Post a clip of your best vocal production

[Nebulous]

So in the interests of opening up a discussion that all members here can relate to (going from bedroom musician to pro AE) how about we get some examples of your own vocal recordings/ production and discuss how they were achieved?

I myself am currently working on what will be my most intensive vocal production, so will post that when it done.

I know for a fact that there are some people on here who have gotten some awsome sounding vocals, and that sometimes it wasn't even on the best gear.

So go ahead, post away. Growls, clean, single, doubled, choir, etc... and tell us what you did to get it right.

 

[Morgan C]

Here's my best so far I think. First chorus is single-tracked. 2nd one is doubletracked REALLY tightly, one mixed in about 4dB lower. The vocals there are a bit soft but its done and dusted now :/ Don't really like the long-held note in the 2nd chorus, with the massive autotune, but it was either that or a note that struggled to hold pitch. Should have got him to put some nice vibrato on it.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/324723/01 PaleBlueEyes.mp3

Tracked in my bedroom through a Shure PG81. Struggled balancing compression and keeping the room sound out, but you don't really notice it in the mix I think(/hope).

Slight EQ, fair amount of comp, some saturation (PSP), and verb.

I don't like delay on the main vocals, but if you put really fast stereo delay (16th at 100bpm), with a bit of feedback on the verb bus it makes it sound really wide.

 

[Nebulous]

Very nice dude. For a PG mic and a bedroom thats sounds really fucking good!
How many instances of comp did you use on them? With the chorus double I like that it's there enough to be heard, but not distracting. Did you EQ that differently to the main vocal line? I wouldn't have picked that it was only 4dB lower, it sits in a way that made me think it would have been even lower. Did it have more comp than the main track, or about the same amount?

Great work on the whole mix also dude. Has this gotten any radio airplay at all? It sounds ready for it.

 

[Morgan C]

Thank you dude!

The song was done for free in return for the vocalist singing on a couple of my tracks. Drums/gtr/bass recorded in a day (DI.. drums in a garage ugh), vocals/solo on another.

Just one instance of comp I think. Or maybe one on each vocal track then a small one on the vocal bus, cant remember.

The chorus doubling needed lots of autotune and editing every syllable to get it sounding that tight. Took ages but I think the result was worth it.

No radio airplay. I dunno if they've even officially released the song (they're really small anyway), I only handed them the final version a week or two ago.

 

[Nebulous]

Nice dude. Thank you for sharing.
I think I'll really have to work on my vocal compression in my next project. It will be one of my first non metal mixes in a while, so the vocals will need to sit really well to take the forefront like your mix there.

 

[Ermz]

Well, I'm sure it goes without saying that it really is all at the source with vocals.

Lately I've been tracking good singers into Neumanns with my comp of choice (Distressor). I try to get all the dynamic control happening on the way down so I don't have to choke the vocal too much with shitty ITB compression.

Having said that I think in recent times my best vocal work was with Untruth and In Malice's Wake.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/285689/Music/IMW-Eternal_Nightfall.mp3

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/285689/possessing-test17.mp3

Note the latter is not a finished mix so it still sounds kinda fucked.

Basically it's all about the gear and the vocal technique. Make sure you are using something fitting to the voice and style. Use only as much compression as you need, ESPECIALLY ITB.

I can't recall what I did on the Malice vocal, but the recording chain was a TLM103 into a Distressor running clean with about 3dB GR to shave off peaks. Settings pretty much around 5.

The Untruth vocal had a few things. On the way down it was U87 into Distressor on Dist 3 mode, taking off up to 6dB. This was when I started getting more comfortable with what I could get from the box.

In the mix first E-channel taking away some of the harsher high mid stuff, then a 4dB boost at 2.2k for cut. High pass at like 120 or 150 or something, and a low shelf taking away lows from 200Hz down. After that it was the T-Racks Fairchild compressor taking off about 5dB on the quickest mode. After that I used Tape Saturation from Izotope Trash and some Tessla Pro for extra saturation. So the vocal is really saturated and excited up, which let me cut some of the highs in the mix.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Thank you dude!

