I’d say ~95% of the music on here is instrumental. Might be why I couldn’t find much discussion about vocals. Let’s remediate this!
For those who sometimes add vocals:
What is your general process to make sure they fit in well?
Do you use a vocal doubler on your main vocal track?
If so, what settings do you use so it remains coherent?
If not, do you copy the main vocal track on another mixer track and pitch it slightly lower and/or use different effects on it?
In terms of reverb, what have you figured works best in busy electronic music?
In terms of level, do you go the “pop route” and mix the vocals way up front or do you mix them just above music level so it sounds more compact?
How does your FX chain look like? (in my case, whether I activate them or not, it goes: Izotope Vocal Doubler, MAutoVolume, Weiss Deess, Neutron 2 and maybe a little distortion and reverb, depending on what may be needed).
Is reverb absolutely necessary when using a chain like the one I described above? Is it needed if Neutron ensures clarity in the mix? (or maybe it’s because of the doubler that I don’t feel it’s always needed?)
Any time I’ve ever tried, vocals felt like the easiest thing to mix. Provided your sounds are placed and dispersed in unique ways, mono vocals should technically cut right through the mix like a lead (or if you prefer, hot knife), and double (or more iterative) tracking can really benefit from the same type of treatment as your synth voices normally do. Just, you know, not simply copying and pasting / creating weird phase issues and whatnot. Treat them like guitars when you’re stacking, do something different to make them somewhat unique and you’re set.
Anything that breathes, changes, contains dynamics and some amount of clarity can’t really be bad, IMO. Reverb and delay are really just the icing on the cake, and a lot of your meaty ‘FX’ are really just voice-handling techniques.
It’s really apparent when there is dissonance when using synths.
Make sure it’s in tune with everything.
And get clean recordings without artifacts…
If you can’t get clean recorded vocals go without vocals…because vocals with continuous ambient background noise makes it a pain in the ass to mix with a song especially when fx are applied.
Alright, I have a studio mic and like to record vocals privately from time to time, and this is my process (in the order of your questions)
It really depends on the music. If you’re going old-school skrillex (scary monsters and nice sprites) style then you’d want some sort of phrasing and chop it up into an interesting pattern as if it was just a sample. If you’re going with more spoken word content, then you want to make sure that it’s split into phrases within the song, and also double up on important phrases or parts (So harmony, or just multiple takes in different voices.)
I don’t use any doublers generally, the raw and mono signal is what it should sound like for the genres I make. If we’re talking something like soft indie rock or a more spacious/ambient sound where the vocals aren’t necessarily a key part, then yeah, absolutely - it’s really up to what you think fits for your genre/style.
That said, I have used doublers before, and the settings (again) depend on what you’re going for. I try to stick to the stereo field and L/R delay of a similar layer or sound, but bring the vocals out more depending on how much I want them to stand out. Are they the lead, or just some background sounds. As I said earlier I’ll usually record harmony or multiple takes for important words.
Reverb is basically essential in some capacity for the style of music I make. When I use it, I have a long decay at about half the level of the vocal. That’s to say the vocal should ring, but not fade directly into reverb. Reverb washing between sections and in empty space is a great way to make things sound more interesting, especially right before a drop.
Making vocals pop should only be for important parts (that being melody or phrase and harmony to those parts. If the vocals are just sparkle, they sound be mixed INTO the track bubble rather than just outside of it. As KvIT said mono vocals sound cut through to start.
FX chain is simple for me. Denoising the sample first is important, FL Studio’s got a great denoise tool in Edison (looks like a brush). I use it on the recorded take twice if the dry sounds good. Low cut on any eq to get rid of rumble and mud, a wee deesser, some snappy autotune, OTT to make the dry a bit brighter, plus reverb and delay / echo plugin(s) for the “special sauce”. Really any plugins work, but don’t cheap out on any autotune. For special distorted/screamy vocals using a combination of distortion, OTT and even a comb filter will suffice quite well. This is all with the assumption you’re not going to vocode. That’s a different beast.
Reverb’s never needed in vocals, but it’s usually key to getting the right sound. If somebody performed a song for you in basically any enclosed space there’d be a tiny bit of reverb, so take that as you see it. I don’t even use plugins like neutron, a little EQ and good positioning relative to the mic (if you’re DIY) will fix any frequency/phase issues.
As some tips I’ve learnt (and some of these are for home recording):
MAutoVolume is basically the equivalent of OTT minus the high end sparkle, so if you want softer vocals keep using it, otherwise slap a multiband compressor on there.
Always be close to the mic. If you’re recording really loud vocals, just turn down the input volume instead of moving away from it. Standing back just adds echo and picks up more background noise. Denoising works, but avoiding it completely in the first place is the best option. I put a towel over my head and mic as my recording booth
Never monitor what you’re recording. Latency will fuck you up. Also always have an instrument track with the melody for what you’re going to sing to make sure you’re as close to in pitch as possible. Autotune can be a bit finnicky.
On that note, please layer other sounds with your vocals. If I wanted to listen to only somebody’s voice all I’d listen to a podcast, kek.
And finally, have confidence!!! My main struggle with vocals is being embarrassed with myself when showing it to other people.
@Mecha_Twitchy- Amazing answer! Thanks for taking the time! Defo a few things to think about
I should have mentioned: I’m not a total noob when it comes to singing. I have a pretty wide range, and I like to sing in different tones.
I actually learned singing techniques in what feels like another life and did perform some gigs as lead singer with a band for some years way back when; even recorded some songs in high end studios (this was all done while being part of a music school). All in all, I’m not super fond of singing but I can sing.
I don’t own and absolutely refuse to use Auto-Tune, out of principle. The one time I’d tolerate it would be if I wanted a specific effect of sorts that can only be achieved using that. If I fuck up a take, I just redo it. Nowadays, chopping samples makes it way easier. Back in the day, you fucked up one word and you had to redo the entire thing until you hated the song so much that you achieved your best take about the time you were about to violently throw the mic against the nearest wall. Oh, the memories
Man… Latency is SUCH a bitch.
I mostly eliminate latency by balancing the input monitoring via my (MOTU M4) interface; what also helps, in FL Studio, is making sure to record using “external input only” with all effects disabled on the track. The mic I use is that SHURE mic that every podcaster and their mother have. It is honestly crazy good. There’s hardly ever any background noise when recording (and yes I tend to “eat the mic” when I sing - old rocker habit hahaha).
A classic but extremely important trick (I’m guessing you know that but others may not) is to only have your headphones covering one of your ears fully. This way, you can hear yourself sing - makes it way easier to stay in tune.
That’s pretty cool, honestly. I’m not as against the casual / light use of autotune as a lot of people are, but aiming for legitimate takes is a surefire way to not make ‘dead’ music, imo. There’s no denying that the snowball effect of autotune, melodyne and excessive editing culminates in something less than organic at best, and totally lifeless at worst.
I’ve never tried those when recoding vocals. I am not sure that would work though, because you’d hear the music in both ears anyway, which is what you’re aiming to avoid by having one ear that’s not receiving the sound entirely straight into it.
This is true. I forgot to mention that my interface has a sort of “cue” switch so I can lower the volume of my track and hear myself through the mic. I’m usually constructing tracks with one earcup off anyway, though (how traumatised people make music )
