Vocals 101

[tbonechillaxin]

I know that there is a lot of stuff on vocals in the history of the DUC, but I thought it would be nice to get it all into one thread. So, Everyone post all of their tips for recording vocals. Anything goes, from mic's to mic setup to compression to eq or anything else.

[joethebassman]

The best tip I can give is:FIND A BETTER SINGER!!!

[bb_aus]

FIND A BETTER SINGER!!!

cant you just pro tools up my *****ty singing

[madoneman]

i can't tell you how many times i get that question!!!! " let's see if some reverb and delay will make my pitchy-ness go away..." HUH?! along with the lyrical content the vocals are one of the most important aspects of a songs... nail it right from the start.

here is my one tip... comfort. make the vocalist comfortable. it makes for a better performance.

[graveleye]

here is my one tip... comfort. make the vocalist comfortable. it makes for a better performance.

then again, there are some vocalist who could use a little aggravation to get a good performance. Get them hyper and angry and they sing better. Sometimes you just need to slap them around some.

[3over3]

Ah, the day Auto-Tune came. What a marvellous occasion. We finally learned that if you tune a rubbish vocal - all you get is a rubbish vocal that's in tune.

It's almost as if pitching's a whole other layer of information or something...

[joethebassman]

No but seriously, A proper headphone mix is what will get the singer to perform his best... (Even if auto tune is still needed.)

[EGS]

Here's my 2 cents:
Get the singer in the mood to sing. This can be wildly different for each singer, and is MUCH more important than any tech stuff. Set up the best headphone mix possible. Ask what adjustments they want in the headphone mix, especially overall gain. Wear identical headphones with the same mix and volume as the singer. Use excellent headphones like AKG K171s, don't skimp here. If they are impatient, work fast. If they love detail, punch-in all day long. Don't talk tech, unless they want to. Don't have a lot of people yapping into the talkback between takes...unless the singer likes that sort of thing. Use the best mic you can get. If you can't rent a Neumann U47, then buy an AKG Solidtube. This is a good under $1000 tube mic that sounds buttery smooth for sung vocals (NOT for narration VO, however). There are MANY other great vocal mics, this is just one mic that I like a lot lately. (I put a better tube into mine!!!) Great records have been made with inexpensive mics, but I prefer better mics. Find a mic that works for YOUR ears. Keep the singer 8 inches from the mic capsule, and use a pop filter. Try to keep them on-mic, or slightly aim the mic to the direction thet are turning to read the lyrics. Use the best micpre you can get your hands on, I suggest a good tube micpre. Carefully set your micpre gain structures, and always be ready to ride the input during takes if needed. In Pro-Tools, use a high-pass filter at about 100hz, a little bit of compression (LA2A) and a little verb and/or delay. Avoid pitch correction; a better take is the best idea. Additional compression will probably happen in mastering, so don't overdo it in the mix - or, slap it silly if the muisic calls for that. If there are different dynamic sections to the song, duplicate your final comp track to 3 different tracks and edit these to create a low/med/high level track. These will benefit from different processing, and they can be bussed to an aux and share other processing. Experiment because there are no rules. Get to know the gear, the singer, and the SONG. Hope this helps!!!

[3over3]

Avoid pitch correction; a better take is the best idea.

Totally agree, when recording. There's so much more to a good vocal than being in tune - it isn't the be all and end all of singing.

It should be noted that you shouldn't ever let the singer monitor the live corrected pitch. It might seem obvious but they'll either hear a chorus/phase effect on their vocal as the tuner kicks in (if they can hear a decent blend of what they're singing) or they'll just find that their voice doesn't do what their brain is telling it to. It can get really messy. Worry about tuning later, if you must.

[3over3]

Avoid pitch correction; a better take is the best idea.

Totally agree, when recording. There's so much more to a good vocal than being in tune - it isn't the be all and end all of singing.

It should be noted that you shouldn't ever let the singer monitor any live corrected pitch - just don't use tuning when you're recording. It might seem obvious but they'll either hear a chorus/phase effect on their vocal as the tuner kicks in (if they can hear a decent blend of what they're singing) or they'll just find that their voice doesn't do what their brain is telling it to. It can get really messy. Worry about tuning later, if you must.