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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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I haven't been very happy with my vocal tracks lately so i looked up some tips on google. This article seems quite helpful. Thought maybe others might benefit from it. https://www.musicianonamission.com/mixing-vocals-how-to-mix-vocals/
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Thanks for sharing that with us Sammy!
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Excellent article!
Thanx for sharing.
Doc-take it easy John this is just a sharp scalpel. It will not cut deep so don't worry.
Me-I'm not John
Doc-I know, I am!
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Excellent article. Thanks. Regards, Bob
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Thanks. Lot of detail there. It might be presumptuous but I'd suggest making sure you well know your vocalist's voice, the nuances, etc., and have a good idea of what your objective is with it. As always a reference song is helpful.
I'm a bit dubious about assuming that you should nearly always have to comp. if the vocalist is a good singer and knows what his/her interpretation is going to be I'm of the school that after a couple of takes you start to lose a little bit each time...at least for one who puts their heart and soul into each take. All said realizing that I'm likely the odd man out.
Bud
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos are here on our website.
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Thanks. Lot of detail there. It might be presumptuous but I'd suggest making sure you well know your vocalist's voice, the nuances, etc., and have a good idea of what you your objective is with it. As always a reference song is helpful.
I'm a bit dubious about assuming that you should nearly always have to comp. if the vocalist is a good singer and knows what his/her interpretation is going to be I'm of the school that after a couple of takes you start to lose a little bit each time...at least for one who puts their heart and soul into each take. All said realizing that I'm likely the odd man out.
Bud No you're not! I agree! I would much rather take the first or second take, even if there are a couple of small warts, over a dull 3 or more takes.
Doc-take it easy John this is just a sharp scalpel. It will not cut deep so don't worry.
Me-I'm not John
Doc-I know, I am!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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It seems to me there is an awful of of "upselling" going on in this article. Buy my amazing seminars! Buy my ultimate guide!! Or at least that was the impression I got.
Some good information--don't get me wrong--but also some overkill.
I think a lot of folks on this forum have Nectar, or Neutron, or something like them, and good compressor VSTs, and know how to use them. (Or they simply make up their own vocal chain rigs.) There are any number of good plug-ins that can analyze your vocals and help you get them in the right spectrum. In a month or so of fiddling around with your own stuff you will know as much as any engineer.
Most of the really good vocalists I know keep the effects to a minimum and work with a great mic and the bare minimum of effects. But they put the vocals front and center and the other instruments are well mixed.
As for takes, Mick Jagger has often been known to keep the first takes because they had more emotion and spontaneity, even if they weren't perfect.
Jeff Lynne commented on Bob Dylan in the Traveling Wilburys (this is almost right, I think, my memory is not perfect):
"Bob doesn't do second takes. You have to go with what you get--unless he's really off, and then you have to be, well, very delicate."
So, I don't know, I think you can go way too far with all of this. In rock 'n roll, I think you just have to stand up there and do it.
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I thought it was an excellent article. At least it acknowledges different genres of music in how much or how little to process. Most web how-tos are pop oriented and way overkill for most of us. Punters can decide what they need to get out of it, including the comp thing. Personally I find first takes work great when you really really know the song, otherwise a few goes at it might reveal ways to express yourself better.
Thanks for sharing!
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Start with a good vocal take and 90% of the work is done at that point. Add a touch of compression, a bit of reverb, clean up the noise, and you should be done.
I skimmed parts of the linked story....
after telling how to EQ and over-compress the heck out of a vocal track....
this statement was made......
"Never over-process a vocal or use effects for the sake of it"......
okkkkkay! Funny stuff there....
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos are here on our website.
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I thought the section on using gain automation was interesting, I had never actually heard of doing that before.
I always do volume automation, but his argument about controlling the level of the vocal before it hits the compressor makes sense. I'm going to look into how to do that with reaper.
As far as compiling a vocal from multiple vocal tracks, that's not going to happen! Seems it would suck the soul right out of the performance. Might be ok for pop, not going to work for blues.
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I'm a bit dubious about assuming that you should nearly always have to comp. if the vocalist is a good singer and knows what his/her interpretation is going to be I'm of the school that after a couple of takes you start to lose a little bit each time...at least for one who puts their heart and soul into each take. All said realizing that I'm likely the odd man out. Hardly. Anyone who thinks you nearly always have to comp must be used to working with seriously lame singers and/or doesn't have nearly as much knowledge about the topic as they seem to be trying to present.
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PG Music Staff
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What a great article - definitely a lot of information info here. As BlueAttitude mentioned above, I've found compiling vocals from various tracks can indeed such the soul out of the vocals on a track, but it does have its place if you're going for a top 40 sort of mixdown.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Deryk
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Anyone who thinks you nearly always have to comp must be used to working with seriously lame singers and/or doesn't have nearly as much knowledge about the topic as they seem to be trying to present. This coin has more than one side. Most of the time we record everything, from the initial jam (just bouncing ideas off the wall) to final tracks. We may have a night where the vocalist does the verses perfect, but we notice later we like the chorus better like he sang it originally. So we redo the choruses more like the original and comp it. While recording new songs the ideas are still forming. So comping can be normal in this scenario. Especially if trying to do it in a limited number of nights. Also, PGMusic products are aimed at the 'DIY' market .. and the whole basis of how styles/RT's work is intelligent 'comping'. <grin> FWIW, I've worked with both kinds of vocalists, and sometimes at the same time .. many times it wasn't me that wanted to keep almost everything but redo one section. It was vocalist (or the band). In this case my job is to record it and comp it so the client is happy.
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