Welcome to the Production & Technical Tips. We have been covering the recording environment for several weeks and this is the final part, which is sometimes overlooked or not prefered by musos. I would suggest you look at it and really implement it in practice and you will hear the difference in your vocal recordings that you so aspire too. So here we go!!!!
Double Tracking
To create that thick wall of sound vocal effect that just sounds huge you're going to want to double or triple track your vocals. Some engineers even record 5 or 6 of them on chorus parts and some parts on the verses. By this we mean record an extra take onto a new audio track and play it alongside the original. This often smooth's out any pitch imperfections and adds a 'chorusing' type of effect to the voice.
The differences in the two different takes combine to make a lush, dense sound that you'll already be familiar with.
If you decide to double track the vocals. We would recommend doing it for real. Trying to fake a double tracking effect will usually give poor results and make your hard earned vocal recording sound amateur. Although if you must fake the double tracking then follow these tips. Double tracking your vocals using pitch variations and not aligning the audio files up perfectly can give great results. Copying your vocal take to another track, (you can even do this more than once, known as ‘vocal stacking’) and using a plug in such as auto tune, or Melodyne you can introduce slight pitch changes in the copied vocal. Also adding a delay of 50 - 120 ms to the copied vocals can also fake the ‘2nd part’ vocals well.
De-essing
De-essers can be used either at the mixing stage or recordings stage. If your singer has a particularly sibilant voice you are going to have problems. My advice is to get the singer to back away from the mic so that there is a 10-inch space between the singer and the pop shield. Also ensure that the singer is off-axis (not pointing directly) from the mic diaphragm.
The downside to this is that the recording will loose some of its warmer bottom end and the proximity effect will be gone. The upside is that you’ll be able to record a clean usable vocal with only mild de-essing required at mix stage.
So, what is a De-esser?
A De-esser is a tool that engineers can use to take out the very pronounced and harsh ‘S’ and ‘T’ sounds that some singers can produce. If the problem is really affecting the recording then you will have to use electronic ways of reducing just the sibilant peaks. Think of a De-Esser as a compressor that only works on the ‘S’ and ‘T’ sounds. Anything in the 3-6 kHz range to be specific. With a de-esser, make sure to use light settings when possible, otherwise you may find your singer has a slight lisp to their recording. If your going to use a De-esser, we recommend spending money on one that really pinpoints the correct frequency range so the rest of the recording is left unchanged!
There are many hardware and software signal processors and mastering tools that have De-esser presets but in my experience you’ll need to do some tweaking to hone in on the problem frequencies that need to be compressed. Record the vocal correctly with the right room treatment and you’ll only need very subtle de-essing if any.
Make sure you plan the recording process, take your time with the rapper/ singer and mixing stage and have fun. Experiment with different techniques and find what works best for you and the singer you’re working with. By reading this article you’ve taken your first step to achieving the industry professional vocal sound you’ve been looking for. Good luck! And remember. While this might sound overwhelming and costly for you, are there other musicians that take their money and do what needs to be done instead of using it on alcohol or drugs, thinking that you are a rock star. There billions out there that is hungry for it. The question is, are you too?
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