and not much can help you except dilligence. Practice in front of a mirror. Exagerate wildly while staying on pitch and energy. Sing along with other songs that have the same kind of energy for inspiration.

Some notes beyond singer's range? Boy, this is common. DON'T write songs that do this!! Just say no! If you can't sing it, DON'T. Practice until you can, THEN write melodies that hit your top and bottom notes. To expand your range, sing triads up and down the scale until you hit your highest and lowest notes then repeat those chords until the extreme notes start to sound more natural. Kinda like this:

A C E C A....B D F D B.... C E G E C.... D F AaaAaa (cough)... D F AAaa F D... Hmmm... D F ... Aaa(ck).... D F..... A... (!) A.... HA!... D F A F D..... E G (oh, boy) bbbbllaaagh....

You get the idea. Make sure you're breathing from your belly and pushing those notes out clearly so that your neighbors can hear and the windows rattle.

If the singer still can't get those pitches consider rearranging the melody so that he or she can nail them with confidence. Or tuning down a half step for that song.

And through all this, don't drink alcohol, avoid too much caffeine, eat well, rest well, and keep well hydrated. In the studio, do all that without exception. Trust me, a healthy body has a WAY better voice. While recording (and hardcore rehearsing), drink hot herbal tea with lots of honey and a bit of lemon: it does wonders for the voice. Try it, I'm not kidding.

Anyway, my $.02

Take care,
Chris

 

[Alphonso]

I agree with the first dude. Kill the vocalist and dump his body at the bottom of a lake, but first make sure you use heavy rocks and tie him down, but make sure you go when it's dark and not to the local lake go some where nobody like to fish. Also make sure you can explain why your vocalist is gone. i hate it when people ask me that.

 

[Fishybob]

A bad vocalist can actually work in some scenarios... think Pogues... OK, that's enough, don't keep them in mind too long!


Although some engineers can even make a monkey like Britney sound ok (long sessions me thinks!) it's far from an ideal.

The moment you hear yourself on a recording for the first time you will cringe... no escaping it... I think everyone needs to hear themselves recorded (even basically) before they go into a 'real' studio and pay for the embaressment. You'll have some idea of how your voice works with the bands sound. If it fits then go for it, if not take a step back and get someone in. If you had a gas leak and couldn't fix it you'd get a specialist in, same applies.


Good luck