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 the days of analog recording, digital distortion is not sweet and definitely not desirable, especially on the featured instrument in the mix: the voice.
Speaking of headroom, I need some of that while I’m mixing too. Once I start adding EQ, which also adds gain to the signal, if the source track is already hitting 0 dB, we go right back into the digital distortion problem again. It just means I have to go in and turn the level down on the source track, so you’ve lost a lot of the advantage of tracking that loud in the first place.
For myself, I always try to have vocals peak somewhere between -8 dB and -6 dB. This usually gives me enough headroom for what I’m doing and gives me a bit of a margin of error while recording someone.
Keep in mind that it’s always better to have something a little quieter than too loud. I can deal with quiet pretty easily. Loudness to the point of clipping is much harder to make sound good.
Create a Better Vocal Recording Space
If you’re recording yourself, there are a few easy things you can do to make sure you get the best sound possible. Right off the bat, eliminate noise sources or move away from them. When singing, turn off the air conditioner or furnace if you can, then turn it back on when you’re done. If that isn’t possible, move as far away as possible and point the microphone away from the noise source. This goes for computer noise as well. If you must record in the same room, stay as far away from it as possible and aim the mic away from it while recording.
When working in an untreated room, it’s best to reduce that room sound as much as possible. You can use one of the many reflection filters that go behind the microphone and/or use blankets hanging from the ceiling or draped over extra mic stands around yourself and the mic, effectively making a temporary vocal booth. I did this with my temporary setup upstairs while I was waiting for the new studio to be built, and it worked out really well. I actually went so far as to get acoustic blankets with grommets on them so I could hang them from hooks in the ceiling when I needed them.
It’s really hard to get a nice, present vocal sound when something has been recorded in a small room with no treatment at all. The sound of the room getting into the mic in a big way affects the presence and clarity of the final vocal track.
Here’s a link to where I got my acoustic blankets:
Acoustic blankets from VocalBoothToGo
Vocal Arrangement Tips
So now that we have a good level and sound going into the DAW, let’s talk about vocal arrangement. I’ll go over a few of the approaches that work for me.
Rap Verses
There are a bunch of options that work depending on the song and instrumental, but at a minimum I’d have one lead, and at the most I’d have a lead, a full double, two backup tracks, and possibly an ad lib track. Either extreme, or something in between, can work really well.
Singing Verses
I usually don’t double singing verses, but sometimes if the music is dense or the singer isn’t especially strong, I find a double helps. If I do harmonies in the verse, I can go as simple as one layer or as much as three voices for each layer.
Choruses
I generally like to triple-track the vocals for the chorus. Even if that’s all you do, it will make the chorus pop more and sound fuller. I generally do harmonies when I can, and if I do, I’ll often use three voices for each harmony. I can have as many as four different harmony layers sung by 12 different voices if the song needs it.
Ad Libs
Under each of these examples there could also be oohs and aahs or random ad libs, especially in that last chorus of the song. Sometimes I double them and sometimes I leave them solo. It depends. Oohs and aahs are generally tripled, though.
The above is just an example of arrangements that work for me. You can try other ways too, just make sure there’s a reason behind it. There’s nothing more annoying than mixing something with a million ad libs and wondering why they’re there.
Keep Your Vocal Tracks Organized
So now that you’ve tracked all your vocals and you’re ready to get someone to mix them, keep in mind that that person has to make sense of what you’ve done. There’s a lot of work that goes into each track. Singing tracks will more than likely need tuning, all tracks have to be cleaned and organized, and then placed in the mix. Because of that, keep similar parts on the same track.
By that I mean one harmony for the chorus should stay on the same track throughout. Don’t randomly put the low harmony under one chorus and then the high harmony under the second chorus on the same track. Another pet peeve of mine is things that should be on the same track ending up on separate ones. This seems to happen with verses for some reason, as if one verse would sit drastically different in the mix than another one. It happens sometimes, but if so you can just let me know.
Think of each linear track you create as something that will be treated the same way in the mix. If it’s not going to be treated the same way, with different EQ, levels, or effects, then it should probably be on a separate track.
When naming tracks, name them like this so they clump together in like parts:
Vocal Chorus C.wav
Vocal Chorus L.wav
Vocal Chorus R.wav
Vocal Chorus Harm C.wav
Vocal Chorus Harm L.wav
Vocal Chorus Harm R.wav
Verse Lead.wav
Verse Dbl.wav
See how nice and self-explanatory that looks? Remember, if you save me time, you save yourself money. Also, if my energy is focused on the creative process instead of wondering what I’m supposed to do with tracks labeled Vocal_01 through Vocal_30, you’ll be happier with the end product.
Here’s a link to some more mixing prep tips on my website. Just click on the “How do I get my files ready for mixing” link on this page:
Anyway, hope this helps, and feel free to contact me if you need help before getting your project started. It’s always better to ask beforehand rather than sending me the files and finding out you have to redo something.
If you need help with your productions, mixes, or voice-over projects, feel free to reach out!
Ashton Price
www.MorphProductions.com
Instagram: @Morphpro
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