day 1

WHO AM I AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

Engineer, mixer & songwriter

A Day to Remember
The Ghost Inside
Motionless in White
The Word Alive
Many more
The Wade Studio - thewadestudio.com
 DEMO

A CAPELLA TRACKS
 WHO IS THIS CLASS FOR?

Anyone that makes music with vocals!

Producers and songwriters
Vocalists
Mixers, re-mixers, and even DJs
 WHAT WE WILL COVER

Day 1: Setup, Prep & Tracking

Gear & environment
Vocal arrangements
Working with the vocalist
Day 2: Editing, Eects & Mixing
Pitch correction
Shortcuts, tips and tricks
 QUESTION

Why is a great vocal

important?
 WHY VOCALS MATTER

Theyre the dierence between good and great

!

They can make an OK track great, or a great track

just OK
!

Theyre literally all it takes to make a #1 single (for

example, royals)
 WHY VOCALS MATTER

Many songs share the same chord progression

I-V-vi-IV chord progression
21 Guns Green Day
Let it be The Beatles
All Too Well Taylor Swift
Already Gone Kelly Clarkson
Etc etc
The vocal is what sets them apart
 THE BIG IDEA

The vocal literally IS the song

!

Apply my techniques and youll be on your

way to creating better sounding and more
successful songs
 BEFORE YOU START A SESSION

Its hard to know what youre getting into

You may be in a dierent studio
Vocalists have access to pitch correction
!

Today is a great example - Ive never tracked in

this room or with these vocalists
 ACOUSTICS - BEFORE YOU START A SESSION

One way you dont know what youre getting

into is not knowing the characteristics of the
room
!

Start with acoustics - the best mic will sound

horrible in a bad room
 ROOM AFFECTS ON VOCAL FREQUENCY RANGE

Human Vocal Range

20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 4kHz 20kHz

Distance between parallel surfaces Problem Frequency

10ft 111Hz
8ft 139Hz
5ft 223Hz
3ft 370Hz
10in 1358Hz
 STANDING WAVES

Whats a standing wave?

Your worst enemy
How do we eliminate them?
Non-parallel surfaces
Absorption
 ROOM TREATMENT

REALLY large room = long reverb, maybe ok

!

A smaller/medium sized room is technically the

most dicult to treat for vocals
 SOUNDPROOFING

Vocals are one of the most sensitive things to

record
You need your room to be soundproof
Dierent than absorption & diusion
There are a few dierent methods
 SOUNDPROOFING

Picture this - an air tight room inside a room

!

But, thats basically impossible

!

We get as close as we can

 SOUNDPROOFING PROBLEM AREAS

Money
Walls
Ceiling
Doors
Windows
Floors
Ventilation
Basically, everything in the room!
 SOUNDPROOFING WALLS & CEILING

All of them matter, but walls will make the biggest

dierence
Double dry wall with acoustic vinyl barrier between
Cheapest
E.G. Quiet Barrier
Oset studs
More expensive
 SOUNDPROOFING WALLS & CEILING

Treat walls & ceilings at the same time

Build your ceiling down
Leave holes for electrical
Similar setup to walls
Fill all cracks & gaps - airtight
 SOUNDPROOFING DOORS

One solid core door with a weather seal

Air tight when you shut it - cheapest
Double layer door - more expensive but more
eective

Wall Wall
 SOUNDPROOFING WINDOWS

2 layers of glass
Not parallel to each other
Air tight
 SOUNDPROOFING FLOORS

Floating floors
Studs, plywood with flooring on top
Complicated & expensive
Not as necessary as the others
 SOUNDPROOFING VENTILATION

Acoustically insulated air ducts

Air In Air Out

Acoustic Foam
 SOUNDPROOFING VENTILATION

Outlet

You have to have an

air tight out flow Acoustic Foam
MDF
If your room is air tight,
no air will flow out and
they will burn up. Inlet

Wall
 SIMPLE DIY ACOUSTICS

What if you have a limited budget?

DIY pop filter
DIY vocal shield
Why does this work?
day 1
 SEGMENT 2:
Signal Chain & Working with a
Vocalist
 WHATS IN THIS SECTION

Signal Chain
Choosing the right gear
Working with a vocalist
 DISCLAIMER ABOUT GEAR

Gear is just tools used to execute a vision

!

Choose gear based on your vision, not price tag

!

Having great gear doesnt guarantee a great

vocal
 BASIC SIGNAL CHAIN

Preamp EQ Compressor Converter Interface Computer

Headphone
Amp
 MICROPHONES

Dynamic vs. Condensor vs. Ribbon

I love all purpose mics
I use a Peluso 22 47 LE 99% of the time
Clone of Neumann U-47
Tube mic
Choose a mic based on singer & final vision
 PREAMPS

Just like mics, preamps have their own unique

characteristics
For example:
APIs are punchy, good for rock
Neves add thickness
Chandlers add warmth
 PREAMPS

They also have cool features

SSL can add harmonic distortion
Neves have a silk button to make it more
musical
UA 710 twin-finity has a tube & transistor tone
blending feature
 PREAMPS

Were using UA 2-610

Has EQ on them - very useful
Class A preamp
Classic piece of gear
Been around for years
 EQ & COMPRESSION

Recording with compression should be thought

of as a way to control the dynamics
!

