How To Successfully Record Vocals And Singing

There are a lot of things to take in to consideration when recording vocals to get the sound you want. There is no fast track way to getting a good vocal sound as there are so many variables such as the singer, the room, the equipment and the desired style.

In this post we'll try and present you with a few good tips and tricks that should help you to choose the best way to approach the situation. We also cover a real life recording session with Angie Brown, one of the most respected vocalists on the house music scene. Hopefuly this will give even more insight on how things work during a profession recording session.
Analyze the singer’s Voice

The singer will have the most influence on the final sound, no matter what recording setup is used. The tone of their voice is worth analysing before you start out. What do you like about it? What do you want to enhance?
Deal with unwanted Sibilance

Some vocalists naturally pronounce s’s or ch’s stronger than others. If the vocal sounds particularly harsh in these areas, try and treat beforehand rather than relying on a de-esser later. Asking the singer to stand back from the mic or sing just under or over it can help, but this can also cause the vocal to become a little thin and lose some low end. A better technique might be to ask the vocalist to try and pronounce these sounds differently, just make sure it doesn't have a negative impact on their performance.


Observe the singer’s microphone technique

If you watch an experienced singer record, you will see how they move around the microphone, stepping back or changing the angle to the mic on the loud passages, and getting close up on the quieter phrases. This gives a different sound and also acts as a natural compressor, meaning the equipment doesn't need to work as hard. Again, it all depends on the desired effect. Close up will give a full, detailed sound, and further away will give a more natural sound and pick up more of the room.

Make a joke, keep the singer in the right mood

Singers tend to perform best when they are relaxed and at ease, so try to make a few jokes. If you’re terrible at jokes then great, you looking a bit stupid will probably make them feel more comfortable in themselves! If they have particularly big ego’s, bite your tongue and give them a little massage (their ego’s that is, a shoulder massage could have the opposite effect!) Also, remember that they are human, and they can’t sing forever. Ask regularly how they are feeling, do they want some water? If you can’t get a good take and they are getting frustrated, move on to the next section and come back to it later.

Find the best spot in the room

The room will have a big impact on the sound. Recording in a small untreated room will create all sorts of issues, so spend time getting it to sound the best you can. Ask the singer to sing a few scales as smoothly as they can, and see if any notes jump out as being a lot louder or a lot quieter. Some issues can be hard to treat. Anything below 1khz is going to need some proper broadband absorption or diffusion.

Choose the right gear for the job

The equipment you use can really make the difference between something sounding like it was recorded at home and something that sounds ‘high end’ or ‘expensive.’ That being said, there are some good quality microphones and preamps out there at reasonable prices, (check out sE Electronics and Focusrite) that, in the right hands, can produce great sounding results.

The microphone, preamps and convertors (if recording to digital) all effect how the signal is processed before it reaches its destination. The microphone captures the sound and turns it into an electronic signal, which is then boosted by the preamp, and converted, to digital by an AD convertor. Each one of these processes will have an effect on the sound. Some will sound fairly natural, others will add harmonics and noticeable distortion (tube preamps for example), some will emphasize different aspects of the sound and some will just sound, well, a bit naff. Deciding which is appropriate is often a case of trial of error, and in many cases doing the best with the equipment you have. At the end of the day, if it sounds good, it IS good!

What is a VST plugin or VST instrument

What is a VST or VSTI audio plugin ?

VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology and is an interface for integrating audio synths and effects plugins with your digital audio workstation (DAW). In plain English you could simply say its a way to get all those cool hardware effects racks, keyboards and drum machines into your choice of music software such as Cubase, FL Studio or Logic Pro etc.

A very brief history of VST & VSTi

Anyone making digital music prior to 1996 used their DAW to control keyboards and samplers via midi and then routed all their external hardware through a traditional mixing desk. With the release of Cubase 3.02 Steinberg announced the VST interface specification which allowed a new bread of software developers to recreate all those bulky effects units as VST plugins.

A few years later in 1999 they updated things allowing VST plugins to receive midi data. This changed the game even further as it was now possible to recreate keyboards, synths and drum machines too. This upgrade saw the birth of the Virtual Studio Technology Instrument or VSTi for shot.

