1

1

CONTENTSIntroduction 2Writing&RecordingLikeAPro 4 Write Around The Vocals 5 ProductionPerfection 5 Start With The Lead 6 Harmonies, Adlibs & More! 7 The Recording Session 8 GettingtheBestSound 9 Focus on the Pitch 11EditingVocals 12 Vocal Tuning 13 Pocket Your Timing 14 PayAttention 15TheVocalProducer’sToolbox 16 Clippers 17 Using A Clipper 17 Why Clipping Plugins Work 18 TakingYourClippingAStepFurther 19 Vocal Compressors 20 DefiningDistortion 21 “Why Don’t I Hear It?” 21 AddingGoodDistortion 22 AddingDistortionToYourMix 23 Distorted Terminology 24 Reverbs 24 Picking The Right Reverb 25 Delays 26 Adding Ambience to Your Vocals 27 BlendwiththeMixKnob 27 More Repeats 28 Feedback 28 SpatialWideners 29 WiderVocalsforMorePresence 30 AutomatingYourWidener 31 FindingTheSweetSpot 31 Don’t Spread It Thin 31 BeyondTheBypass 32 VocalBusCompression 33PrintingVocalStems 34 Why Print Stems? 35 PrintingStandardStems 36 PrintingVocalStems 37 GoingTheExtraMile 38Conclusion 39

2

IntroductIon

Ifyou’resomeonewhostruggleswithvocalproduction,thisguideshouldputmanyofyourworriesatease.Manyproducersandengineersseemtosharethemindsetthatvocalsareatypeofinstrumentthat’sjusttootoughtotame.Formanyofthosemusicprofessionals,thatmeansburyingthemostimportantelementoftheirsong;hidingthemosthumanelementbehindthepartsoftheirmixthey’remoreconfidentabout.

Letthisguideserveasbothinspirationandlessonsintechnique.Vocalsaren’thard;theyjusttakesomeknowledgeandunderstandingtogetrightthefirsttime.Onceyou’reabletoachieveaclean,professionalvocalsoundit’slikeridingabike.You’llhavetheskillsettodoitoverandoveragain.

Yes,yoursourceisgoingtochangewitheachandeverybandyouworkwith.Thechallengesyoufacewithasinglevocalistmightvaryfromsongtosong.Ifyoufocusonthefundamentalsofwhatmakesagreatvocal,you’llneverneedtoworry.

Tobegintheconversation,weneedtostartrightfromthesource:thetrackingsessions.Withinthetrackingsession,therearetechniquesyoucanusetohelpmakeyoursingerfeelmorecomfortableandconfidentintheirperformance.Someoftheseareage-oldtricksofthetradewhileothersarenewertechniquesthatwefindourselvesusingmoreandmore.

3

Fromthere,theconversationmovestotheeditingyoushouldbedoingbeforeyourvocalsmakeittothemixsession.Thingsliketuningandtimingarekeytoagreatperformance,sowe’regoingtofocusonwhatyoushouldbedoingtonailthosedowneverytime.We’llalsotakealookathowcompingtogethermultipletakescangiveyoutheperfectleadvocaleverytime.

Finally,we’lldivedeepintowhatmakesagreatvocalmix.Doyouknowwhatmakesagoodleadvocalstandoutinfrontofbackgroundvocals?Howaboutwhydoubledvocalssoundsomuchbetterthanacopyofasinglevocaltrack?Areyoudoingeverythingyoucantokeepallofyourvocals(leads,doubles,harmonies,backgrounds,groupvocals,etc)soundingconsistentwitheachother?

We’vegotalotofgroundtocover,butI’mpositivethatwhenyoucomeouttheotherendofthisguideyou’llbeinapositionwhereyourvocalswillbeabletocompetewithanythingontheradiotoday.

Let’sdiverightin!

4

Therearesomanyelementsthatgointoasongfromwritingthroughpre-production,tracking,mixing&mastering.Ateverystepoftheprocess,theentiresongcanbederailed by simplemistakes.The reason producers and engineerswith hours ofpracticeget abetter result is simple too: they’vehad thechance to learn thosemistakesandavoidthematallcosts.

Therewardforasongthatisnurturedfromstarttofinishishuge.Chartsuccess,whetheritcomesfromtraditionalradioorstreamsonSpotify,AppleMusic,Pandora,etc,meansmoretouchpointswithyouraudience,moreexposure,andcanresultinbiggershows,moremerchsales&morepublicityforyourband.Seriously–what’snottoloveaboutthatifyou’reseriousaboutmakingacareerinmusic?

By thinkingabouthowyourvocalswill growanddevelopwhilewriting,youcanprepareyourselfforagreattrackingsession.

WrItIng & recordIng LIke A Pro

5

WRITE AROUND THE VOCALS

Asidefromafewoddities,themajorityofwhatyou’regoingtohearontheradioisdrivenbythevocal(andsubconsciously,themelodybehindit).Agreatvocalhookdoesn’thave tobecomplexorpush theboundariesofwhat thehumanvoice iscapableof.Itjustneedstobecatchy.

The lyrics need to be relatable too.Whether you’re writing a love songortellingastorywithyour lyrics,youwant something that’s going to stickinyourlistener’sear.Youwanttocraftsomething that will rattle around intheir head for days.Think of the lasttime you got a song stuck in yourhead. Itmight driveyou crazy, but itgetsinthereandbouncesarounduntilyou inevitably go listen to the song to

satisfyyourdesireto listento itforawhile.

