Recording Vocals Part IV

Now that we have talked about some different techniques to record the vocal, from microphone selection to coaching the talent, I'd like to discuss some possible mixing techniques to bring out a vocal that may be buried in a mix.

Everyone has run into the problem before, I'm sure. You're going along with your mix and getting great sounding drums and guitars when you realize your vocal just isn't sitting in the mix where you want it. You can hear them, they just aren't the focal point that you want them to be.

There are a couple of things you can do to address this. One of them is to address the mix. It is sometimes hard, or even impossible, to bring up the level of a track that is not as present as you would like. In these situations remember that you can adjust the levels around the track you want affected. If the vocals aren't loud enough and you can't raise the level anymore than it is already, lower the surrounding instruments.

Now that you have a general mix that sounds good, you may need more work done on the vocals to help them stand out just a bit more. Next I would automate the vocal track and/or instrument tracks to raise or lower throughout the song to make sure that the focal point is where it needs to be. If there is a vocal break, for instance, you want the focal point to shift to one of the instrument tracks that takes over the melody.

Once I've effectively set levels and automate, an EQ on the vocal track often helps to give the track that extra push in presence. I start off with a High Pass Filter (HPF) that cuts out the low frequencies that are often not present in your vocal track and just introduce room noise to your recording. I then look for frequencies that are doing more harm than good. There is usually a small range of frequencies that give off a very nasally tone that is not desirable in your mix. I usually use a narrow bandwidth to address these problem frequencies. By cutting in these areas you can bring focus to your vocal track.


To then bring the track out in your mix, find the range that the vocal sits in and give it a slight boost. This range varies greatly from person to person, so use your ears and sweep the frequencies to find the right place to boost This will give the track more presence in your mix. Our ears are designed to pick up the frequency range of the voice and so any boost in this range allows the vocal to cut through the mix better.




The last thing I do is put a High Shelf EQ on the upper range of frequencies above the sibilance. This gives the track an airy quality that gives it brightness and a shimmering tone that I find pleasing.



I have included down below a sample recording showcasing these techniques to bring out the vocal in this track. By making these cuts and boosts and bringing down the levels of certain instrument tracks I was able to effectively bring out the vocal.


What are some techniques you use for EQing your vocal tracks? Do you like to primarily cut when you EQ or boost? Share some of your techniques and experiences in the comments below.

Recording Vocals Part III

So last week I talked to you about making the singer comfortable before you get started with the recording process. Here are some tips to make the recording go smoothly once you hit record.

Once you actually get rolling with the recording, be sure to talk to the singer. There is nothing more nerve-racking than being a vocalist by yourself in a quiet studio while the engineer and possibly the rest of the band are all in the control room. Even if you need a minute or two to set up a new track hold down the talk-back button and let them know, give them advice for the next take, let them know you're there.

If you are not getting the performance you are looking for, it is time to coach the talent. Do this in a constructive and productive manner. If you need to do another take don't just tell the singer: "Okay, we are just going to do another take of that verse". This gives the singer nothing to work with.. was the last take bad? Should they change something about the way they sang it? Were they out of tune in a section? These unanswered questions make the singer unsure of themselves and results in less than confident vocal performances.

Instead tell the singer things like: "You did a great job on the beginning of that verse, but it seemed like your energy was falling the further you went through. Try and keep that energy up all the way through, or we can try and break up the verse into two takes if that makes it easier." This gives the singer all the information, tells them how they can get a better performance, and gives them the option to control how they will perform the section.

Every singer is different and prefers different techniques. Some may want to get  in there and not mess around, while others want that personal touch to their experience. You can usually feel out what type of singer you've got in your initial conversation when they first arrive.

There will be one more part to the Recording Vocals series coming up where I will discuss techniques used during the mixing portion to bring vocals out in a mix that might be a little bit buried.

What are some experiences you have working with vocalists? Do you find vocals easier or harder to record than instrumentation, and why? Is there anything that I may have left out? Let me know in the comments below!

Recording Vocals Part II

So you have a singer in the studio, you've set up the microphones, tested them out to find out which one you are going to use for the recording, now what? Now you will focus on getting the best performance out of that singer. Hopefully, you will have an amazing and talented vocalist and your job will be easy. Often times this is not the case, however, and a little bit of coaching is needed.

This isn't to say that the vocalist is bad per say, they just maybe aren't used to being in a studio under pressure to perform at their best while the rest of the band and an engineer they possibly have never met before that day are all watching them. It can get stressful for just about anyone.

I have been in the studio on both sides, as the engineer and as the vocalist, so I will hopefully shed some light on ways to make your vocalist comfortable in their environment and ways to tactfully coach their performance.