The song was done for free in return for the vocalist singing on a couple of my tracks. Drums/gtr/bass recorded in a day (DI.. drums in a garage ugh), vocals/solo on another.

Just one instance of comp I think. Or maybe one on each vocal track then a small one on the vocal bus, cant remember.

The chorus doubling needed lots of autotune and editing every syllable to get it sounding that tight. Took ages but I think the result was worth it.

No radio airplay. I dunno if they've even officially released the song (they're really small anyway), I only handed them the final version a week or two ago.

Damn, that sounds really good, nice and clean! Suits really well for the music style.

Also digging the Untruth vocals a lot. Kinda surprised to hear it was an U87, but then again, it is an awesome mic on vocals

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Betrayer - Shadowed Force


This one goes back to 2004....before I discovered this forum, so the guitar & drum tones ain't the greatest. However, the vocals turned out amazing.

And, we did it the old fashioned way.... no computer trickery, no auto tune. We tracked it until it was right.

 

[Ermz]

Sounds good Oz. The vocalist actually reminds me a little of Skyweaver on here. The vocals are maybe a little subdued in the mix? But apart from that it's nice! Good delivery for the style.

 

[Nebulous]

Some great fitting vocals there guys!

One thing that I have to ask: how do you get the vocalist to break away from their live tendancies of singing 1cm from the mic? How do you determine which distance from the mic is the optimal for a vocalist; whatever provides the most detail, or the distance that gives a balanced response that will mix easy?
I always fear that the vocals will come out too thin if too much distance is used.

 

[Morgan C]

I've never really worried much with that. My pop filter is almost touching the mic cos its kinda hard to get it further away, then the vocalist just sings about 5cm away. On the mix I added above, the background vocalist sung way too close the mic and it came out sounding much too upfront for a background vocalist, even with lots of reverb, etc. I couldn't get it to sit back. So that might be something to take into account. But otherwise I've had a lead vocalist sing 1cm and 10-15cm away and I can't say it makes a MASSIVE difference.

Clean vocals, for me at least, are easy if the singer is good. Record, tune if needed, comp/saturate and you're done, even with a 'meh' mic like the PG81. If the singer ain't good..

I've only tracked one screamer and I don't really like her style so can't say much for the heavy vox.


The biggest problem for me is getting the aggression right in the vocals. Especially with clean singing for heavy music, its always a struggle to not make the vocalist sound 'lazy'. Almost always it sounds like they're not totally trying. I mean that's more their fault than mine (;p) but if anyone has any advice on how to squeeze that last 10% from a decent vocalist, would be much appreciated.

 

[Metaltastic]

Might as well post this - I had a band back in Spring 07, and we recorded a 4-song EP; needless to say, I was an EPIC n00b then in comparison to now, but I'm still damn proud of the vocal production on our EP. Check out Lies Love and Whispers, both the growls in the verses and the cleans in the chorus (and those layers in the bridge, oooh man can the dude bring the br00tz IMO ) However, while I suggested replacing the drums, the bassist (who I co-engineered it with) insisted on keeping the drums natural (for "practice"), and I didn't know enough then to be as insistent as would be now Oh well, live and learn!

http://www.myspace.com/halcyonnight

Rode NT1-A into a Millennia HV-3D, btw - many people say it's a bright mic, but I don't recall really having to do any serious eq on the vox, either cutting or boosting!

Oh, and this tune was a song I recorded (and co-wrote with the guitarist from the above band) for an Audio Arts Production project back in Fall 07 - less of a n00b then, but still shudder a bit looking back at it, however, once again I have no complaints on the vox! (SM7 into the Millennia this time, also very little eq)

EDIT: Obviously a different vocalist for the second, and needless to say that was the first and last project I did with him

EDIT 2: On the "whispering lies" part in the first, that was a cheap hand-held in a closet (we forgot to do it in the studio), so hence the plosives

 

[Nebulous]

OMG! You recorded Warrel Dane?
The vocals do indeed sit quite well in the mix. Probably the most balanced part of the mix IMO.