PRODUCTION PERFECTION

Ifyourvocalisthecenterpiece,therestofyourarrangementshouldbesupportingthevocalinyourspotlight.Toachievethis,itrequiresequalpartssongwritingandstudio ingenuity.When you’re going into the studio, you can afford the libertytowritewhatsoundsgood,notnecessarilywhatyou’regoingtobeable toplayperfectlylive.

6

Ifwehadtoliveuptothatstandard,we’drarelyhaveanydoubled/quadtrackedguitars,vocalharmonieswouldbelimitedtothenumberofbandmembersabletosinglive,andyourproductionsynthswouldbelimitedtowhatonebandmembercandowiththeirtwohands(assumingthey’renotalreadyplayinganotherinstrument).

Go ahead and use the studio to create vocal stacks

fromfloortoceiling.Addnewpercussionelementsandsoftwaresynths.Alloftheseelementscanbeprintedtoabackingtrackforliveuselaterifyouendupneedingthemforyourliveshow.

Vocalproductionisacreativeengineer’splayground.Agreatsingerisnearlyimpossibletofind–justlookateveryflash-in-the-pan band or some of the performancesthatmadeitintoTVshows(justforthehumorvaluewegetfromaterribleperformance).Butwhenyoufindtherightone,vocalsessionsshouldflownaturallyandtheendresultsarenothingshortofamazing.

START WITH THE LEAD

Iftheleadvocalisn’tright,noamountofproductiontrickeryisgoingtoimproveit.Whenyou’vegotagoodsingerinthestudio,getasmanytakesasyoucan.Maketheirvoicethehighlightofthesong.Giveyourselfplentyofvocalpartstocomptogethertheperfecttakeifyouhaveto.

Won’tyouendupwithalotofextramaterialifthesingerisinconsistent?Absolutely.

7

Evenaconsistent,on-keyvocalistisgoingtohavedifferentinflectionsandphrasingthough,anda lotofthegemscanbefound inthetakesthataren’t rightonthemoney.

Onceyou’rebackinthestudio,you’llbegladyou’vegotextramaterialtoworkwith(especiallywhenitcomestodoublingapartinthemixlateron).

HARMONIES, ADLIBS & MORE!

Eventhebestsingerscan’tdoitalone.Veryrarelyareyougoingtohearapowerfulvocalinpoporrockthatdoesn’thavestacksofbackgroundsingersaroundthem.Especiallyinamodern,fullmix–youneedthatextrapushtogetyourvocalsoutfront.

Startwith the easy stuff: have your lead singer come upwithvariationsofharmoniesfortheirlead.Onceagain,havingmoreinthissituationmeansyouhavemoretochoosefromlater.Whileyou may think a higher harmony might not sound as good as the

lowerharmonyduringtracking,havingbothoptionstomakea3-partstackmightbejustwhatyouneed.

Thesamegoesforadlibs&hypetracks(we’renotjusttalkingabouthip-hopeither)!Recordsomefunpartsjustbecause!Ican’ttellyouhowmanytimesI’verecordedseeminglyunnecessaryscreams,sounds&morethatendupmakingittothefinalmix.

Havingfunwiththevocalsessionskeepsthecreativeenergyhighinthestudioandmakesyoursongsoundfunandbouncyinsteadofstaleandoverlyrehearsed.

8

THE RECORDING SESSION

Anyvocalengineerisgoingtotellyouthatthekeytoagoodsongisinthequalityofthevocal.Ofcoursetheywould-it’stheirjobtomakesurethat’sthecaseoneverysessiontheytouch.Butthey’renotwrong…

Some other engineers tend to put heavier emphasis on other parts of themix,depending on where their skills andattention are needed. This is a fairapproach too; a good vocal alonedoesn’tprotectyoufromhavingyourmix absolutely destroyed by anotherelementthat’snotmeshingwell.Butnomatterwhoyoutalkto,acommerciallysuccessful song is one that’s got tohave a great sounding, locked in vocal

(outsideofinstrumental-onlymusic).

Bythetimeyougettotracking,yourvocals should be locked in lyrically andmelodically, atwhich time a great vocalengineer/producerwill take that creativityand runwith it.Anexperiencedvocalengineershouldbeabletopairavoicewiththerightmicrophone,pre-ampandanyotherpartof thesignalchainthataccentuates thesmallest intricacies thatmakeeachvoiceunique.

Ifyouhavetheprivilegeofworkingwithakillervocalist throughout theprocess(trackingthroughmix/master),alittleextraworkduringthetrackingstagescangiveyoueverythingyouneedtobreezethroughthevocaleditingandmixing.

9

Theveryfirststepyoushouldbetakingwithanynewartististestingoutvariousmicrophonesifthey’reavailable.Thisisakeymomentoftheveryfirstsession,asthedecisionmadeherecoulddriveyourcreativeprocesswelldowntheline.Isn’titworthspendingsometimeatthestarttosavehoursoftryingtomakesomethingfitlateron?

Thismight sound like a luxurious or excessive stepwhenyou know thatyou’vegotagreatsoundinggo-tomic,butIcanassureyoutheresultsareworthit.WhileNeumannmicrophones are the poster children for expensivevocalmics, there’sareasonyouseesingersoptingfortheoccasionalSM7B,BlueBottle,orvariousclones:somevoicesjustsoundbetterwithotheroptions.

GETTING THE BEST SOUND (WITHOUT EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT)

Evenifyoudon’thaveanextensivemicrophoneselectiontochoosefrom,therearestepsyoucantaketoensureyourtrackingsessionsetsyouupforsuccesswhenyougettomixing.

