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Studio Vocals – 5 Things to Consider
A project I recently completed involved a complex and intricate vocal
production, and I’ve just been contacted about consulting on solving a series of
problems on a different project that has already been tracked, mixed and
mastered. The main problem, according to the artist, was that
the vocal sounded “fuzzy”. She mentioned that she felt the
vocal “had a blanket over it”, while the accompanying band tracks sounded just
fine. What, she wondered, would cause this, and how could it
be addressed?
The vocal is the most important aspect of a record, bar none.
If the listener can’t hear the vocal, understand the vocal, identify the chorus
when it happens, etc, the song is a commercial misfire. So
what contributes to excellent vocals in the studio? Well, a
number of things. But they’re all relatively small, so
they’re often overlooked
1 – Vocal technique. This artist told me that during
tracking, she had been told by the engineer to be careful about “overloading the
mic”, breathing too heavily near the mic, and singing too dynamically (loud and
soft). Without identifying it, she was describing how her
performance was affected by both equipment and instruction!
An artist’s performance in the studio needs to be as effortless as possible,
with as little intellect involvement as can be. It’s not that
artists shouldn’t be challenged by their producers; but being asked to think
about their volume, breathing and dynamics puts their head in charge of a
performance that should be heart-driven.
As an artist, you need to record with a producer or engineer who has equipment
that makes you feel comfortable. Technical considerations
during the recording process are NOT your responsibility, and any competent
engineer should be able to adequately manage the full range of dynamics that the
human voice can generate. Bottom line – this vocal
performance was doomed from the start, because the engineer wasn’t up to the
task of capturing what she was giving.
2 – Mic choice. The artist mentioned that the engineer used
several different mics for the vocals on the album. She could
hear the different mics on different songs, and was disappointed that her voice
sounded different from tune to tune.
Now, I’ll go out on a limb right now and say that I don’t think there is a
universal mic for a studio. Having said that, I’ve found
several in the sub-$1000 category that I like. Just as
professional chefs seek out different varieties of butter or flour for their
effects on dishes, the ultimate vocal engineer has the perfect mic for each
voice.
How realistic is this, considering that a pound of ultra-esoteric, imported
butter might cost $15, where the ultra-esoteric, imported mic might cost $3000?
Well, not very realistic. I do think that it’s worth
trying a few mics if you’ve got them, because it’s always worth comparing the
tone and trying to make your job easier – the right mic can reduce the amount of
corrective EQ during mix, and can help control peakiness in a vocalist.
But don’t change horses mid-stream. Pick one mic and
stay with it during the project, otherwise you complicate things during the mix,
and the vocal runs the risk of injury in the process.
3 – Production awareness. I use this term because I don’t
have a better one, but it relates to the production techniques that create a
contemporary vocal. Often, I’ll have the artist “double”
themselves, especially on a chorus. When they double or
triple themselves, it creates a thickness that can be used in several different
ways – it can “spread” the lead, to make it wider; it can create more punch for
a chorus; or it can simply be treated differently than the main track and
processed for effect.
I see double- and triple-stacking a lead vocal as a different process
from creating the lead in the first place. During the double,
the artist needs to think like a background singer, always going for the match
and not the creation of a new lead vocal. Artists often don’t
make that mental switch from “star” to “background singer”, and fail to really
listen to their previous performance.
When doubling, the artist needs to pay close attention to attack, release, vowel
shape and placement. Most vocalists don’t hear differences in
vowel shape, but when doubling, it’s crucial that the “I” in “I said” have the
same roundness, height or spread. Otherwise, the listener’s
ear gets pulled to the double instead of the main track. T,
d, c and s consonants are nightmarish to double-track, because they can be a few
milliseconds apart and destroy the illusion of matching.
4 – Intensity, or “read’. Forgetting that our medium is
aural, we often rely on our memory of the emotional quality of the vocal
tracking session as we listen to playback the following day.
The consumer will not have the benefit of any participation in the tracking
session, and will be listening with “new” ears. Therefore, it
is crucial that the performance be sufficient to “read” over the radio, home
stereo or iPod – that is, emotionally strong enough to convey the desired effect
despite it being a recorded performance.
Often artists will sing something incredible, totally selling their performance
and leaving me breathless. And then, they’ll say something
like, “No, that was way too over-the-top, let me do it again”… In order to
create a great vocal, the great vocalists live in an over-the-top space.
Pick your favorite great vocalist, out of the hundreds that exist.
Not only have they mastered the subtle nuance side, but they’ve also
mastered the soaring crescendo, the growl, the sneer, the “attitude” that so
many inexperienced artists shy away from in the studio. In
order to make your vocal performance pop, you must characterize to tape – a mix
engineer can tame a performance, but can’t make it any more real than it is on
tape.
5 – Endurance and patience. They’re different things.
This artist talked about how, by the fifth take, she was “wiped out on
the song”. There’s a few approaches to recording.
When I track a vocalist for a project, my preferred way of working is to
track a lead vocal over the course of half a day, cutting about two songs in an
eight-hour period. This involves mental and physical stamina
that a lot of artists treat lightly. As I said in a previous
article, rest is crucial!
By approaching the vocal as the most important component of your record, you
gear yourself towards the work intensity that is required to produce an
exceptional vocal performance. However, too many singers stop
after a few passes at the lead. In their mind, running from
the beginning to the end of the song two or three times constitutes a good swipe
at a lead vocal, and their producer lets them get away with it.
Now in rare circumstances, that might be okay, but generally there is some
phrase or section worth improving, even if it means stopping to analyze the
meaning of the lyric and reconsidering the how vocal tone can capture this
meaning. Often, I’ll have a singer hit the first chorus
several times, shaping it and carving it until it most effectively conveys the
lyric phrase by phrase. We then move to the next chorus,
singing it again (never flying it!) and moving towards a new plateau – first
choruses and second choruses rarely have the same emotional content or dynamic
level, so they need to be treated differently. In this
manner, we craft our lead vocals, often over the course of a week or more, in
order to allow for rest and mental refreshment.
This constant shading of the choruses needs to flow through the verses, the
bridge, the pre-chorus etc. By inspecting the details of the
lyrics, a great vocal can be crafted. But it needs to be a
planned and intentional process. It’s extremely rare that a
great vocal just “happens”, without some thought about its connection to the
lyric and emotional content of the song.
So great vocals on your record are attainable if you prioritize them
above the other things on your record. Give them sufficient
tracking time, select the right producer / engineer and be aware of some simple
production techniques, and you’ll find yourself with the vocal sounds you’ve
always wanted!
© 2009 Advantage Music Production