Recording Vocals with Dead Soul Revival
If you’ve been following my “first single release” journey for my new band deadsoulrevival.com you know I’ve been examining how we recorded our upcoming release. Today let’s talk about recording vocals.
Let me start by saying getting great vocals performances relies on not only the singer delivering the goods but also your listening skills. Check out my course the Sound Visualization Method. where I am able to go into much more depth on the subject.
I like to keep my vocal chain relatively simple going into Pro Tools. I’m using a Slate VMS ML-1 mic into a API preamp. Then my signal goes to a Distressor I’ve set to a slow attack and fast release setting with just a few db of gain reduction.
It’s basically acting like a LA-2A and helping smooth things out a bit . This is a safe choice on the way in to your DAW. Nothing extreme at all. I don’t want any chance of over compression.
The ML-1 is able to simulate different mics. For my voice I like the Neumann U-47. I really like what it does to the top end. Nice and smooth, no harshness. This is done by changing the model inside Slate’s Virtual Mix Rack (VMR).
Once in Pro Tools I’ve got an 1176 style compressor on the vocal to even things out a bit more. I like to add compression in stages like this. When you try to pile on compression all at once it can sound obvious and unnatural.
If there will be dramatic changes in tonality or volume during the song I may cut section by section. In this case I’m adjusting the preamp gain so I’m always in the sweet spot.
I like to have five duplicate tracks ready to roll when I start cutting vocals. Plugins, volume, etc. are the same so there are no surprises.
Each track gets its own unique performance. Once I’ve recorded these takes I listen section by section and line by line.
I pick out the absolute best performances and drag them over to a “comp” track. Once I have this master vocal in place I work around that.
I’ll sing along with the master to create any doubles, harmonies, etc. Sometimes I can use takes from the original five tracks for the doubles but mostly I cut fresh. This is because I really like to hone in on what made the master performance better and then recreate that.
The way I like to work these days is to edit my vocal performances as I go. This way I build in a singing break and put the in between time to good use.
A tool I highly recommend for vocal editing is VocAlign by Synchro Arts. It will tighten up any loose performances between the master and the double. As long as your performance is in the ballpark it will do a great job.
Editing can be time consuming but often is worth the extra effort. Creating great sounding productions is done in lots of little steps that add up.
Until next time…
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Also, in case you didn’t know, I mix singles, EPs, and Albums for Rock and Metal bands. You can check out my work and get more info at mattclarkmixer.com/secdir/ as well as get prices, etc.
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