1. Make sure the singer is well rehearsed, physically comfortable,
and under no psychological pressure. Most singers perform best
standing up in a room that has a comfortable but not over-warm
temperature. If they are distracted by other members of the band
or by hangers-on, send everyone but the engineer (and producer,
if you have one) out of the studio.
2. Take time to get the vocalist's headphone mix right, and give
them a little reverb to help them sing more confidently. If you
can rig up a system which allows vocalists to adjust their own
monitor level, it will make life a lot easier. A good headphone
mix really helps to encourage a good performance.
3. Always use a pop shield between the singer and the microphone.
Failure to do so will almost certainly result in unnatural 'pops'
on plosive 'b' and 'p' sounds that can't be fixed afterwards.
The pop shield may be a commercial model or a DIY job comprising
stocking material over a wire coathanger frame even a fine metal or plastic sieve or chip-pan
splash guard. Any of these will do the job without affecting the
tone of the mic. Foam wind shields are virtually useless in combating
pops.
4. Use a good microphone: it doesn't have to be anything too special,
but you should avoid low-cost 'bargain' models or those designed
for use with home stereos or portable cassette recorders. Professional
studios generally use capacitor microphones, but in the project
studio a good back-electret mic or even a good dynamic vocal mic
can produce excellent results.
5. Pick a mic to suit the singer. Singers with thin or excessively
bright voices may actually sound better with a dynamic mic, such
as the ubiquitous Shure SM58, while those needing more of an open
sound would benefit from a capacitor or back-electret mic. If
you have several mic models to choose from, try a test recording
with each and see which is most flattering to the vocalist.
6. Use the right mic pickup pattern: most project studio vocal recordings
are made using a cardioid or unidirectional mic, as these pick
up less sound from the sides and rear. However, an omni mic of
a similar quality generally imparts a more natural, open sound
and that can be useful if you're working with a singer who tends
to sound nasal or boxy. If you work a couple of inches closer
to an omni mic, you'll get close to the same 'direct sound to
room sound' ratio you'd achieve with a cardioid.
7. Put the mic at the right distance, because if you get too close
to it you'll increase the risk of popping and the level will change
noticeably every time the singer moves slightly. Cardioid mics
also exhibit a bass-boost 'proximity effect' that varies as the
singer's mic distance varies. On the other hand, if the singer
is too far away from the mic the room reflections will colour
the sound, making it seem remote and boxy. As a rule, a mic distance
of around six to nine inches (15-24 centimetres) is ideal.
8. Minimise the room's influence on your sound. The mic picks up
both direct sound from the singer and reflected sound from the
room. Reduce the room's contribution by keeping away from the
walls and by improvising screens using sleeping bags or duvets
behind and to the sides of the singer.
9. Use mic technique to help control level: if the singer can be
persuaded to pull back from the mic slightly when singing louder
notes, there's less risk of overloading the recorder or mic preamp,
and you won't need to use so much compression to even things up.
An experienced singer may also lean into the mic on quieter, more
intimate passages to exploit the proximity effect. However, to
prevent an inexperienced singer getting too close to the mic,
position the pop shield about three inches (7.5 centimetres) from
the mic.
10. Where possible, mount the microphone on a stand. Only let the
singer hold the mic if to do otherwise would compromise their
musical performance. When the singer is hand-holding a mic, particularly
if it's a cardioid model, make sure they keep their hand clear
of the rear of the basket, as obstructing this area can change
both the directional and tonal characteristics of the mic.
11. Don't settle for anything less than the best vocal performance
you can get, and don't expect to get it all perfect in one take.
More often than not you'll have to punch in and out around phrases
that need re-doing, but if you have enough tracks, get the singer
to do the whole song several times and then compile a track from
the best parts of each take. You can do this on tape by bouncing
the required parts to a spare track, but hard disk editing is
much more flexible in this respect.
12. Use suitable compression -- even well-disciplined vocalists tend
to sound uneven against the very controlled dynamics of a pop
mix, so it helps to apply a little compression while recording.
Err on the side of using less compression than you think you will
finally need, and use a compressor that has a reasonably neutral
characteristic. Aim to achieve 5-8dB of gain reduction on the
loudest signal peaks, and if the compressor has an auto mode,
use it.
13. Don't be afraid to use more compression on the vocal track once
it has been recorded. When the performance is in the bag you can
try both subtle and heavy compression to see which works best
with the track, though if you're using a lot of compression you
may need to gate the vocal track first. This will prevent noise
build-up in the pauses between phrases. It's at the mixing stage
that a compressor with an obvious character can be used to make
a vocal seem larger than life.
14. Don't gate the vocal while recording. A badly set-up gate can
ruin an otherwise perfect take, so save gating until the mixing
stage. Use the gate before any further compression, but don't
gate so hard that you remove all the breath noises preceding words,
as these are part of the character of a vocal performance, and
the recording will sound unnatural without them.
15. Don't run amok with the EQ: on most budget desks the EQ only
sounds decent when used sparingly or to cut unwanted frequencies.
Mid-range boosting usually results in a nasal or phasey sound,
so use as little EQ as you can. If you've picked the right mic,
and taken the time to fine-tune its position during recording,
you shouldn't need much corrective EQ anyway. Of course, there
are times when EQ is used for creative purposes, and at such times
it's best to use a good-quality outboard equaliser, because the
difference between a budget EQ and a really good one is immense.
Resist the temptation to pile on too much high-end boost, as this
will enhance sibilance, bring up background noise and may make
the end result fatiguing to listen to.
16. Use reverb sparingly: vocals recorded in a dry acoustic environment
need reverb to give them a sense of space and reality, but don't
use more than the song really needs. As a general rule, busy songs
need less reverb and slower ballads with lots of space in the
arrangement can afford to use more. Listen to some commercial
records in a similar style to your own and see what reverb techniques
the producer has used.
17. If the vocals are very brightly recorded, they may cause any
added reverb to sound sibilant. Instead of de-essing the vocals
(which often sounds unnatural), try instead de-essing just the
feed to the reverb unit. You can also experiment with the reverb
type and tonality to minimise sibilance and spitting.
18. If you do have to de-ess the vocals, try to use a split-band
de-esser rather than the simpler compressor with an equaliser
in the side-chain, as the split-band approach produces fewer undesirable
side effects. It's always best to try to avoid sibilance by moving
the mic slightly or by using a different mic, rather than trying
to fix it afterwards. Pointing the mic slightly above or below
the singer's mouth sometimes helps.
19. When you're using prominent echo or delay effects on a vocal,
try to get them in time with the song, either by calculating the
delay needed to match the tempo or by using the tap-tempo facility
if one is provided. For a less obviously rhythmic echo, try a
multi-tap delay with irregular tap spacings.
20. To ensure that the vocal is mixed at the right level in the song,
listen to the mix from outside the room and see if the song has
the same balance as something you might hear on the radio. The
vocals are the most important part of the song and so must be
well forward, but not so far forward that they sound 'stuck on'
to the backing.
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