ADELE vocal chain

[Aeolian]

Originally Posted by binarymilton

don't worry, it wasn't sarcasm, and it wasn't directed at you.

it was a reference to the London (British?) phenomenon of teenage kids sat at the back of the top deck of a bus publicly "entertaining" their fellow travelers with their music by playing it as loud as their mobile phone's tiny speaker will allow.

and, if they're feeling really generous, singing along.

or, worse, if they're aspiring rappers, "freestyling".

It's not just there. That seems to be the common default player. High end would be an iPad.

[gimonti]

man he has 2 neve 1073 preamp under the Fatso and a Thermionic Culture Vulture maybe for add some harmonics with tubes. Plus in the "editing room" got other gear like Manley Massive Passive eq or a 1176. I hope I help you.

[theBackwardsman]

Rubin?
I think this track was produced and mixed by Fraser T Smith though..but yea 251 would be my guess to, without even having used one But listening to all these rob cavallo productions makes you kinda recognize the character

[Mark Kano]

Her chain for tracking was a Rode Classic 2 through a UA 6176. Nothing clean at all about her vocal sound to my ears.

[Happy Musicfan]

Do some really believe that Adele's vocal sound is *not* less processed/tweaked than most of the other mainstream, high-charting female pop singers ? I mean, is that grit-soul we hear really closer to synthesis than nature ? I could be entirely *wrong* on this, but it seems to me that her live performances are very similar to her studio tracks and this is very much the case with Bruno Mars as well.

I could be deluded on the matter though, as my optimistic hunger for old-school, retro-actvity in the pop music scene (especially WRT vocals) definitely clouds my perspective.

[Brett 123]

Originally Posted by Mark Kano

Her chain for tracking was a Rode Classic 2 through a UA 6176. Nothing clean at all about her vocal sound to my ears.

Yes this was her vocal chain quoted by Paul Epworth for sound on sound "“I recorded all Adele’s vocals with my Rode Classic 2, going through my UA 6176 mic pre, and never went back to them. The vocals in the final version are all from the demo. She was really going through something and you can hear it in her voice. I think I also used quite
a bit of Logic overdrive on her voice, too, to add harmonics" ( for Rolling in the deep.)

Though this was from his demo studio ( and ended up on the final version), I think she would have used a different vocal chain in other studios.
The not clean bit coming from the logic distortion plug in . Though I'm guessing tracks like someone like you would be cleaner.

[Brett 123]

O and here is the chain Tom Elmhirst used in the mix

"Vocals: Waves Q6 & De-esser, Digirack EQIII, Lo-Fi & Trim, Pultec EQ, Urei 1176, Tube-Tech CL1B, various spring reverbs and delays."

[Mark Kano]

Thanks for clarifying. I was thinking of Rolling In The Deep specifically but I guess this topic was about the entire record. I hate to sound like a broken record but this girl is a gift to music. Her voice just kills me and I love the fact that her tracks aren't tuned to death. Set Fire To The Rain is the best song to hit the radio in a long time. .

[BFrederick]

Vintage C12 or a vintage 251 into a 1073 fed into an ssl9000j with a cl1b inserted on the channel

However, im pretty sure they only kept the drums that were tracked at our studio

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Mark Kano

Thanks for clarifying. I was thinking of Rolling In The Deep specifically but I guess this topic was about the entire record. I hate to sound like a broken record but this girl is a gift to music. Her voice just kills me and I love the fact that her tracks aren't tuned to death. Set Fire To The Rain is the best song to hit the radio in a long time. .

you need to get out more!!! ...... Adele is great - but there are plenty of others. I guess she's had a big chart impact which does make her a little different.

[uncle muscles]

Sound on sound did an EXCELLENT secrets of the mix article on Tom elmhirst and the Adele cd. Definitely worth the money if it's not available to unsubscribers yet.
“I recorded all Adele’s vocals with my Rode Classic 2, going through my UA 6176 mic pre"
From what I understand toms prefers an 1176 into a fairchild but on this he used an 1176 into a cl1b.

[Mark Kano]

Originally Posted by narcoman

you need to get out more!!! ...... Adele is great - but there are plenty of others. I guess she's had a big chart impact which does make her a little different.

Oh no you didn't!! Well, I am a husband and father of two boys with a small landscaping business, so I certainly can't argue with that statement But if I'm missing out on a talent greater or equal to Adele's.. feel free to enlighten me. I'd love to hear it. I haven't been moved by a singer this way since David Gray. And I am speaking of current artists of course.

[Happy Musicfan]

Originally Posted by Mark Kano

But if I'm missing out on a talent greater or equal to Adele's.. feel free to enlighten me.

+123

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Mark Kano

Oh no you didn't!! Well, I am a husband and father of two boys with a small landscaping business, so I certainly can't argue with that statement But if I'm missing out on a talent greater or equal to Adele's.. feel free to enlighten me. I'd love to hear it. I haven't been moved by a singer this way since David Gray. And I am speaking of current artists of course.

ouch. Well- Rumer for a start (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXlC4RxOG-0) .... but beyond that - smaller artists. There are some fab young jazz singers out there.... (AMy I guess - but bit late now!!)...

