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Voice / Jul 21, 2011 1:00AM
I’M GOING to share some must-haves for any professional live singer.
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Voice / Dec 1, 2010 1:00AM
It’s easy to get into a rut when recording vocals. Most
singers automatically set up a cardioid mic, level with
their mouth; they never pause to consider a different
strategy. But while standard recording methods might
produce good results that don’t offend, sometimes
taking a more novel approach will yield a truly headturning
vocal track that stands out from the pack.
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Voice / Nov 1, 2010 1:00AM
At first, you see eye to eye with the producer, and it
is beautiful.
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Voice / Sep 1, 2010 1:00AM
We’ve all been there. The singer is “singing their butt
off” in the vocal booth, but the vocal performance is
just not cutting it.
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Voice / Jul 1, 2010 1:00AM
Doing a great home recording is easier than it has ever been, but that doesn’t mean there still aren’t challenges to getting great tracks. Here are some tips to help you get that studio “magic” at home. Pick a recording
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Voice / Jun 1, 2010 1:00AM
Recording vocals can be a challenge—
even if you’re experienced. For the
singer, preparation, technique, and
energy are critical. On the production
side, understanding how singers
work—as well as what you can do to
help them deliver brilliant performances—
are essential skills. But
whichever side of the glass you’re on,
these 12 tips should guide you to fruitful,
dynamic, and inspired sessions.
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Voice / May 1, 2010 1:00AM
Stacked harmony vocals and extensive
background voices are being
heard and dug on again! Some of the
best examples are on tracks by redhot
indie bands such as the Fleet
Foxes and Grizzly Bear. These bold
bands are not merely pulling the nostalgic
card, but rather making cutting-
edge music by blending
tried-and-true techniques with elements
unique to themselves.
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Voice / Apr 1, 2010 1:00AM
I’ve been lucky to be included in the
Beach Boys’ inner circle since the late
’70s—and I’ve worked on many of
their records—but nothing quite prepared
me for being given carte
blanche to arrange, record, and produce
background vocals for a founding
member of one of the greatest
vocal bands of all time. The
legendary Al Jardine asked me to
help complete a song he had been
working on sporadically for 15 years,
and when the audio files to “Don’t
Fight the Sea” were opened at my
Mill Valley, California, studio Tiki
Town, the glorious voices of Brian
Wilson, Carl Wilson, and, of course,
the forever underrated Al Jardine
gave me chicken skin. I’ve come to
understand that there is only one
way to get that Beach Boys sound—
the blend always has to include Al’s
voice. He had the glue that brought
all the individual voices into one
instantly recognizable and magnificent
vocal sound.
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Voice / Mar 1, 2010 1:00AM
Once in a blue moon, a vocalist may
wander in your studio who doesn’t
adhere to the typical rock/pop
scream-o school of singing, but
instead has the softer vocal styling of
old-school crooners. I’m not talking
about vocalists who seize up in fear—
that’s a whole ’nother set of instructions,
Bubba. I’m talking about vocalists
who can really sing, but, for
whatever reason, just do it quietly. If
you’re looking to get those close-up
vocals, where you can hear the
singer’s lips brush your ear as he or
she whispers some tear-jerking lyrics
into your soul, check out these tips.
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Voice / Feb 1, 2010 2:50PM
An omnidirectional microphone
“hears” sound from every direction,
so it wouldn’t seem like the best
choice for capturing clear, clean, and
isolated vocals in the studio, and only
a lunatic would sing through one
onstage amidst blaring amps, drums,
and monitors. But this doesn’t mean
that omnis should be avoided as if
they just caught very bad cases of
H1N1. These mics—or, more accurately,
these polar patterns—offer some
very attractive characteristics to
vocalists of all genders, styles, and
dynamic levels.