Spend time with your singer recording different takes, even when they nail a

10

performanceonthefirsttake.Thevariationsoftheperformancewillbealife-saverwhenyougotoeditthevocalandyourealizeoneoftheverseswascutshortandyoumisseditduringtracking,orwhenyousuddenlyrealizeyouneedtodoubleavocalthatyoudidn’tintendtodoubletrack.

Haveyoursingercomeupwithnewideasintherecordingsessiontokeepthingscreativeandinspired.Anyonecangetboredrecordingthesamethingoverandoveragain,butgivinghimorhersomeflexibilityandcreativedirectioncanbringanewdynamictothemixthatmightbemissingwithoutyourhelp.

Onceyou’vegotahandfulofsolidvocaltakes,moveontoadlibsandharmonies.Getyoursingertoshowofftheirvoiceandpushtheirlimits.Evenifnoneofitgetsusedinthefinalmix,yoursingergetstofeelouttheirboundariesintheforgivingstudioenvironment-somethingthatisn’talwaysaluxuryontheroadorinrehearsal.

11

FOCUS ON THE PITCH

Ifyoursingercannothitthenotesthatwerewrittenforthesong,you’restartingalong,uphillbattleearlyon.Haveanopenandhonestdiscussionaboutwhatworksandwhatdoesn’twithyourartists.Asingermaybehesitanttosaytheycan’tdosomething,justlikeanyothermusicianmightbeslowtoadmitthey’rehavingtroublewithacomplicatedriff.Createasafespaceforthemtobetransparent–you’reheretomakethemostofwhattheycando,notcreatesomethingthattheycan’t.

Maketheconversationaseasyaspossibleforyoursingertoprovidetheirhonestfeedback. Insteadof asking “Areyou struggling tohit thatnote?” ask somethinglike “Are you completely happywith thatmelody?”This kind of question leavesthesingerroomtosecondguessandgiveyoutheirinputwithouthavingtoadmitthey’restrugglingoutright.

12

Let’ssayyouweren’tinvolvedwithtracking,oryounoticedanissuewithsomenotesafterthetrackingsession.Thisisthetimeandplacewhereananalyticalmindcanshineinthestudio.UsingtoolslikeAutoTune,Melodyne,orWavesTune–engineershavetonsofoptionsforpitchcorrectioninthestudio.Beyondthat,youhavenudgefunctionalitythatletsyoupocketvocalsperfectlywiththetimingofanysong.

Allofthesesmalltweaksadduptoaperfectlyeditedvocalthatcancutthroughanymixwithease.Nowisnotthetimetostartdecidingwhatreverbordelaytousetomakeyourvocalstandout–that’ssavedforthemixstage.Whenediting,yourgoalshouldbetocreatethebestpossibleperformancetomakeiteasiertomix.

edItIng VocALs

13

VOCAL TUNING

Beyond the basics of pitch correction, most of the vocal tuning tools availabletoday have different parameters for things like pitch drift, vibrato, formant, andmuchmore.Theseadditionalcontrolsprovideentirelynewsetsofadjustmentsthatcanbemade,givingyoueverythingyouneedtocompletelyrebuildthewayyouvocalistsangaperformance.Evenspendingjustabitoftimewithawell-recordedvocal,you’llfindthatsmallvariationscanbecleanedup,removed,oraccentuatedinalmostanyperformance.

I’mnotgoingtogiveafullcourseonvocaltuninghere–thatexerciseismuchmorehands on and requires active listeningtoreallyheartheadjustmentsasthey’remade.Thereareplentyofgreattutorialsout there that will cover the variousnuances of vocal tuning in detail. Gowatch a few, and more importantly, goexperimentwithsometuningfirsthand!

Take the time to get the notes of thevocal performance right ahead of timeand your mix sessions will be easier tomanagelateron.

14

POCKET YOUR TIMING

Justlikeanygoodbasslineordrumgroove;avocalshouldhavepocketingperfection.Findthespacesinyourmixthatthevocalcaneaseinto,andstretchornudgeittofillthatspace.

Agood,dynamicvocalcanplayoffoftheotherelementsofthemix.Youcanhavethe singer come inon adownbeatwith a kickdrum for someadded impact, ornudgeitjustbeforetosoundurgentandrushed.Alotoftheemotionofyourvocalwillneedtobebasedonthetypeofsongyou’remixing.

Someoftheearliermentionedpitchpluginsalsooffertimingadjustments,soifyougetreallyfamiliarwithoneofthosetools,youmightbeabletodoallofyourvocaleditinginonepass.However,ifyouprefer,theold-fashionedslice&diceapproachworksjustaswell,andsometimesevenbetterthanthemodernplugins.

15

Regardlessofyourapproachtovocalpocketing,bewaryofbreathingandspacearoundvocals.Sliceyourvoiceinthewrongspotorstretchasyllabletoofar,andyouendupwithsomethingjumpyandunnaturalinyourfinalmixthat’llpullyourlistenersrightoutofthezone.IfinditeasiesttotoggletheSolobuttononandoffasI’mworkingwithvocaltiming,justtomakesurethebreathsandothersoftpartsaren’tgettingmutilatedduetoaneditingdecision.

PAY ATTENTION

Aprofessionalvocalcanonlybeachievedwithadedicatedattentiontosmalldetails.Focus inonwhatmakesyourvocalunique, interesting&captivating.Accentuatethosefeaturesandbuildyourmixtosupportthemifyou’relookingforahit.

