Recording vocals: Be prepared!
The success of a vocal session often lies in your skills as a motivator and communicator
Processing vocals is, of course, a huge part of this feature but nothing beats the creativity of recording a vocal and adding a bespoke performance to your track (rather than working with a commercially-available sample). When you’ve written a lyric and melody line and found the singer you want to perform this part, surely it’s simple, right? Not quite. The success of a vocal recording session often lies in your skills as a motivator and communicator, quite aside from your musical ones.
Every producer or songwriter will tell you about a ‘nightmare session’ which might involve a diva artist, a string of unfortunate technical failures… the list goes on. That’s not to dissuade you from undertaking a session – quite the opposite, in fact. However, preparation is needed to increase the likelihood of a great result. So, rather than just jumping straight into recording, make your singer a cup of something they like to drink. Lots of professional singers avoid caffeine, milk and anything fizzy during sessions, so have a few alternatives (including water!) available. Then ask them what they’re up to, spending some time just chatting and getting to know them a bit better. As thoughts turn to your session, thank them for taking the time to come and sing for you (even if you’re paying them) and let them know that their role is the icing on the cake for the track – a fundamental component. This serves two purposes; it puts the singer on a pedestal, which will be great for their confidence, but it also tells them (unconsciously) that you have expectations for them and the track, which will help provide concentration and focus.
On a technical level, be ready before the singer arrives. Make sure that a number of audio tracks are set up in your project ready for recording (with the right track input routing), make sure your microphone is on a stand (ideally with a shockmount and pop shield already in place) and that your microphone is plugged in, ready to go to work. Your singer will need headphones – make sure these are ready at a volume which is neither inaudible, nor likely to make them jump across the room the moment you press play. If the session for the track you’re working on is so intensive that you’re having playback problems or drop-outs, don’t try to add vocals to it – the problems will just get worse. Instead, create a stereo mix of the track and open this in a new ‘vocals only’ project. Later, you can export the completed vocal back into your main session. For now, it’s all about making sure the session runs smoothly, so make sure that your speakers are switched off so that the sound of the track isn’t captured as you start to record. Be ready to adjust the height of your vocal microphone stand to match the height of your singer and make sure that the lyrics are printed in a large enough font size to be legible. These should be positioned carefully to ensure that your singer doesn’t need to change the angle of his/her performance. Be ready to set a volume balance between the vocal part and the backing track (again, easier if you’ve created an audio file of the backing track) and be ready to add reverb, EQ and compression to the vocal chain to create a comfortable singing environment that lets your vocalist deliver their best work without having to whisper or shout. The better prepared you are, the better the chances of a great-sounding result.