Oh man, poor Jamie, my engineer on the new CD project. After weeks of vocal sessions, overdubs and do-over sessions, I finally let him know about 10 days ago that OK, I am FINALLY satisfied, somewhat, with my vocals and ready to mix the project. So like a good soldier, he began the mixing process – he would mix a song, send it to me via email so I could listen in iTunes, and then I would email back my comments. And 9 times out of 10 the comments were – “Great mix. But I heard something in my vocals I want to fix – can I come over and do a quickie over-dub of ONE WORD?”
“Just ONE word?”
“Um….yeah. Is that a problem?”
“YES!!! You are obsessive, compulsive, and a perfectionist. And you’re a really good singer. So QUIT ALREADY!! I AM NOT GOING TO ALLOW YOU TO RECORD ONE WORD! WE’RE MIXING!! NOT RECORDING!”
OK, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, kind of sort of. But the point is, when it comes time to mix, you need to be sure you are actually finished with your vocal recording sessions before you embark on mixing! Seems like a pretty obvious point, unless you are an obsessive, compulsive perfectionist.
SO, on to mixing just the vocals, then.
The number one tip I can offer to insuring you have the very best mix on your vocals, is to make sure to first RECORD them using the best microphones you can get, in a completely “dry” manner. That means, no reverb, no EQ, NO NOTHING on your vocal track itself. Let the engineer flow your raw, pure vocal quality through a top-quality mic, through some really good outboard gear, into ProTools or, if you are the rare artist who can afford this, onto 2″ tape.
Second, PERFORM your vocal track with the absolute highest clarity. If it’s important that the lyrics be understood by the listener, then you have to E-NUN-CI-ATE. This goes for jazz singers, singer/songwriters and of course, rappers – these styles depend heavily on the lyrics, and it’s frustrating as a listener to have to say “What’s he singing there?” in the middle of a great song. It goes without saying that you have to SING IN TUNE, too, and I’ll have other posts in the “Recording Techniques For Singers” section of this blog that address how to really sing in tune in the studio.
Third, take a copy of your vocal sessions, on CD, or emailed to you, and LISTEN to what you’ve done after each session. Give yourself a few days, listen on your stereo speakers, in your car, in your iPod, on your computer…listen to your tracks on as many different players as you can. You’ll be amazed at how different your voice will sound in each device.
Fourth, after listening, be honest with yourself. Are you in tune? Are the lyrics clean? Are you taking huge breaths, dropping notes, not hitting high notes? Take detailed notes about your track, and, make sure you indicate the time stamp of where you see/hear problems. (So, for example, if you’ve hit a bad note at the 2:35 mark in the song, write that down so your engineer can locate that spot for you when you go in to fix it.)
After you’ve really assessed your vocal tracks and taken very specific notes, schedule another over-dub session. Then, REPEAT the steps above!! for EACH SONG, over and over until you are FINISHED.
Now – you may not be TOTALLY satisfied with your final vocal tracks. I admit – I never am satisfied, or truly finished. I hear every flaw, every time I listen to the CD afterwards. But it’s good to know when to say “Enough already!” and finish your vocals so you can then mix the darn thing!!
I’ll continue this “Mixing Your Vocals” post in Part II.
