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Recording Lead Vocals

Recording the lead vocalist(s) is likely the most time consuming section of any recording session. Drums, bass and lead vocals are the Holy Trinity of any song. In fact, most producers will tell you if a song is going to be any good by just listening to those three elements. I can’t stress this enough—”IT HAS TO BE RIGHT”, not good enough or OK or “That’ll do”. “IT HAS TO BE RIGHT”. If it takes 50 takes, that’s what it takes. Getting that perfect performance takes someone who can be a confidant, psychiatrist, drill sergeant and a best friend all at the same time. It’s always best to explain the process before starting so there are no surprises, especially with an inexperienced vocalist. Most people have this idealized vision of what goes on in a recording studio and none of it involves real roll up your sleeves hard work. I am accustomed to the vocalist singing the song completely through three times or so and then taking the best verse, chorus etc. from that. Then we go back over it again doing one verse at a time and one chorus at a time. After that we will put together each verse from the best parts of each. That way you are absolutely certain you’ve got the best performance. At this point, you can determine if there is a verse or chorus that will need to be redone. It’s better to do it right then but if you can’t, take copious notes on your setup so you can duplicate it. Some experienced vocalists will only need to sing the song a few times to get it (Sammy Davis Jr. got “Candy Man” on the first take). Then repeat the process if there is going to be a harmony vocal. I treat these as lead vocals because they are integral to the feel of the song. As far as mic’ing the vocalist, there is no hard and fast rule. You should experiment with every mic you own to see what sounds best with his or her voice. The difference in the quality of the vocals is astounding. Sometimes a $100 mic will be exactly what does the trick and sometimes you may have to borrow or rent a $5000 Neumann. There are some mic modeling boxes out there that supposedly convert your $100 SM-58 into a Telefunken but my experience is that when it comes to mic’s there’s nothing like the real thing. As with recording acoustic guitar, isolation is paramount. I’ve built a vocal booth in my studio for that purpose. Make sure the vocalist is comfortable, relaxed and ready to perform. A nervous or tired performer will rarely give you their best. A little bit of compression when tracking the vocal along with low cut eq will really help the track sit in the mix. Also, the track should be as “dry” as possible. You can dial in type and amount of ambience you want later. Someone that can consistently record outstanding vocals can really make a niche for themselves in the music community so focus on getting as much experience as you can.

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