[RKrizman]

I love Adele's voice and surely am a fan of the whole retro soul thing (what happened to Duffy?!!), and you certainly can't knock success, but the hypercompression on that record, to me, lends a kind of emotional pushiness to her vocal which I find off-putting. I'd love to hear aspects of her performance go back and around and not always be so in my face. I mean, what a fantastic voice. Why not make the most of it.

Otoh, it's good to have stuff that just jumps out of the radio and sells records.

-R

[stgaudio]

I know from an SOS article that rolling in the deep was tracked with a Rode classic II & UA 6176 pre.

[narcoman]

Interesting thing isn't it. Undoubtedly a great singer. Good songs - good arrangements and a level of success absolutely deserved.

Still - can't help thinking - the actual SOUND quality of this album is pretty.... um.... crap?? SHE sounds great - the RECORDING of her..... doesn't? Anyone else agree?

[kats]

Originally Posted by narcoman

Interesting thing isn't it. Undoubtedly a great singer. Good songs - good arrangements and a level of success absolutely deserved.

Still - can't help thinking - the actual SOUND quality of this album is pretty.... um.... crap?? SHE sounds great - the RECORDING of her..... doesn't? Anyone else agree?

Yep:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/all-a...voc-sound.html

[Mark Kano]

I just listened to "Slow" on Spotify. Pretty fantastic actually. That will give me something to immerse myself in tomorrow at work. Thanks for the intro.. As for the quality of the Adele record, I've never been an audiophile type so when I love an artist or record I'm almost never even thinking about the sonics. White Ladder by David Gray sounds pretty poor but the songs and performances are so darn good it doesn't bother me. And yes Amy W was an amazing talent, but still something about Adele's voice and delivery is just more jaw dropping to me.

[theBackwardsman]

I'm not that fond on the vocal sound on rolling in the deep and somebody like you either.
This thread was primarily about "set fire to the rain" that imo features a way better vocal sound than the rest of the album.
Different engineer?

[Ernest Buckley]

Originally Posted by andonwego

The thing about Adele I noticed immediately, on her famous song, is that when she really opens up the volume kind of doesn't move -- to the point it really drew attention to itself. I've only noticed this problem to this degree on the last few Queen records before Freddie Mercury died. He opens up the vocals and -- no level change. That kind of amount of compression shocks me. I was wondering if they tracked Adele in that open beautiful way and then the label wanted a radio mix and master.

Because if they did, a lot of her vocal sound is likely from serious compression and you'll have to take into account how the vocal was manipulated in the mix. And if they just tracked her very compressed to begin with, that will need to be taken into consideration.

I mean you could start with a heavily driven 1176...but it's likely more than one compressor, and a combination of hardware and plugin.

Adele has a very dynamic voice. She can get very loud and soft so I would expect some sort of compression on her while tracking. Same for Mercury. Even skilled vocalists knowing to back off the mic will occasionally let a note slip by and it will explode into a track so limiting is necessary for these types of singers.

[Bullseye]

I agree that the Adele recordings are not sonically reference level but her performances are very nice and her overall singing tone is quite beautiful...

In fact, the orchestrations on 19, for instance, sounded harsh and unclear.
21 sounded overall better to me....

[Winny Pooh]

Originally Posted by narcoman

Interesting thing isn't it. Undoubtedly a great singer. Good songs - good arrangements and a level of success absolutely deserved.

Still - can't help thinking - the actual SOUND quality of this album is pretty.... um.... crap?? SHE sounds great - the RECORDING of her..... doesn't? Anyone else agree?

"He wont go" is awesome, listen to those drums, so clean and big even when dry

[nandi]

my guess is: U67-1073-Shadow Hills Optograph-1176

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Winny Pooh

"He wont go" is awesome, listen to those drums, so clean and big even when dry

a good example of what I'm talking about. Nice track , great performance. Horrible bright brutal sound.... the sort of mix I send back and say "doesn't sound right!!".... but hell.... what do I know!!

[chavernac]

There clearly is some over compression here and there.
However I dunno how they kept this clean. She does not seem to play a lot with the distance from the mic. And she's loud, she does not lean back...
Whenever I recorded someone like that, I somehow never managed to get enough headroom to prevent distorsion... sigh...

[nandi]

an old trick to record this kind of dynamic performance is called "riding the faders"

[Mark Kano]

For a pop/r&b track "He Won't Go" Doesn't sound bright to me at all. At least on my monitors. Occasionally her voice does get edgy, but I like it. It's part of what draws me in. I hear some records where everything sounds pristine and "too professional", and it can get really boring. It sounds to me like they were trying to give this mix some street cred. I could maybe hear them referencing a Mary J Blidge track for this song perhaps while mixing.. But then again I mow lawns and spread pine needles for a living

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Mark Kano

For a pop/r&b track "He Won't Go" Doesn't sound bright to me at all. At least on my monitors. Occasionally her voice does get edgy, but I like it. It's part of what draws me in. I hear some records where everything sounds pristine and "too professional", and it can get really boring. It sounds to me like they were trying to give this mix some street cred. I could maybe hear them referencing a Mary J Blidge track for this song perhaps while mixing.. But then again I mow lawns and spread pine needles for a living

.... kinda the opposite of what I think! Great song, great vocal - but the mix just isn't "real" enough for me. I want it like Aretha!!!

[benonline]

I read the SoS article on Rolling in the Deep. Can't remember what they exactly used, but I remember they used Logic Overdrive on the vocal to give it that aggressive sound (!)

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