An excellent way to lock down your vocals as a group is by using some buscompressiontotiethemtogetherandtightenthemintotherestofthemix.Agoodvocalbuscompressor likeBG-Vocalsgivesyouseveraldifferent tonaloptions tomatchtoyourparticularsong.

Choosing a mode that is aggressive

or transparent will help you adddifferent colors to the overallvocalmix.Findtherightcolorforthe rest of the song, and you’vegotawinningrecipeforsuccess!

16

Therearecertaintoolsbeingusedbyeveryvocalproducertoachieveaprofessional,fullymixedsound.Forexample,youknoweveryvocalrecordingyou’veeverheardisdistorted,right?Nojoke,weusealotmoredistortionthantheaveragelistenerwouldexpect,inwaystheaveragelistenerrarelynotices.Butthat’sjustthestartforvocalproducersandmixerswhoareusingbothdynamicandtime-basedeffectstogettheperfectvocaleverytime.

the VocAL Producer's tooLbox

17

CLIPPERS

We’veallbeenthere–mixisnearlyfinished,automationwritten.Thenyounoticeyourleadvocaldoesn’thavewhatittakestocutthroughthefinalchorus.

This isanextremelycommon issuethatoccurssimplybecauseof thewaywe’retrainedtofeelmusic.Wewantoursongstoclimb-and-climbuntilthatlastchoruspunches through and drives it home. More power usually means higher levels,meaningthatyou’renearingyourceilingandhavenowherelefttogo.

Sowhenyourvocals that soundedgreat for the restof thesongstart soundingunintelligible,muddy,orweak,youneedtofindawaytobreakthemoldwithoutpushingyourmix into full-onclippingorover-compression.Aclippercanbe theperfectsolution.

USING A CLIPPER

Sometimes to prevent clipping, you need to clip. Sounds confusing, right?Well,we’re not talking about digital clipping here; we’re talking about SATURATION.Ratherthanautomatingourvocalintotheredwhereclippingwouldhaveanegativeeffectonoursound,we’regoingtobesmartaboutit.

By loading a clipper onto the track,we can control how it clips, the amount ofclipping,andevenmaintainanoveralloutputlevelthatmatcheswiththerestofthesong.

We’remakingtheclippingsubtleandmusical–somethingwehaven’talwayshadaccesstointhedigitalmixingrealm.

18

WHY CLIPPING PLUGINS WORK

YourDAWisn’tnearlyasselectiveasaclipperwhenitcomestoaudioexceedinga threshold.At itsmost basic level, yourDAW is looking at 1’s and0’s like anyotherprogram.WhenweclipintheDAW,you’redrivingthelevelsohighthattheprogramhastroubledecidingwhatshouldbea1andwhatshouldbea0.

To compensate, the DAW makes its best

guess. This is why barely touching the redis sometimes isn’t audible – the program isgoodatmakingguesseswhen they’re closeto an acceptable level.But asyou continueto drive into the red, it has towork hardertointerprettheaudioandusuallyfailsprettyfast.Theresultisharsh,unnaturaldistortion.

Meanwhile,clippingpluginsareprogrammedtomakeclippingsoundnaturalandwarm, much like a good overdrive or tube distortion does to a guitar. They’reselectiveaboutwhichharmonicstoclipandwhentoclipthem.Theydistort inaverymusicalway.

Theresultisamoreaggressive,musicaloutputwithawell-definedattackandbody.Andifyou’rethatguyinthebackscreaming,“Butclippingiswrong!”-youaresadlymistaken.Clippingisactuallywhatyoudotoyourguitarwhenyouputitthroughdistortion,andclipping(whendonewiththepropertool)canaccomplishthingsnootherformofaudioprocessingcan.

19

TAKING YOUR CLIPPING A STEP FURTHER

Ifyou’veusedourpluginsinthepast,youknowwe’renostrangerstoadding“Mix”knobswhen theymakesense.Anytimeyoucanavoida secondbus forparallelprocessingsavesyoutimeandeffortwhenmakingmixdecisions.

Whenclippingtheleadvocalsforthelastchorusofanear-finalmix,wedefinitelywanttobesubtle.Applyingaclipperat100%maybetoomuchcoloration,actingfartooaggressivelyonthevoice.

Byprocessingyourvocal inparallel,you’remaintainingaconsistent soundgoingintothefinalchorus,butaddingthebodyandaggressionneededtocutthroughthedensemix.TheMixknobletsyoudothatquicklyandeasily,savingyoufromlevel-matchingmultipletracksintheDAWandriskingaffectingotherpartsofthemix.

20

VOCAL COMPRESSORS

Harmonicdistortionisoftenintroducedtovocaltracksasasideeffectofsomeotherdynamicprocessor,mostcommonlythroughcompression.ToolslikeGainReductionDeluxeaddharmonic saturationandbody tovocals, andcando it transparentlyornoticeably,dependingonwhatyouwant. It’saversatile tool thatdoesn’t justcapturemysignaturevocalsound,butisgettingusedacrosstheindustry.

Greatvocals have always beenbuilt around strongdynamic control and impact.It’snotuncommontofindmultiplelevelsofcompression,limiters&otherdynamicprocessingonasinglevocaltrack.Onceit’spasseditsownsignalchain,it’sbussedtoavocalbusandontothemixbus–bothofwhichcancommonlybefoundwiththeirownbuscompressors(moreonthoseinabit).

