Recording Rock Vocals

[ScottCash]

Hey guys. I am trying to record some standard rock vocals similar to Alice in Chains, Black Label Society, Shinedown. I am still a noob at recording and have issues getting a vocal recording I like. I have a Shure KSM27 going into a Behringer Ultra Voice Pro Pre-amp, into Nuendo. I have read quite a few posts on vocal recording and yet mine are not even close to some I've heard on here so I'm getting back to the basics. Here is what I know....

1. Record the original tracks with very little compression
2. Steady the vocalists distance from the mic
3. Add a little chorus when mixing
4. The room can kill or make your track

That's about it. Am I missing something? Do you guys use the -15db pad on the mic? Should this style be recorded with a dynamic mic instead of a condensor? One of the big issues I have is that without using a ton of compression when recording, the track is way too quite or clips like crazy. Is there a magical piece of software/hardware I am missing? arg....help. Thanks-

 

[Ermz]

I'd say the KSM27 and Behringer Pre are what's killing it.. unless it's the vocalists technique/voice.

The mic and pre are so damn important when it comes to vocals.

I just did a session where I ran a Neumann U89 into an Avalon AD2022 which then ran into a Distressor on Dist 2 mode (tube emulation). Beautiful.

There's really no substitute for fantastic gear when it comes to vocals... it's such a simple process, and reliant upon the basics more than most.

 

[KeithRT99]

you should be able to get decent results with that mic. the pre is a different story.

i just had a session where we ran an sm7b into a SSL9000j desk pre amp, and it's sounded amazing. we tried all kinds of styles and it was terrific, although it needed a ton of gain.

 

[t-rave]

alot of it also depends on the singer. I have a friend that is so rock solid on classic metal vocals you can basically just set levels and give him an sm58 and it will sound excellent. I just run a little compression/limiting on the way in

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Isnt most of the Heavens Gate records just mic directly onto tape, no FX and so on... Fantastic vocal production on Planet E for instance!!!

 

[BattleTits]

The vocal chain is massively important as is the room you are recording in. Until those are great, it will be very tough to get a sound near the level of the artists mentioned.

also, is the singer great? A great singer can overcome a lot of things, but a shitty room and a shitty mic chain still shows up the more you compress the vocal.

I use a lot of compression when I mix..I dont really use chorus at all..I prefer delay or reverb.

Also, what are details in your mixing chain? For example, I have done a chain that starts with antares tube set lightly to drive the vox a little, then I DeEss with Ren Desser, then I Compress, then EQ then Compress again and then sometimes add a tape warmer if needed. I then send to a fast delay set to 18ms on each side, and a slower delay timed to the song, both of those delays are Eqd to take out the extreme highs and lows, and then I compress them. I send the delays to a reverb channel that is also compressed.

I spend a lot of time on vocals because they are the focal point.

But unless the source sound is rocking with no plugins, there will be issues. So get your Room tuned and upgrade your gear a little. If your room sucks, you could buy a Shure SM7 and a relfection filter...and then upgrade your pre to one with enough power to drive the Sm7 (it needs some serious push). That would make a big difference.

 

[jesus69lol]

In my own experience I've found that typically the weakest link in any vocal recording is the singer him/herself. (Fortunately I was blessed with a decent set of pipes!) The real question I have is this: I have heard some pop bands who's singers absolutely cannot cut it live. Like the highest they go on the album could be a good octave above what they can hit live (this is especially true on radio rock like 30 seconds to mars, the used, etc) I know there is "studio magic" that goes into but I'm wondering exactly what that is.

I've experimented with autotuned backing tracks panned left and right with "raw" vocals in the middle, vocoders mixed in with raw, reverb, delay, you name it. I still have not found exactly whats going on, perhaps one of the more able engineers on here could shed some light on this issue for me?

edit: put it this way: I love megadeth, but if a recording engineer can make dave mustaine sound like a singer then certainly it could be applied to anyone.

 

[ScottCash]

I'd say the KSM27 and Behringer Pre are what's killing it.

I was afraid you would say that. Well, perhaps the fix to that is just to leave everything off on the Behringer except the phantom power for the mic itself. That way it won't "color" anything. Any thoughts on a good preamp that does vocals and acoustic guitar that is under a few hundred bucks? In an old forum a lot of people liked the RNC.

alot of it also depends on the singer. I have a friend that is so rock solid on classic metal vocals you can basically just set levels and give him an sm58 and it will sound excellent. I just run a little compression/limiting on the way in

I'll give the 58 a shot.

Battle, that is some crazy shit you got going on in there. i always have a tendencey to "over" correct stuff and it just makes it sound even worse. I just need to get a really good raw track first I think and that sounds like the room.
Problem is my room is a 1200 sq ft basement. I suppose I could put up some sound foam under the stairs and record. Anybody do that? I wish I had a clothes closet a little closer to my PC down here.

 

[BattleTits]

IT sounds crazy, but honestly, it is not that insane. You want to DeEss your vox..you usually want to EQ a little, and you want to compress.
The rest is just setting up your FX busses so they sound really damn good instead of just ok and 2d.

 

[Grave Desire]

Yeah..alot of it comes down to the singer. Finding the right mic for the singer is important too. With the screamers, condenser's can be a little too harsh..so I usually will go with a dynamic mic or a dark colored condenser.

You guys might not know him..but I recorded/co produced D.C. Cooper's Vocals for the Genius Rock Opera last year and it was an absolute Breeze. I borrowed an Avalon Vt-737sp and ran it through an RME a/d converter and tracked it all in his basement with him in his bathroom. We just made the room as dead as we could and rolled from there. An expierienced vocalist like him has very good mic etiquette and you'll barely have to use any compression during tracking. I believe we ended up using a CAD mic...I forget the model.

 

[Student]

Apple juice is cheaper than a de-esser, trust me, tried it with a vocalist whose voice sounded like a hi-hat, gave him some apple juice to coat the mouth just a bit, gone...they use that trick, and just a plain apple will work, in the voice over biz all the time.

If you crank the frequency of the sibilance just above the threshold on a compressor, the comp will smack it down, it's the opposite of what you might think, but boost the freq. then comp.

Maybe I'm overstepping my bounds, but thought I'd add.