First of all, make the singer feel comfortable from the onset of the session. Right when they get there talk to them, joke around, and let them know that it is a relaxed environment. If you are straight to business and talk about nothing but the recording then you are likely to make the singer feel more nervous about landing that perfect take.

Let them warm up their vocals in the room they are recording in. You may know that room like the back of your hand, but this is likely the first time the singer has been to your studio. Even though you may not think it has an effect, an unfamiliar environment can cause a singer to be uncomfortable and timid with their vocal performance.

Ask the singer how they prefer the room to be, whether that be standing, sitting, lights on, or lights dimmed. All of these things affect the comfort level of the singer and can bring out the best take possible from them. Ask them if they are comfortable with the entire band sitting in and listening while they record or if they would rather everyone except the engineer leave the control room.

Making sure your singer is comfortable is key to getting a good vocal performance. Take the time to get this right and you are likely to have a vocalist that chooses to record with you time and time again because you know how to make them feel comfortable during the recording process better than the other guy.

Next week I will be getting more into coaching the performance once the actual recording has begun. This requires it's own talent and finesse to accomplish.

What are some ways that you help make your artist feel comfortable? Have you been on the vocalist's side before? What are some things that helped you ease the nerves? Let me know in the comments.

Miking a Guitar Amp

Last week I discussed techniques to get started with miking vocals. Today I'm going to talk about some techniques I use when miking a guitar amp.

There are many elements that contribute to the sound of the electric guitar. Those can include the guitar, amplifier being used, and the effects chain (effects pedals).

Of course, it always helps to have a player that is well rehearsed and knows their stuff. The best equipment, mic placement, and post production work can't fix a bad performance. If you are tracking guitar, take the extra time that it takes to get a solid take. If there are intonation problems, address them then rather than waiting until later when it is often times too late. Tune the instrument between takes, there is nothing worse than hearing an out of tune guitar that clashes with the rest of the group.

To get set up to start recording, you may want to raise the guitar cabinet off the ground using an amp stand. This will reduce early reflections from the floor that reach your microphone and may cause possible phase issues.

I like to use a combination of different types of microphones when recording electric guitar. This gives me some interesting blending techniques that I can use in the mixing phase that allows me to get a more unique guitar tone.

My go to microphone for guitars is the Sennheiser e609 or e906. I place this on the outside edge of the speaker cone, on axis, about an inch away from the grill cloth. I absolutely love this microphone on guitar; it has a full body sound and gives you a lot of frequencies to work with. It is a dynamic microphone that was designed specifically for guitar amplifiers. The e906 has three adjustable sound characteristics: bright, normal and smooth.

I then use another dynamic microphone, a Shure SM57 or Beta 57 for example, just to capture a different tone. These microphones tend to be a bit more brighter sounding that the e609 and gives me different tonal options when I blend them later.

Another type of microphone I love to use on electric guitars are ribbon microphones, specifically the Royer R-121, which record an incredible warm tone from the guitar amp. This is a great tool to give your guitars some extra warmth and body later on in the mixing process. I usually slowly bring it up in the mix until your ears catch that sweet spot in the mix.

If I'm working with an open back speaker cabinet, I will usually put a condenser in the back. A lot of sound comes from the back of the amp, and capturing it can give you some interesting sounds to blend. The back typically produces more mid-range frequencies that can be problematic in a mix, so I use this track sparingly.

As usual, these are just some ideas to hopefully inspire some unique microphone techniques. Always play around with the positioning, as this can drastically change the sound of the guitar tone being recorded. Try out different microphones and preamp combinations to get the exact sound you are looking for.

What are some of your favorite microphones to use on electric guitar? Do you like to use multiple microphones or just stick to one? Share some unique techniques in the comments below!

Recording Vocals Part I

Vocals can be one of the trickiest parts of a song to record, but can be what sells your mix as being professional or what makes it sound amateurish. There are several things to consider when recording vocals such as microphone selection, positioning, performance guiding, and processing. I am going to do my best to pass on some information that I have picked up along the way through both research and trial and error. The best way to learn this stuff is to apply it yourself and figure out what works best for you, there is no "one way" to do anything in recording.


The first thing you want to do when preparing to record vocals is to select the right microphone. This step should not be shrugged off and considered as unimportant, because the right microphone can make your job much easier later on and the wrong microphone can make a vocal track almost unusable.

Listen to the artist singing in the environment you are recording in. Find out what frequencies are present in their voice. Are you recording a female vocal with a high range or a male with a deep voice?