Recording with eq should be thought of as

cleaning up the signal a little
 OUTBOARD VS. IN THE BOX

Pros of outboard gear

The benefit of hitting outboard gear first
Eliminate problems before it hits digital
 POP FILTER

Theres metal, plastic, single & double layer

material
What were using today
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

Vocalists are people too!

!

Recording vocals is as much mental as it

is production know how
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

Again, you dont know what youre getting into

personality & talent wise
You want them to do their best & feel comfortable
with:
Environment
Equipment
You
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

Assess their strengths & weakness quietly

You cant just say You suck
With some you can be brutally honest, others
will lock up
Remember how personal vocals are
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

Some singers are extremely talented

Others think they are
Working with egos
Sometimes you will get resistance
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

If they cant take criticism, let them take the

reigns for awhile - be patient
!

Avoid arguments - you dont want a tense vocal

environment
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

Vocals & alcohol

!

Vocals & exercise

 IF THEY ARE STRUGGLING

Get to the bottom of it

Cater to their needs
Target specific problems
Environment
Personal stress
Time of day
Etc
 IF THEY ARE STRUGGLING

They may be pushing to hard to hit a note

!

They may have an elevated heart rate

!

Reverb & eects could be throwing them o

 HELPING A STRUGGLING VOCALIST

Sometimes its none of that

Sing with the vocalist, even if youre bad
The melody may need to be changed
Actual lyrics may need to be changed
Sing a guide track & correct it
Have them sing a guide track & correct it
 HELPING A STRUGGLING VOCALIST

Just sing to a click

Mute other tracks in the song
Turn them up
Mute them
One headphone o
 HELPING A STRUGGLING VOCALIST

Let them wing it

Skip it, come back
Sing without headphones
Show a physical pattern with your hand on
guitar or midi
Change the key
 HELPING A STRUGGLING VOCALIST

Have them sing close to the note

Create a scratch vocal repeat lead in
Bottom line - try everything possible
Get into their head, put yourself in their position
NO NO! - trying to break a vocal part down
scientifically
 WORKING WITH A VOCALIST

Sometimes youre limited on time

!

Remember, vocals are permanent and will be

listened to for years
day 1
 SEGMENT 3:
Arrangement & Tracking
 VOCAL ELEMENTS

Main vocal
Verse vocal
Chorus vocal
Back ups
Ahhs
Screams
Group singing
Group chanting
Eected vocals
 ARRANGING VOCAL ELEMENTS

Main vocals - easy to sing quickly & organic

pattern (except for electronic music)
!

Main melody should be interesting

!

Should feel good when you sing it

 COMPLEX VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS

Complex vocal arrangement - think of it like a

sandwich
Should be dierent from each other
Fast/slow cadence
High/low melodies
Panning left/right/center/doubled stereo
 COMPLEX VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS

Eects/no eects
Guy voice/girl voice
Calm singing/energetic singing
TRICK - Use midi track & organize via velocities
 WRITING FOR A FEMALE VOCALIST

Male & female registers are pretty dierent

!

Quick tip - write in your own register & then

transpose the song
!

Demo: Sing with Jesica

 TRACKING SINGING

Eects of practicing
Mic shootout
2 condensors
2 Dynamics
What are we going for?
TRICK - mued click
 DURING TRACKING

Environment
Keep the session flowing
Takes breaks when necessary
Breathes
Punch ins
Doubles
 SESSION

Take it Slow by Andrew Wade

!

with Jesica Lancaster

www.jesicalancaster.com
day 1
 SEGMENT 4:
Tracking Screaming
 HOW TO AVOID LOSING YOUR VOICE

Be smart with your time: PLAN PLAN PLAN

Warm up in the way that is right for you
Do a scratch / whisper track
Switch up editing / mixing & tracking time
Reschedule sessions
Do it like they do in the movies
 DURING TRACKING

Whisper / guide track

Punch ins: lead in, lead out
Dierent vocalists tracking same part
Track big one liner
 SESSION

Reassemble by Andrew Wade

!

With Tommy Green

Sleeping Giant
www.facebook.com/sleepinggiant
 GROUP SINGING

Always do group singing before group chanting

Weed out the bad singers
To headphone or not to headphone?
At least, triple it
 SESSION

Who Needs Sleep

 GROUNG SINGING

Oh hey oh
gotta keep from fallin fallin
Oh hey oh
Got the coee callin callin
 GROUP CHANTING

Best sound is distorted voice

To headphone or not to headphone?
Metronome app, be a conductor
At least, triple it
 SESSION

Reassemble
GROUNG CHANTING

No
Where
 DAY 1 KEY TAKEAWAYS

Recording vocals is as much mental as it is

production know how
If a vocalist is struggling, try everything possible
to help
Gear is just a way to execute your vision
Put in the time - vocals will be listened to for years