21

DEFINING DISTORTION

Thefundamentalreasonthe“everythingisdistorted”statementsoundssofarfetchedisourcollectivedefinitionofdistortion.Fortheaveragelistener,distortionisgoingtobenoticeableandimmediatelyidentifiableassuch.Unlessitmakessenseinthesong,theywanttohearsomethingthatsoundsintentionalandclean.

As producers and engineers, weknowbetter.Distortionhappensatalllevels in music –whether it’s on theway in,during themix,orevenbeingreproducedonplayback.

Thetechnicalsideofourindustrytakesonthemonotonoustaskofmeasuringdistortioninasmuchdetailaspossible.Manufacturerswillmeasuretheamountof distortion their microphones orpreamps pick up, commonly referringtoitasTHD(totalharmonicdistortion).

“WHY DON’T I HEAR IT?”

Don’tworry–mostofusdon’t,andthatjustmeansthesemanufacturersaredoingtheirjob.Fortransparentaudio,wewanttheTHDtobeaslowaspossible.ByusingequipmentwithalowTHD,we’reminimizingtheinfluenceourequipmentimprintsonasound.

22

ADDING GOOD DISTORTION

Inalotofsituations,wemaynotwantthatpristineclarityprovidedbyalowTHD.Whilealotofengineerswon’tsaytheywantdistortionspecifically–they’relookingforadistortionsolutiononadailybasis.

Gooddistortioncomesinmanyformsfromtubestoplugins.Nearlyeveryelementofprocessingisgoingtoaddsomeharmonicvariationstoyoursignal,whichistheexactdefinitionofdistortion.

Mostcommonly,we’regoingtocallitsaturation.We’regoingtocallitcolor.Wemightevencallitwarmth.They’realljustdifferenttermsforthesamething:distortion.

23

Weusethesetermsinourvocabularytoreplacetheword“distortion”becausewe’reafraidofanegativeconnotationoftheword.Ifitworksforyoutocallitsomethingelse,byallmeansgowithit.We’renotheretolimityouraudiovocabulary,justtomakesureyouknowwhat’sgoingoninthebackgroundofthat“warm”soundingpreamp.

ADDING DISTORTION TO YOUR MIX

Vocalsaresubjecttosomeoftheheaviestpost-processinginaudio,regardlessofgenre.Assuch,we’reseeingtoolslikeGainReductionDeluxemaketheirwayintothevocalchainofnotjustrockandmetal,butcountry,pop&manyotherproductionstyles.

ThedistortionlevelsofcompressorslikeGainReductionDeluxecanbeaddedtoanyvocal inamuchmoresubtlewaythantubedistortionallows.Youstartwithsaturationthatmakesavocalsoundcrispandcutsthroughamix,andcanworkyourwayuptofull-gaindistortionifthat’stheeffectyou’reafter.

24

Thebestpartaboutthistypeofdistortionisit’sabilitytogiveyoumix-readyvocalsinafractionofthetimeyou’dneedtotakewithatraditionalvocalchain.

Ratherthanfreakingoutoverablandvocalrecordingthroughatransparentmic/preampcombo,addingabitofsaturationcanresuscitateyourleadvocaltrack.

DISTORTED TERMINOLOGY

Idon’tcarehowyouwanttorefertoyourdistortionassomethingelse,butweneedtostopthementalitythatcleanisalwaysbetter.

Icouldcare less ifmymicrophoneorpreamphas lessthan0.05%THD– Icareabouthow itsounds. If itdoesn’tsoundgood, it’snotworthmytime.Therearetoomanyoptionsouttheretogetcaughtuponthe“clean”hypethatgetsbuiltuparoundthisgear.

Whenitcomestimetoaddsomesaturationtomyvocals,IknowexactlyhowI’mgoingtodoit.

REVERBS

Onceyou’vegotasoliddynamicfoundation,awell-producedvocalmix just isn’tcompletewithouttime-basedeffects.

Whenyouthinkofastrong,glidingvocal,doyouthinkofthespacearoundit?Thebiggestmix trick any engineer has up their sleeve is the time-based processingaroundavocal.Agooddelaycantakeasmall,boxed-invoiceandmakeitpopoutofyourspeakers.

25

Reverbs are great at adding complexity to avocalwithoutbeing toonoticeable,puttingyoursingerinwhateverspaceyou’reafter.

Wantyoursingertohaveanintimatesound?Puttheminasmallroomwithsomeslapbackdelay.Goingforall-outarenarock?Boostthosereverbtimesupforendlessvocal tails!

PICKING THE RIGHT REVERB

Picking the perfect reverb for a song is no easy challenge. Every recording hasreverbonit insomeway,shapeorform.Forthosenewtorecordingmusic,theyusuallydon’tevenrealizethatit’soneverysessionbeforetheyeverloadaplugin.

Reverbiswhatcreatesbig,expensivesounds.

It’sthereasonlabelspaysomuchmoneyforartiststorecordinexpansiveroomswithhighceilingsandhundredsofthousandsofdollarsintreatment.Agoodnaturalreverbissomethingtoremaininaweof,andcapturingitatthesourceleavesitsmark.

But for thoseofus thataren’tgoing to thesebigstudios frequently (becauseofbudgetorpreference),allhopeisnotlost.

26

Even the stockplugins formostDAWs todayhaveamazing reverboptionsbuiltrightintothem.Thingslikeashortplatereverbonavocalcaneffectivelyreplaceadouble-trackedvoice.Alargerdecaysettingcanmakeyousoundlikeyou’reatthebottomofawell,oraguitarsoloascendtonewheights.