 

[Metaltastic]

Haha, well I'd like to think he's less "gargly" sounding than the Dane, but I hear where you're coming from. And thanks dude; mainly I think the reason the vox are to me by far the best element is because there was the least potential to fuck them up! (Pod guitars, natural drums which of course are a bad idea when the engineers are a bit clueless, and while I don't mind the bass, nothing about it really blows me away either)

 

[Mat Laperle]

Hunter City Madness
Disfigured Elegance

Some of my latest ones that I really like, both were done the same way, sm7b into a UA twin finity pre to get some grit, then into my saffire pro. I used a lot of compression ITB, a little bit of reverb and a high pass filter and that's it!

 

[nwright]

Most of my stuff (as I seem to say all the time) doesn't sound as polished as most of the users on here, but there have been a couple of projects where I liked the end result better than I expected upon first hearing the tracks. What I tend to say is my "best" work tends to be the stuff that comes out better than I expected, considering what we used.

The first one is a modern rock band who wanted a "live" sound for their whole album, so it was tracked with all the instruments in one room (the players, too) and then the vocalist was in a booth his signal was fed into the live tracking room via PA...He used an AT4040 IIRC, and they had it slamming the preamp (UA610), so it's a little choked at times (they wanted "grit")..But, I think we got a decently usable sound out of it. Can'[t say I dig the guitar tones on this, but I kinda like everything else.

Basically used some compression, quite a bit of high end shelf EQ around 2KHz and some de-essing. Also some reverb, and natural room ambience from a couple room mics that were placed in the tracking room.


EDIT
Also, there is obviously no auto tune or anything like that on this...The backup vocals was their bass player, and they are a little shaky, but it is what it is. I applaud them for wanting to try this "all natural" type of tracking/mixing.

http://geetarguy.tripod.com/blink.mp3

The other was a "test" project I did for a band that was eventually turned down. I was bummed because at the time (2 years ago) I thought it was some of my best work (still do). I can't say I dig the vocalist much at all, but I think we got a good performance, decent clarity, but still had some grittiness...Vocals were tracked with an SM58 into a Focusrite Trackmaster Pro into a MOTU 828. I just didn't care for his delivery or lyrical style, but considering the signal chain, I was pretty happy.

It was compressed pretty hard going into the trackmaster (as it has compression controls on it), so what we tracked with couldn't be reversed. Little bit of High end shelf EQ again, slight reverb, more of a "live room" plate style verb to make it sound a little more immediate and present rather than smooth and "epic" for lack of a better word. I tend to use a vocal plate with a short decay on screaming vocals because I think it gives the music a more immediate and urgent feel. If I want a bit more "space" I usually will mix in tap delays.

http://geetarguy.tripod.com/onedaycloser.mp3

 

[DanLights]

This is my latest work, I'm still a big noob but I'm specially proud of the vocal sound on this one, of course it's mainly because the guy is an excellent vocalist. It's death metal Deicide style, the dude really does a superb Glen Benton impression. Vox are SM57 into the mic preamp of my small Nady mixer, into the line input of a borrowed Lexicon alpha interface (I tried connecting the sm57 directly to the mic input of the lexicon and it made some huge noise).

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/954292/01 - The Carnagoth.mp3

 

[Nebulous]

Hunter City Madness
Disfigured Elegance

Nice agression on that second one!
Do you have any specific details about the backing vocals of the first one?

Most of my stuff (as I seem to say all the time) doesn't sound as polished as most of the users on here, but there have been a couple of projects where I liked the end result better than I expected upon first hearing the tracks.

http://geetarguy.tripod.com/blink.mp3

http://geetarguy.tripod.com/onedaycloser.mp3

Don't beat yourself up so much dude. The first track sounds good. Definately not like alot of other stuff on the forum- in a positive way.
I agree with you on the style of the second clip I would struggle mixing that one well.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/954292/01 - The Carnagoth.mp3

Quite Nile-ish on this one! Could even use a touch more volume in the vocals IMO!