Backing Vox.

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:39 am

you dudez,

just finished tracking lead vox for my album....im stoked that the day has come!! hehe

just wondering if you guys have any tips or tricks to share when it comes to recording BG vox?

Assume i already know stuff like.."use different mics/pre's" so that everything stands out etc....

anything else that anyone care to share? Especially things relating to things to keep in mind when performing them??

Cheers,

J.

by **heathen** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:17 am

Yeah, sometimes when I'm recording backing vox, say the big wide full phrase accentuating stuff, I will sometimes turn off the other tracks so the vocalist does'nt drift, I dunno why but some vocalists I've worked with have trouble singing with the other takes of themselves in the monitor mix. So I'll switch them off if they are drifting and only bring them all back in to check they are all spot on after the takes are done.

This way you can just do each take immediately after the last without a quick listen or anything, just get them down without changing the vibe. I reckon it's easy to get the whole thing done in 20 mins if everything works out. Even if it does'nt sound right after you bring all the vox back up, you are only wasting say 20 minute blocks of "vibe", listening to each take before recording the next can take anywhere up to an hour or more, the vibe will be gone after 40 mins usually.

Do a few different things also, different mic techniques, some up close and intimate whispering and some further back singing louder.

by **tunetown** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:03 am

Also, depending on what style of BV's your chasing, sing each note in your melody twice, i.e 5th & 7th, and pan each take hard left & right. Seperate performances are the trick here. Copy/paste wont have the same effect.

Cheers
Peter

by **heathen** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:18 am

tunetown wrote:Also, depending on what style of BV's your chasing, sing each note in your melody twice, i.e 5th & 7th, and pan each take hard left & right. Seperate performances are the trick here. Copy/paste wont have the same effect.

Cheers
Peter

Yep good points, 5th and 7th's especially.

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:05 pm

so....for a particular section....sing the same melody, transposed up a fifth? or a seventh? and pan each had left and right? that sounds sweet to me...gotta try it though, hehe

as for what style we're going for....there's no real answer for that....just pluggin in whatever style works for the section, and whatever style milks out more emotion....our music's pretty experimental :)

by **heathen** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:17 pm

jkhuri44 wrote:our music's pretty experimental :)

Not Wrong, but I like it. Very relaxing stuff. :) . Was listening the other day actually to the 2 tracks you brought over.

Yeah the few higher notes will add excitement and make it more dramatic.

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:19 pm

Yeah the few higher notes will add excitement and make it more dramatic.

yeah, i've noticed higher harmonies do that, but so far i have been winging the intervals in my demos....i will try and exhaust every option for the finals, then just piss off what i dont need, :)

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:22 pm

it just popped into my head, but it would be nice if vocalign came out for VST....damn it!!

by **TimS** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:41 pm

jkhuri44 wrote:it just popped into my head, but it would be nice if vocalign came out for VST....damn it!!

Do it right and sing it properly JK and it will sound better than Vocalign or any other 'simulated' harmony...

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:42 pm

unfortunately, ur right, hehehe

just me being a sulky whinger. :P

by **TimS** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:44 pm

jkhuri44 wrote:unfortunately, ur right, hehehe

just me being a sulky whinger. :P

I knew you'd realize that pretty quickly..
Double tracking also makes things sound thicker and wamer - also try the whisper effect that Heath mentioned - very popular thing to make vocals breathy and sexy...

by **rick** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:13 pm

you started your post with the most important bit - dont over look it
use a DIFFERENT MIC for cutting bv then the MAIN VOCAL MIC
make sure its "duller' with "less bass" and it will sit easily in the mix "behind the vocals"
without you having to EQ the hell out of it to get it to sit in the mix

after you have cut vocals for a little while ( an hour or two ) stop and have a pretend mix session to see if the bvs actually do sit in the mix without too much work if they do - thats great , but if they dont then pull up stumps and try something else .

i love cutting backing vocals because when i am producing a record because its usually the time in an album when i have slumped into the doledrums about the sound of the beast - a couple of nights doing BV and percussion and i am up and dancing around loving the record again .
for the vibe factor alone go to town on bvs ..... sure cut them out in the mix if it sounds too much like queen
but just get to it and figure it out for yourself is my advice

oh yeah dont over look one of the most obvious points --- the message of the song , if there are particular words in a main vocal verse that you sing to yourself every time you hear them , well they are just crying out for some BV attention

a subtle word or an vocal harmony echo or a double placed in the right spot in a verse will outrun ten 5ths / 3rds/ octaves or whatever things that might be musically clever every time.

by **Luke Garfield** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:23 pm

Here here Rick - admittedly somewhere along the line, not sure if it was Rick or not, I heard the same thing about BV.

It's true so true.

The EP I recently finished was an excellent example. It was the first time I'd really mixed tracks I hadn't recorded. It was an awesome experience - turning up a fader was like opening a present (most times). But the BV's really breathed life into the tracks which breathed life into my mix and gave a perspective that was never there before.

Just some 2c's

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:32 pm

thanks all for ur responses...

i recorded my main vox with a u47....so i think a combo of a ribbon mic..and an SM57 should do the trick for my bvs...

gonna spend a whole week noodling around on the tracks, and see what needs what ....

thx rick for that comment about paying most attention to the lyrics u always sing to yourself....i didnt really think of that :) even though it sorta seems obvious, haha

i hope i can keep my sibilance under control, that really shits me when i've tried Bvs in my demos...i think for these finals i will have to edit the crap out of myself to sound unified :(

by **tunetown** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:33 pm

See if you can also use different singers. It can add another dimension.

Cheers
Peter

by **jkhuri44** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:42 pm

See if you can also use different singers. It can add another dimension.

dont you mean see if you can find singers that will help a friend out without claiming a piece of the pie??

:P

i dont know many....but i should tihnk about it ...thx for that peter.

by **heathen** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:48 pm

I agree about choosing the right parts to accentuate as Rick said, singing the stuff to yourself over a few days you usually do know which bits are the right ones to do/redo. I think that is a very important part if it's not immediately obvious what a song really needs.

by **rick** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:49 pm

i seem to have made a career out of stating the bleeding obvious
its amazing how easy it is to overlook

by **heathen** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:49 pm

jkhuri44 wrote:
See if you can also use different singers. It can add another dimension.

dont you mean see if you can find singers that will help a friend out without claiming a piece of the pie??

:P

i dont know many....but i should tihnk about it ...thx for that peter.

I'll sing,.

Nah man you really don't wanna hear that. :)

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