The best part about reverbs is that they’re always growing.As new spaces arecaptured,convolutionreverbs(orIRloaders)canloadthatspaceontoanytrackasaninsert.TakingreverbsastepfurtherarebrandslikeEventide&Bricasti–bothofwhichblurthelinesbetweenhardwareandsoftwarereverbs.

DELAYS

Someofthebestandbiggestmixesconsistofavoiceandasingleinstrument.Agoodengineerknowshowtotakethosetwoelementsandmakethemsoundgood.A great engineer reshapes the space around them, turning the ambience around the

voiceintoitsowninstrument.

Ifyoursongdoesn’thavealotgoingonaroundthevocal,youbetterbe100%surethatvocalcanstandonitsowninthespotlight.We’retalkingfullvocalproduction–editing,tuning&timing.

Inasparsemix,yourvocalneedstoshine.

27

ADDING AMBIENCE TO YOUR VOCALS

Acleanvocalisjustthestart–therealambiencecomesfromthespacearoundyourinstrumentation.Youcantaketherawelementsofyourmixandturnthemintofull-bodiedsoundscapes.Imagineturningapianointoalushpadortakingthedeep,richtonesofanacousticguitarandfillingthespaceofyourmixwiththem.

Theeasiestwaytodothisiswithamulti-headtapedelaylikeSOAR.Usingatapedelay,youcanachieveunique,ambienttonesthathavetopotentialtofilloutyourspacemuch like adding layered textureswould.The best part is that they’ll stillsoundnaturalandlessprocessed,makingthemgreatforsongsyoudon’twanttosoundtoooverproduced.

Usingamulti-headdelayforanythingotherthanastandardechocanseemdaunting,butifyoufocusonafewkeyelements,it’sreallynotthathardtogetsomeusablesoundsquicklyandeasily.

BLEND WITH THE MIX KNOB

UsingtheMixknobisoneofthequickestwaystoauditionapluginwithoutsettingupabunchofbussing.Themixknoballowsyoutofindabalancebetweenyoursource audio and the processed audio. If you’d like, think of themix knob as acompactwayofparallelprocessingyoursound.

Inthiscase,we’renotgoingtowanttheMixsetto100%Wet,becausewewouldn’theartheoriginalinstrument.Whenyou’relookingforsomethingsubtle&natural,20%isagoodstartingpointand50%ormoreiscreepinginto“toomuch”.

Findalevelwhereyourdelaylevelmeshesnicelywiththesourceandleaveitthere.Onceyourlevelisoutoftheway,youcanfocusonthecreativepart.

28

MORE REPEATS

When it comes tomulti-head delays,more repeatsmeanmore complexity.Thenatureofamulti-headdelay(withmultiple/varyingrepeattimes)lendsitselftomoredepthandtexturethanastandardfixeddelay.Ifyou’relookingtocreatethelushestpossiblesound,settingtherepeatsto100%willcertainlygetyouthere.Ontheoppositesideofthespectrum,toomanyrepeatscanbedistractingifnottimedcorrectly.Ifyoufindyourdelaygoinginandoutoftime,thinkaboutreducingthenumberofrepeatsorusingthetaptempofeaturetodialitinjustrightwiththesong.

FEEDBACK

Feedback in a delay canmake or breakyour sound.Another potential cause ofclutter or complexity (depending howyou look at it) is the repeat ofyour delayfeedingbackintoitsinput.

Therearesomeveryspacey,warbledtonesthatcanbefoundthiswayifthat’swhatyou’regoingfor.Ifit’snot,it’saseasyasflippingaswitchofftoremovefeedbackfromtheequation.

29

SPATIAL WIDENERS

Yourvocalsarealreadyfrontandcenter,butifyourmixistoodensedoesthatevenmatter?

Therearedozensofreasonswhyevenaperfectlycentered,fullfrequencyspectrumvocalisn’tgoingtocutthroughyourmixcorrectly.Thepocketthey’resittingincouldbecollapsingonitselfifthestereoinstrumentsaren’tmixedinawaythatgivesthemroomtobreathe.Yoursnare,bass,oranyothercenter-pannedinstrumentcouldbemaskingit,makingithardtohearandhardertounderstand.

If you’re struggling to get your vocal to sit just right you should never jump tochangingotherelementsofanotherwisedecentmixwithouttryingaspatialwidenerfirst.

30

WIDER VOCALS FOR MORE PRESENCE

Ifyou’reinasessionwithonlyonevocal,it’snotlikeyoucanuseanydoubletrackingtoreinforcethevoice’sperformance.Thosethattrytousetime-shiftingandothereffects to fake a duplicate usually find that the risk of phase cancellation oftenoutweighsanybenefitofaperceiveddenservocal.

Instead,usingamono-compatiblespatialwidener is a great fix forvocals that are fighting for theirown space. By using a tool likeSidewidener, mixers can helpa vocal pop out in front andspreadoutacrossthestereofieldwithout any risk to the centerimageofthevocal.

This great little trick should beused subtly – there’s rarely areasontospreadasinglevoiceacrossbothspeakers.Trytweakingthewidthsandwideningmodestofindyoursweetspot.Usually30–40%isthesweetspotforme.

Thecombinationofspatialwideningandclippingcanbeenoughtotakeavocalthatsoundsthinanddistantandgiveitenoughattackandpresencetocutthroughthemix.Similarresultscanbeachievedwithmanyothermonotrackslikesnaredrumsandguitarsolos.