In more recent years things have moved improved further with VSTs now being able to process audio in 64 bit, allow audio inputs, multiple midi ins & outs and note expression.
How Do you Install A VST plug in Or VSTi

Most VST plugins or instruments are packaged in one of two ways. Smaller plugins come as a single .dll file and are the simplest to install. Most DAWs such as Cubase, FL Studio require you to simply copy and paste the .dll file into a plugins directory within the main folder where you installed your software. Once you have done that you should restart your DAW and then your new plugin will be available to use.

Bigger, more complicated and often more expensive VST plugins and Virtual Instruments are often sold as .exe files that require you to manually install them the same way you would install any other software package. This is more often then not a point and click job though.

Are VST plugins and Instruments as good as the originals ?

There are 1000,s of VST plugins available these days and the quality varies greatly. Some have been made in an afternoon by one guy in his bedroom and given away for free and some developed by large companies and cost an arm and a leg. There are always those people who prefer the original instrument or prefer the hands on approach but in the majority of cases there is no way that many of us could ever get access to such kit. That old Hammond organ with Leslie speakers might be just the sound your after but its never going to fit in your room.

What the VST plugin and instrument developers have tried to do in many cases is to recreate the sound or effects of originals as closely as possible but you'll never get exactly the same experience due to one being real and one being virtual. With that said though VST technology has totally revolutionised the world of music production and it can only get better.

There are also plugins and instruments that could never exist in the physical world and the possibilities are endless.

What do I need in order to use VST plugins or instruments

Pretty much all you need to make use of VST plugins or Virtual Instruments is your choice of DAW. Just about every music production package available these days supports VST technology and many come with their own built in. In order to control things easier a good keyboard or controller is a must. A keyboard with weighted keys will give you more expression and a having controller with plenty of knobs and faders will allow you more control over all your plugins settings. There are plenty of excellent keyboards and controllers around these days to suit every budget so choose something the works for you.

Do I need a powerful computer to use a VST or VSTi

The one thing to take into consideration is that VST plugins and Virtual Instruments are software where their ancestors were all hardware. Your computer and more importantly your sound card is now playing the part of the hardware. Its all down to common sense to make sure you make the most of your current setup. If you try and get a cheap computer with a built in sound card to run too many VSTs it will drag to a halt. Ill write another article about how to improve performance but for now Ill just say uninstall anything you dont need and close any programs you dont need running.

The most important thing you need to get the most our or your VST plugins and Instruments is a decent sound card. Your sound card is going to be doing the bulk of the work so get the best one you can afford. A cheap sound card will result in a delay (latency) between you playing a note on the keyboard and the sound coming our of your VSTi. Make sure you ask for a card with zero latency or adjust the latency settings on your current card for best performance.

Finally I'll just mention again the need for you to balance your use of VST plugins, effects and Virtual Instruments with the power of your system. Too many things running at one time and you'll see your system slow down and your audio glitching.
Any questions or thoughts ?


If you have any questions regarding the use of VST plugins, effects or VST instruments leave a comment bellow. Ill create some more articles when I get a chance on tips and tricks for using VST plugins effectively or to answer any popular questions that crop up.

How To Build A Home Studio On A Budget

Today I'll be telling you what you need to set up a home studio on a budget.  We'll start off with the computer. You can either go with a laptop or standard, most people should have one already. Next you'll need a sound card, you can go either external for laptop or internal for desktop, both are very cheap these days. I would recommend you go to www.maudio.com. They carry good quality equipment at a good price.

Next well look at microphones. Now you can get a standard stage mic, everyone goes with the Shure SM58 (my first mic was a Shure Sm78) for that. Should be around $100.00. If you can afford one or two more, it is really worth it to get whats called a 'condenser' microphone, all the major studios have one. That will improve your sound dramatically!
  

Now if you want to make beats, I would also recommend going to m-audio and getting whats called a midi keyboard. You can get one for a couple hundred, then link it with a program like Pro-Tools and trigger sounds that way.

Now for recording software. Of course you've heard everyone and their homies has Pro-Tools. They now have an Mbox you can get for a few hundred. Pro-Tools is so cheap now. I would highly recommend that. (Even though I personally have used Adobe Audition since it was Cool Edit 96!)


You can build up how you want as your budget allows from this point, such as monitors, a better keyboard like a Triton or XP, an MPC is also a must, mix board and turntable(s)...


You REALLY can set up a good sounding studio for under $500.


So get your music career started, what are you waiting for!!!