Vocal Production Tips for Better Recordings and Mixes
Over the summer and into the fall I’ve been doing a lot more mixing projects for people, and I keep seeing the same problems with vocal recordings. I decided to make a post about some of the most common vocal recording mistakes to help people get better results before they send tracks off for mixing. Vocal Recording Levels First off, let’s talk about recording levels. It’s a common misconception that with digital recording, the level should be as loud as possible on everything you record. In a perfect world, where tracks didn’t need further processing and the level coming in was completely predictable, this would be fine, but we’re far from a perfect world. Have you looked outside lately? The reality is that vocalists are dynamic and sometimes unpredictable. Who can say how loud that last part of the verse before the chorus will be when you’re really getting into it? It’s always good to leave yourself a bit of headroom while recording in case that happens. Unlike t...