Often times we are wanting an open vocal sound that has good representation in the high frequencies which will help with presence in your mix. A condenser microphone tends to have more clarity and definition in this range than dynamic microphones. That is not to say a dynamic microphone is not the way to go. You could have a very thin sounding vocal that a dynamic can round out. If you have a vocalist that is just coming out too bright when using a condenser microphone, it may be a good idea to switch over to a dynamic microphone.

Something that I suggest when recording vocals is to make the time to test out different microphones. I often bring out three or four different possibilities as well as maybe one dynamic microphone just in case. I then run them one at a time with the vocalist to see which one fits the vocal the best and brings out the characteristics I want emphasized.

I also record these tests so that I can bring the vocalist into the control room to take a listen for themselves. Often times I have found that engineers tend to disregard what the artist themselves think even though they often have the only judgment that matters... they are the ones paying you after all.

After a microphone has been selected, you can work on positioning both it and the vocalist in the room you are recording in. You don't want to be too close to surfaces, as these will introduce reflections in the recording that can result in undesired effects that are hard to remove. You also want to make sure you are not in any room modes. Stay out of the center of the room where standing waves can exaggerate resonate frequencies of a room.

A vocalist should not be right up on top of a microphone when recording, but should allow a bit of distance between them and the microphone as the picture to the right suggests using their hand as a guide. A pop filter should then be used, placed half way between the singer and the microphone. This will help reduce the chances of plosives and sibilance coming through onto your recording.

These techniques should be a good starting point towards getting a great sounding vocal track. Remember that these are suggestions, and you should always experiment with different microphone placements and use techniques that work for the particular situation you find yourself in. I will be going into more detail in a later post on guiding the vocal performance as well as processing the vocals once they are recorded to get the best results.

What are some of your favorite microphones to use on vocals? Do you find yourself using dynamic microphones on vocals very much? What techniques do you use to match the perfect microphone to a vocal? Let me know in the comments section!

Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity

Last week I discussed one of the instruments used in The Destruction of All We Have Known, the sample recording I provided in a previous post about the capabilities of home studios. Well, today I would like to discuss a piece of hardware that was heavily used in that recording as well. This is the Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity.

Universal Audio released this preamp in 2008 to combine the warmth of tube powered preamps and the clarity of solid state preamps. When selecting a preamp to purchase, you are often looking for particular tones that you want to get from it. You select one preamp that sounds amazing with acoustic guitars and you may select a completely different preamp that sounds amazing with bass guitars.

With the Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity you get nearly infinite tonal possibilities from one preamp. This comes from the unique feature of combining the tube and solid state signal paths. Not only can you choose to have 100% tube or 100% solid state, there is a variable knob that lets you choose how much tube warmth you want and how much solid state clarity you want. This allows you to dial in specific combinations that bring out the best characteristics of whatever the sound source is that you are recording. 

For instance, maybe you are recording a guitar player that uses a lot of intricate finger picking. If you went with an all tube preamp you may loose some of the detail in the picking. By blending the tube and solid state, you can still get a warm acoustic tone but by blending more of the solid state into the signal you can capture more of the detail in what is being played.

Similarly, if you want a more retro styled warm vocal track and you would dial in more of the tube circuit while tracking your vocals. I have yet to find a source that I wasn't able to dial in the specific tone I was looking for and be completely satisfied with. 

Some of the additional controls on this unit are:

• +48V phantom power switch for using condenser microphones
• 15 dB pad for use on louder sources
• Mic/Line level switch for use when recording a bass DI for example in the Hi-Z input
• Output/Drive meter selector
• Low cut switch
• Polarity selector
• Input Gain knob
• Output Level knob

The versatility alone makes this preamp completely worth the $800 price tag, even if it is for only one channel. There are four channel models available for $2,000 but if you are on a budget and can only afford one channel, it is still worth the price. I have yet to find a preamp that can sound so good on so many different sound sources. Set your input gain and output level and then slowly adjust that blending knob until it hits that spot where everything sits just right and you are getting the exact tone you were envisioning.

What preamps are among your favorite and why? What makes them stand out above the rest for you? have you worked with the UA 710 before? What are your thoughts on this piece of hardware? Leave your comments below and lets discuss preamps!

Gretsch G3161 Historic Series

The Gretsch G3161 Historic Series semi hollow body electric guitar was manufactured by Gretsch from 2000-2006. Although the model didn't last long, due to the popularity of the Electromatic released at the same time, those that own the guitar can attest to the sound quality it carries.

The guitar sports the classic Gretsch orange finish, Gretschbucker pickups and Gretsch tailpiece. This guitar broke away from the traditional f-holes on most hollow body guitars and went with the cats eye design. For controls, there is a volume and tone knob as well as a pickup selector switch. The guitar has a spruce top with a maple back and sides. The fretboard is rosewood and the guitar features nickel tuners.

