Vocal Chain

[smk]

Anyone know the vocal chains for:

R Kelley
Babyface
Brian McKnight

[sunrck]

Originally Posted by smk

Anyone know the vocal chains for:

R Kelley
Babyface
Brian McKnight

R.Kelly : Sony C800G -> Neve 1073 or 1081
Babyface : Sony C800G -> Avalon 737sp w/ babyface mod i believe
Brian Mcknight : AKG C12 [vintage, NOT VR] -> Neve 1073


I'm not sure of of compression selection during tracking, though a lot it happens during the mixing phase.

You might wanna read up on Dave Pensado's Guest Moderator articles as he's the primary mixing engineer for Brian.

You just listed my favorite contemporary R&b male singers man.

REAL R&B needs to come back into mainstream.

-sunrck

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by sunrck

I'm not sure of of compression selection during tracking


-sunrck

Tubetech CL1B.

[sunrck]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Tubetech CL1B.

Thrill,

check your PM.

-sunrck

[sunrck]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Tubetech CL1B.

I shoulda known.

With Telefunken NOS tube replacements I bet.

-sunrck

[smk]

Thanks for the replies. Just waiting for the day when the real singing comes back to the foreground and real melodies evoke mood and the lyrics paint a picture. Of the three artists, Brian McKnight just seems to get better and better with his songs and the engineering. I was a bit disappointed with the newest Babyface and R. Kelley albums. I hope their best days aren't behind them songwriting-wise... I did enjoy Babyface's Face 2 Face album, though.

Wondering if Brian McKnight used two different lead vocal mics on his last album, though. Some of the tracks sound distinctly less like the usual mic sound he has...

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by sunrck

I shoulda known.

With Telefunken NOS tube replacements I bet.

-sunrck

Don't know about that part.

I prefer Mullards.

The CL1B is the staple tracking vocal compressor on a lot of records.

[sunrck]

Originally Posted by smk

Thanks for the replies. Just waiting for the day when the real singing comes back to the foreground and real melodies evoke mood and the lyrics paint a picture. Of the three artists, Brian McKnight just seems to get better and better with his songs and the engineering. I was a bit disappointed with the newest Babyface and R. Kelley albums. I hope their best days aren't behind them songwriting-wise... I did enjoy Babyface's Face 2 Face album, though.

Wondering if Brian McKnight used two different lead vocal mics on his last album, though. Some of the tracks sound distinctly less like the usual mic sound he has...

I've asked Brian this Q personally, and it seems for all songs that he produces himself, the C12 is his staple mic. All his self produced records are tracked by Chris Wood over @ Backroom Studios in Glendale, CA.

The dude is freaking versatile man - not only are his vocal chops killer, but he's a self taught Grade A jazz pianist, and one hell of a composer.

Real singers all respect him very much.

I can't believe he hasn't won a Grammy yet.

-sunrck

[smk]

Being out here in Hawaii it's hard to hear these guys live but I must say that out of the people who've done concerts here, Brian McKnight was the best vocalist, with Phillip Bailey more than holding his own at second...

[smk]

Anyone know what kind of equipment these guys might be hooked up to during a concert? Maybe a handheld condenser with the same stuff used in recording backstage perhaps?

[COMPRESSIONJUNK]

Hey man what's up?

B's vox chain:

I use an AKG the Tube mic with a Stephen Paul C12 mod into a GML mic-pre into an MC76(purple) into Apogee converters into ProTools. This has been B's set up for about 8 years. I usually see about 4 db of limmitting while he's singing. He's great with proximity effect and is very good at self compressing and removing any crazy dynamics.
I purchased the same mic, pre and limmitter for Justin Timberlake but went with a different tube so his is a little softer. The draw back of B's mic is it sounds awesome on him but everyone I've tried it on sounds harsh and brittle I had Leeann Rimes on it and had to quickly switch to a U47. It is an extremely unforgiving mic. I've tried it on everyone cause they all want to sing on B's mic but it never works out. With Alicia Keys I went with a Custom Lawson L47, same pre/limmitter. When I cut R at CRC we used a vintage c12 into a GML into a Summit Tla 100 to a sony 3348. When I recently did Phillip Bailey at The Firehouse I used a U89 into Gml into Avalon AD2044.
With B's vox the room is a big part as well. The Backroom specs are at JSXAUDIO.com. It is a very tight room and we cut all of Prescot's drums in the small vocal booth as well.

Yes B did use a different mic setup on "Grownman's buissness". I have no idea what it was.
Hope that was helpful.
C.
Peace.........

[HDGuru]

Originally Posted by sunrck

I can't believe he hasn't won a Grammy yet. -sunrck

As if a Grammy is anything other than a meaningless chunch of scrap metal these days.

[smk]

Originally Posted by COMPRESSIONJUNK

I use an AKG the Tube mic with a Stephen Paul C12 mod

Didn't know there were some replies to this thread until just now. Do you mean Brian McKnight uses the C12 or the Solidtube?

[XHipHop]

Originally Posted by smk

Didn't know there were some replies to this thread until just now. Do you mean Brian McKnight uses the C12 or the Solidtube?

AKG "the tube" and AKG "solidtube" are two ENTIRELY different things.

And thanks for the post, compressionjunk!

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by COMPRESSIONJUNK

Hey man what's up?

B's vox chain:

I use an AKG the Tube mic with a Stephen Paul C12 mod into a GML mic-pre into an MC76(purple) into Apogee converters into ProTools. This has been B's set up for about 8 years. I usually see about 4 db of limmitting while he's singing. He's great with proximity effect and is very good at self compressing and removing any crazy dynamics.
I purchased the same mic, pre and limmitter for Justin Timberlake but went with a different tube so his is a little softer. The draw back of B's mic is it sounds awesome on him but everyone I've tried it on sounds harsh and brittle I had Leeann Rimes on it and had to quickly switch to a U47. It is an extremely unforgiving mic. I've tried it on everyone cause they all want to sing on B's mic but it never works out. With Alicia Keys I went with a Custom Lawson L47, same pre/limmitter. When I cut R at CRC we used a vintage c12 into a GML into a Summit Tla 100 to a sony 3348. When I recently did Phillip Bailey at The Firehouse I used a U89 into Gml into Avalon AD2044.
With B's vox the room is a big part as well. The Backroom specs are at JSXAUDIO.com. It is a very tight room and we cut all of Prescot's drums in the small vocal booth as well.

Yes B did use a different mic setup on "Grownman's buissness". I have no idea what it was.
Hope that was helpful.
C.
Peace.........

That was some good info... Look forward to hearing some more thoughts in future posts.