31

AUTOMATING YOUR WIDENER

Whenbuildingupaleadvocaltrack,wespendsomuchtimefocusingondialingintherightsettingsthatit’seasytoforgethowboringastaticvocalcanbe.Parallelprocessingandaddingmorereverbordelaycanusuallygetalittlebitmoreoutofthetake,buthaveyoueverconsideredautomatingsomelifebackintothevocalsofyoursong?

FINDING THE SWEET SPOT

The first thing you should really dobefore automating anything is goingback through your track to find outwhereit’sneeded,andtowhatextent.If you’ve got a dense vocal mix,sometimes you can take the less ismoreapproach.

Once you know where it’s needed,addingSideWidenertoyourvocalbusandautomatingthebypasstocreateacallandresponsestyleeffectcanbeaveryprofessionalsolutiontoanage-oldproblem.Theendresultisanattention-grabbingvocalthatalistenercanenjoywithoutoverlyobviousorcheesyprocessing.

DON’T SPREAD IT THIN

Whenworkingwithspatialwidenersonvocals, it’sextremely important toavoidspreadingyourvocalstoothin.Bytoothin,wemeanliterallyshovingyourvocalssofarouttothesidethatyoulosethecenterimagewhencollapsedtomono.

32

Engineersandproducers fall for this trapall thetime in thestudio,wherewidersoundsbiggerandbigger=better.Unfortunately,anyfansthatgotolistentoyourmixonalaptopwilltendtodisagreewithyou.

If you’re using a mono-compatible spatial widener or one that provide a visualindicatorwhenyou’relosingcentercontent,youdon’thavetoworryasmuch.It’sfor these reasonsSideWidenerhasbeenmygo-to for this kindofprocessing. Ifyouchosetotakeadifferentapproach,besuretoflipyourmixtomonoortestondifferentsystemstoverifyyoudon’tloseanythinginyourfinalmix!

BEYOND THE BYPASS

By automating the bypass, you have an easy solution for throwing your vocalthroughthewidenerforeffectbeforereturningtoitspre-processedstate.Butwhatelsecouldyoudowithautomation?

Addinginabitmorewidthonceyouknowwhichwordsyouwanttotreat,butwhatifyouwantedtheeffecttogrowthroughoutthesection?AddingautomationtheWidthknobisaneasywaytoachieveit.Thesamecouldhavealsobeendonewiththetoneknobtomakethe“response”portionofthelineabitdarkerthanthe“call”.

Experimentwithyourwidenertoreallyseewhatitcandoforyourvocals.

33

VOCAL BUS COMPRESSION

Withvocals,wegetanopportunitytofine-tunethegluethatholdsthemtogetherthroughtheuseofmultiplegroupswhenneeded.Whilemostinstrumentsendupbussingdowntoasinglecompressor/paralleltrack,vocalsareinararesituationwheremultiplesubgroupspriortothe“vocalbus”aren’tjustaccepted,butcommonplace.

Asessionwithalotofvocalsmightlooktocompresshighharmoniesononetrack,lowharmoniesonanother,andtheleadvocal/doubledvocaltogetheronyetanothertrack!That’sjustthesimpleversion–I’veseenengineersthattreatthirdharmoniesandfifthharmoniestogether,leftchannelonaseparatetrackfromtheright;youname it!

Everyengineerhastheirownapproach,buttheimportantpartishavingacompressorwiththeflexibilitytohandleallofthevariants.WhilesomethinglikeGainReductionmightworkwondersonleadvocals,itmightbetoomuchforagroupofsoftvocalstuckedunderneaththatlead.

BG-Vocalswas our attempt atmeeting the requirements for each type ofvocalgrouping.Werealizethatengineerswantsomethingthatcanstaytransparentwhenneededbutcanalsogivevocalsabouncyorboldsound.

Theendresultispowerfulvocalprocessingthatcanbeusedonsubgroups,aswellasthefinalvocalbusbeforeheadingtothefinalmix.

Thinkofallyourfavoritesongs:thevocalisalwaysclearandpresentatthefrontofthemix.Ifit’snot,you’releftwantingmoreofit.

34

Vocalstemsareinhighdemandthesedays,andanyengineerthatcanmakehigh-qualityvocalstemsareworththeirweightingold.Therearetonsofreasonswhyanengineermightwanttoprintvocalstems:quickerrecallforvocalup/downedits,preppingthebackgroundvocalsforliveshows,orthemotherload:theremix.

Vocal production is an incredibly intricate art. A well-produced track can havedozens(andinsomecaseshundreds)ofvocalsinterweavingwitheachother.Andit’sonlythewell-versed,forward-thinkingproducersthatareplanningforthelonggamewhenitcomestimetoprinttheirmixesdown.

Thenexttimeyou’vegotabigsessionthatyou’remixing,putintheextratimetogetyourstems inorder,andsetyourselfupforsuccesswhenyourclientcomesknockingfortheremix.

PrIntIng VocAL stems

35

WHY PRINT STEMS?

Printingstemslocksinyourcreativevisionofthetrackyou’reworkingon.YouandIknowthattherawtracksforasongarejustthebasicbuildingblocksofagoodsong,andthatittakesawell-trainedearandalotofpracticetomixitright.It’sthereasonyou can give those raw tracks to randomengineers and endupwith drasticallydifferentmixes.

Byprintingstems,you’relockinginyoursonicimprintonthesongandtheinstrumentsinit.Notjustavocalsamplesigningoffonyourproduction,butastampofqualityapproval.Yourguitarsbecome“yourguitars”.Yourdrumsbecome“yourdrums”.It’stheeasiestwaytohandoffelementsofthemixwhileretainingtherightamountofcontrolandinput.

