So let's say your studio is up and running now and clients are wanting you to record them. So you record their tracks and now it's time for the vocal tracks and your singer is new and so are you. Don't panic make sure you have an area in your studio that is ready for vocal work if you don't maybe you could use a device like a stand-mounted mini-booth from SE Electronics Reflection Filter. Although not convenient, it does a good job of removing unwanted room and outside noise. I'm not one of those engineers who thinks you should fix it in the mix with a bunch of plug-ins. I think by finding and removing the noise source if possible is a better choice. Now pull out your large diaphragm condenser microphone and plug it into the amp of your system and turn on your phantom power. OK you will need a pop screen to stop the P's when the singer starts getting their groove on and you want to capture a killer performance. And remember if the sound should rumble on you use your high pass filter on your mic or your amp at about 70 Hz.
Keep it simple and make the singer as comfortable as possible recording is very complicated. As for the singer their job is simple to sing the best they can and not have to worry about all the technology around them that's your job. There are some producers who are demanding at times and get good results but this approach with a newbie will probably end in a disaster. Your are responsible for capturing the best version of the song your recording if inexperience threatens the life of the song then you have to find natural and creative ways to overcome this situation. Singing with a pair of headphones is a challenge to the newbie singer they are probably only used to singing live so you will have to experiment with the headphone cups. Generally most singers take one cup and move it behind their ear but leave it on their head so the sound from the cup will not bleed into the microphone then they can hear their pitch better. Some singers can not use headphones and there are ways around this by having the singer sing in front of the main monitors facing them and isolating the microphone then record another pass but do not sing this time invert the phase on this track and bounce it with the track that has the vocals on it and that should replace all the bleed. Also try to have no-latency hardware monitoring singers new and experienced are sensitive to any slight delay it could really ruin a good session. Now singers also need encouragement and they have to stay focused on the content and the groove of the song. You might have to do a little coaching and keep your thoughts to yourself while you're recording complete end to end vocal takes. Your opinion could cause a ruffle in your session and you can fix trouble spots after you capture the track with punch-ins.
Remember the newbie singer is very nervous as it is so your only going to get a few usable passes to edit together into one usable track at the end of the session. If you can get a punch-in or two that might help fix some areas that need some surgical attention. Try a little compression on the vocal source at about 1.5db, attack and release 4.1 or lower will make the vocal sound bigger and sit nicely in the track. Also keep in mind if the track doesn't sound that good with this minimal amount of work you might want to change your mic for a different brand or type. I have over the years built a pretty decent mic closet so I have a lot of mics to choose from and even the smallest of studios should have at lease two good mics in their arsenal I suggest one of them be a tube and the other a large diaphragm condenser with a high-pass filter switch also a Shure SM-58 Dynamic mic will work well on rock vocals. Remember singers much like musicians are looking for your production skills and coaching. Give them honest feedback, inspiration and enthusiastic support for your vocalist and they will start to recommend you to other singers and return themselves. We have to re-think how we approach the most important element of the song. That is to just keep it simple.
Herb Kelly
Owner of Crossbones Recording in Fort Collins, CO
and Music and DJ Instructional Media
for more information please click on this link.
http://www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com/
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