Just want some feedback on my choice of Recording Vocals....

[alknitty]

Hello to all in gearslutz land. Jus wanted to get some feedback on my choice of tracking vocals. I am not very technical with hardware/software..... but i first import the beat of course, track one set of vocals free of inputs/effects....then after they are done spittin/layin hooks and verses I go and put a limiter, dverb, and 4 band eg(in that order) on the vocals.... I then get usually two more takes of the verse and 4 -6 more takes of the hook depending on the artist. Now although my sound is not the worst, it is, in my ears kinda lacking that same radio/cd sound. At times my sound seems to wet and loud..... at other times it seems a lil too low.....Is there any advice on my techniques? Should I be equing better or not take as many takes? thanks for any and alll feedback.

[babyface_finsta]

Exchange the dverb with a little delay... and eq the low end (hi pass)... Dont stack your lead vocals... pan stuff... and automate...

[alknitty]

thanks for your feedback and advise. greatly appreciated...i do use my pans on multiple vocal takes and choruses..... I take 1 lead and two sets of doubles and occasionally a take of adlibs as well.... what do you mean by automate?thanks again

[Vasypher]

Personally I ALWAYS record with some sort of Compression on the vocals, whether from outboard compressors printing to tape, or throwing a compressor on an insert in Pro Tools. I find the sound to sound much better and the artist will always give a better performance. Plus you can always take out or manipulate the insert compressor plugin if you're not quite willing to print to tape permanently.
I always EQ as well, just like above, either outboard or plugin. Usually with EQ I will drop out everything below, say, 80HZ, sometimes a little of a boost around 400hz or so will give some more meat and intimacy to the voice, then I'll boost a bit at about 4khz - 7khz, for presence (gotta be careful with this one) and will also boost a tiny bit around 15khz for some air. Obviously your mileage may vary on these and it depends on the tracks, but those are some very common things I'll do to a track.
As far as delays or reverbs, I tend to really like my Hip Hop vocals dry, and in your face. hope this helps.

[alknitty]

thanks. Ill be sure to try that out. When u use the compressor do you insert it prior to getting the vocal or after? I always take a clean vocal take and then start messin with it. Thanks again, all your insight is very much appreciated.

[lordmiguel]

if you're not careful with the limiter plug ins they will usually trash your sound. first automate the volume (called riding the gain, or basically compressing by hand) for the softer and louder parts and make sure the limiter is only working 2-3db's. use delay, not verb!! its really hard to get a good ITB verb sound good and will usually sound wet and muddy. you can automate the delay bus if you like so its not so evident after a vocal pause. depending on your vocal chain (assuming its not too high end from your post), you may need heavy eq, especially when tracking. this you will need to find out on your own with your mic/setup in general then tailor to your artist. and watch how your stacks add up, sometimes they build too much frequency in certain areas. good time patience and work will help u get to the next level.

[alknitty]

Thank you for the feedback!! I recorded with delay instead of verb and the difference was immense...much better sounding......now when u say automate u just mean going into the volume of the track and raisin and lowerin(manually) where needed correct?

Should I just turn the gain up when recording vocals instead of using a limiter....more often than not the artist usually says they can't hear themselves until I put on a limiter..

Thanks again...

[lordmiguel]

Originally Posted by alknitty

Thank you for the feedback!! I recorded with delay instead of verb and the difference was immense...much better sounding......now when u say automate u just mean going into the volume of the track and raisin and lowerin(manually) where needed correct?

Should I just turn the gain up when recording vocals instead of using a limiter....more often than not the artist usually says they can't hear themselves until I put on a limiter..

Thanks again...

Glad its sounding better. You'll want to be very careful if you're printing your fx delays and comps/limiters to one track as you record, many pitfalls can arise as you can't undo them. And then you can't automate later the amount of fx throughout the song. Automating vox volume = a big yes, it can produce outstanding uncolored results. 30 minutes per track would be a well spent investment on your sound. Become good with your software tools and shortcuts (PT, Logic...) and it will get easy.

Also, if you send your delay to a bus that has fx only (or if you printed your outboard fx to a separate track), you can then automate the volume of that bus / track to reduce the amount of delay at any point it sticks out too much (i.e. ride it up in louder sections and lower it in softer sections or dropoffs in sections of pauses/ silence. There's many ways to do this, automate the fx track volume itself, automate the amount of send, or the plug. I usually automate the fx bus track volume just because its how i've been doing it. But i use logic 7.

As for tracking and monitoring, here's what i do - i'll make the artists loudest piece have 25-30% headroom (at 24 bits more than OK), then depending on your monitoring setup, reduce the volume of the music till the vocalist has a comfortable mix. It can be as simple as reducing the master volume as you record, even by 5-10db. (make sure you're printed out of midi at this point). If you have a more elaborate monitoring / cue mix then you can adjust levels there. But adjust the music volume after you're where you need to be with the vox printing.

hope that helps.