Stemsprovidetheremixerastartingpointfortheelementsofthesong.They’renotgoingtobeconcernedaboutmakingthemixsoundgoodastheirstartingpoint–thatwasyourjob.Theywantsomethingthat’seasytoworkwiththattheycantwistandbendintoanewproductionwithease.Someremixerswon’teventouchatrackiftheygetrawfiles–they’llpointthefingerbackatyouandsaytheyneedstemsthatsoundclosertotheoriginal.

Bytakingafewextraminutesattheendofyourmixsession,youcansaveyourselfaheadachelateronandhaveasetofnext-levelstemsprepared.

36

PRINTING STANDARD STEMS

Stemsstartatasubgrouplevel,afteryou’vefinishedyourmix.Tryingtoprintstemsevenasecondbeforethatwon’tgiveyou“true-to-original”stemsthatadduptoyourfinalmix.

Startwith the biggest pieces first: drums, guitars, keys/synths, bass...Anywhereyou’dlikelycreateastereoauxtracktoapplysomebuscompressionisprobablyagoodplacetobegin.Dependingonthecomplexityandcontrolyou’reafter,itmaybeworthwhiletoseparateoutsomeoftheseintosmallergroups,leadandrhythmguitarsforexample.

Themostimportantpieceisthatyoushouldn’tbeprintinganyonetrackmorethanoncewhencreatingstems.Doingsowillresultinasummedoutputwhenplayingallofthestemsbacktogether.Thismeansyourguitarcouldbe3dBlouderthanintended,andyourremixermighthavenoideathatanythingiswrong.

37

PRINTING VOCAL STEMS

Vocal stems can usually benefit from a bit more fine-tuned approach to stemcreation.Similartothelead/rhythmguitarsplit,you’reunlikelytohavejustaleadvocalinyoursong.

You’regoingtohaveleads,harmonies,doubles,backgrounds,ad-libs,andonandon…

Dotheyallneedtheirowntracks?No,butthemorethenextpersonhastoworkwiththebetter.

Stemcreationisallaboutfindingabalancebetweensimplicityandaccessibility.Youwanttoprintstemsthat can easily be loaded up at unity gain and played

back,soundingexactlylikeyourmix.Formost,thismeanscreatingaleadvocalstemwithdoublesonit.Thinkofthisasyour“LeadVocalGroup”stem.

Working your way down the list, harmonies canbenefitfrombeingontheirownstemifyou’vegotenoughofthem.Iftheyaretooinfrequent(orthere’sjust one or two of them) youmight find it bettertogroupthemwithyourotherbackgroundvocals,whichcanbeyour“BGVocalGroup”stem.

Finally,getyourad-libs,oohs&aahsallgroupedtogetherontheirownstemfortheirown “AdLibGroup” stem.These stemswillbe thego-to forchoppingandeditingwhentheremixerstartsdiggingintoyourtracks.

38

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

A good engineer is going to have bus compression controlling their vocal bus, and

astheyprint,thatcompressorisgoingtodoitsjobtotameanydynamicvariancesit can.Depending on howyourmix is structured, youmight have one for eachsubgroup, oryoumight be printing stems through a single instance andmutingindividualtracksovermultiplepasses.Iactuallyprefermixingvocalsintoseparatesubgroupsbefore routingeverything toa “MasterVocal”aux track for thisexactreason.Splittingthemoutearlierinthemixcanactuallysavealotoftimeattheendofthesession.

Ifyou’refeelinglikeaddingalittlebitofextraearcandyforanyonelookingtoworkwithyourstems,thereisoneruleyoucanbreak.Printingasetofdrystemscanactuallybehugelybeneficialtoremixers,especiallyifthey’relookingtomesswiththetempoofthesong.

Bypassingtime-basedeffectslikedelaysandreverbsgiveyouacleansetofstemsthat still haveyour dynamic processing and levels applied.This canbedoneonvocals,orthefullsession,dependinghowmuchtimeyouwanttoputintoit.Mostremixerswillhavemore interest in thedryvocalstemsthananythingelse–anyotherdrytrackswouldonlybeusefulwhentryingtoapplytheirowntime-basedeffectstosomethingyou’vealreadyprocessed.

NOTE: Ifyou choose to provide dry stems, be sure to label themaccurately sothatsomeoneelsedoesn’tusethemunknowingly.Namingthestemsomethinglike“FORREFERENCE–DryVocal.wav”givessomeindicationthatthestemshouldn’tbeincludedwhenrebuildingthemix.

39

concLusIonBeingleftwantingmoreisgreatforasongasa

whole,butifyouwantmoreoutofthevocal,the

vocalproducerdidn’tdohisjob.There’sadifference

betweenhearingsomethinggreatandwantingto

listen to more and being disenchanted by a poor

vocalmixinanotherwisekillersong.Spottingthis

differenceisanimperativeskillforavocalproducer

andcommercialmixengineertohave.

Hopefullybyfollowingthestepsoutlinedinthis

guide,you’llbeabletoavoidmanyofthepitfalls

thatplaguebeginnervocalproducers.Youshould

have the tools to go through and make a vocal great

fromwritingtoprintdown,butrememberthat

we’reneverdonelearningandexperimenting.

I hope you use this handbook as a guide and

pointofreferenceforwhatyouCANdoasavocal

producer,butnotnecessarilywhatyouMUSTdo.

Trynewthingsandfindnewsounds–justdoitwith

thefoundationandconfidenceasaprofessional.