Do your recordings suffer from vocal
tracks that don’t cut it? Are your fans
under the false impression that you are
an instrumental band? Do paranormal
investigators claim the vocals on your
CD are actually recordings from the
spirit world? Well, read on, because I’m
going to give you six ways to put those
pathetic whispers you’ve been recording
upfront and in-your-face.
Use a Good Preamp
When it comes to recording vocals,
beg, borrow, or steal a nice preamp.
A high-end box will impart a punchy
vibe that you have to experience to
believe. You don’t think professional
engineers and producers plop down
several grand on a great mic preamp
just to stroke their egos, do ya?
Pity the Fool Who Doesn’t
Get a Good Level
Recording your voice too soft will
result in noise and hum when you
boost it to in-your-face levels at mixdown.
Record it too hot, however, and
you are sure to get distortion. So, if
you’re recording a sensitive, chanteusetype
singer, position the mic four to six
inches from their mouth. Put your average
rock screamer about one foot
away. Also, tell singers to back off the
mic a few inches when they get loud,
and move in a few inches closer for
quiet parts. Beware of pops, plosives,
and sibilance. Use a pop filter at all
times, and have boomy types sing a bit
to the side of the mic.
Go Dynamic
You don’t need an expensive
condenser mic to get killer vocals.
Inexpensive dynamic mics are tough
enough to track screamers, and they
can deliver excellent sounds. Superproducer
Bruce Sweden used a $350
(street price) Shure SM7B to record
Michael Jackson’s vocals on Thriller,
the best-selling album of all time, so
suck on that. However, if a condenser
is best for a singer’s voice, choose a
model with a –10dB or –20dB pad
switch, and when the screamin’ gets
too loud and crazy, click it!
Compress for Success
Vocalists are generally a squirrely
bunch with little or no self-control.
Even though you’ve set the levels
with obsessive-compulsive attention
to detail, I guarantee you a
vocalist will somehow find a way to
cock up your well-laid plans by
singing louder or softer than when
you were setting things up. A compressor
is a great way to mitigate
such disasters. A mild ratio of 2:1
with a –10dB threshold is a great
place to start. Then, adjust everything
to taste until whatever comes
out of the singer’s mouth is put
down nice and consistent.
EQ to the Rescue
The decent mic/killer preamp
approach should take you a long way
towards achieving an in-your-face
attitude rivaling the girls on Charm
School. However, you still may need a
bit of help, and this is where EQ can
save you. I typically boost a little
between 125Hz and 250Hz to capture
a bit of meatiness, and then boost
between 2kHz and 4kHz to dial in
presence and articulation. I also roll
off a good deal of the bottom end so
the compressor doesn’t bring up any
low-end rumble.
Faux Doubling
The all-time Hail Mary play for adding
thickness and power to vocals is having
the vocalist double a line by
singing along with the original take.
But let’s get real here. Your chance of
getting a single great take that hasn’t
been comped from 30 other takes is
pretty nil in these days of lowered
expectations. So here’s a quick and
dirty way to achieve the same thing
without giving your vocalist a nervous
breakdown.
• Make a copy of the vocal track you
want to thicken.
• Use a pitch-shift plug-in on the
newly created vocal copy and try
these settings:
• Pitch Shift = –20 to –30 cents
• Dry Mix = 0
• Wet Mix = 100 (because you want
only the pitch-shifted sound)
• Now, carefully fade up the doubled
and pitch-shifted vocal track until
it adds density and harmonic
interest to the original lead
vocal track.
• Pan both tracks to the center, and
you should have a vocal track that
sounds thicker than snot and more
aggressive than a pissed-off
rhino.