This guitar is my favorite instrument that I own. It has a great resonant sound and a nice natural crunch. I play this through a Vox AC30 and have found that I can get great clean tones as well as great overdriven tones from this guitar. By pushing the top boost on the amp I can get a bit extra drive in the amp pulling out a nice sparkle in the high end.

I picked up this guitar used in 2007 for around $550, which in my opinion was a steal. I have never been disappointed in this guitar from the moment I picked it up in the store. In fact, I bought the guitar before I bought the amp to go with it I liked it so much. I tried it out on several different amps, all of which sounded great, before I settled on the British Vox AC30. I felt that the guitar/amp combo really worked the best together. The AC30 brought out all of the best characteristics of the guitar and really made it shine.

If you are looking for a sound sample of how this guitar sounds recorded, check out the audio clip in my previous post. I used this while recording the song Destruction of All We Have Known for the rhythm guitar. I like the sound of this guitar for indie rock music, but it is also great for rockabilly when you get some twang out of it. I just love getting the speakers to sparkle with this thing and get some drive behind it to hear that nice full body. I will try and put up some samples in the coming days of just the guitar so you can get a better sense of how it sounds.

What is your favorite guitar? Do you prefer hollow, semi hollow, or solid body electric guitars? Post in the comments and let me know. I would also like your thoughts on the Gretsch Historic Series guitar. It is definitely one of my prized possessions. Also, be sure to check out the poll I put up to the right. Put in your responses by tonight at midnight!

Looking For Gear

Setting up a home studio can seem like a daunting task to most. There are so many options out there for each part of your studio that it can become overwhelming when setting yours up. Just remember that there are many resources out there to help you make your decisions and show you different paths you can take.

It is important to do your research when selecting the gear you purchase. I will be starting to post in depth reviews and suggestions for equipment that is affordable and convenient that I have experience with that is completely doable for the recording hobbyist. Keep in mind there are several different resources available to you.

Gearslutz is a discussion board for pro audio gear that is a great resource to check out. You can post questions and get answers from those in the industry as well as look at the plethora of information available to you here.

If you liked the DIY aspect of my previous posts, check out this blog all about DIY recording equipment. They have great gear information as well as products for sale such as this ribbon microphone.

The important thing to remember is that whatever advice you find, you should take it as just that, advice. Use these resources as a guide and a starting point. Test equipment yourself and use your ears to find what sounds best to you. The last thing you want is to spend your hard earned money on gear that you are less than impressed with.

I am posting a song that I recorded with a friend of mine that will serve as an example of what is attainable with a minimal home recording setup. I will go into detail on some of the equipment used in the recording in future posts, so stay tuned for more information.

Where do you go to get information on new gear? What kind of reviews are you looking for? Share your favorite places to get advice and search for new gear in the comments below.

N72 Neve Preamp Clone

Hey everyone! I thought that since my previous post touched on DIY electronics, I would go ahead and show a project that I worked on and give some praise to a great company making modular preamp kits at an affordable price, Seventh Circle Audio. I hope you enjoy!

DIY

If you haven't been bitten by the DIY bug, you probably have it coming. It is one thing that I suggest anybody in audio, whether it be pro audio or musician, get involved in. It is a great way to save money while still getting a solid quality product.

Making DIY electronics does take practice to learn and develop skills such as reading schematics and operating a soldering iron. Once you get these things down though, it becomes easy and something enjoyable to do.

Take something like microphone cables. If you go into your local music store to buy a microphone cable it can easily cost $25 for a 20 foot cable. Considering you'll need several of these cables even for the smallest project studio and you're putting out a lot of cash on something that isn't so fun to buy.

If you go the DIY route, however, you can save yourself quite a bit of money in the long run. You can buy a 500 foot spool of microphone cable for as low as $100. The connectors you buy cost $1-$1.50 a piece. Some people see the $100 price tag for the spool of cable and are thrown off from pursuing this DIY route. When you compare that to the 4 cables you can buy from the store and the possible 20 cables you can make yourself, it just doesn't make sense to ever buy another cable if you have the skills to make one yourself.

Now, microphone cables aren't all that exciting. What really gets exciting is to build pro audio gear. You can find kits and schematics for all sorts of audio gear out there too. I have made guitar pedals and preamps myself and have had a lot of success on those projects. The possibilities are almost limitless for what you can build yourself though. You can build everything from theremins and analog synths to tube amplifiers for guitars.

So, if you are looking to build up your project studio or want some effects pedals for your guitar rig, I strongly suggest you look into the DIY options available to you. Take the time to learn the skills necessary and you can save yourself a lot of money on high end gear.