50 Studio Tips for Vocalists - part 2

by Carl Rushing (sound engineer)

www.gemstarpro.com

25) Budget your time. Plan wisely. Allow 15% more time per song than you think it will take.

26) Speak up. Give the engineer, producer, and collaborators your honest opinions without becoming a dictator.

27) Use WAV files if you know your beat maker. MP3s do not and will not ever have the same richness.

28) Confirm with everyone expected to be at the studio 2 days before the session.

29) Memorize your lyrics. This assures you can fully focus on your delivery.

30) Create more songs than you actually plan on using for your project. This will allow you to choose the songs that make the most sense on the project and have a few extras to release as leaks or for future projects.

31) Practice difficult parts before the session. This will save valuable time, money, and energy.

32) Give it the car test. This is the system you probably know best. A song isn’t done until it has been checked on your car’s system.

33) Make sure if you are doubling vocals that they are layered precisely. A slightly off double can make the vocals sound cluttered and hard to understand.

34) Don’t be scared to use autotune. Even the best vocalists in the industry use it. The artistry is in how it is used.

35) Keep the vocals simple.  Too many vocal tracks doing different parts at the same time clutter the song.

36) Find a way to split the costs of the session with another artist, a group, or someone who believes in your music.

37) Bring extra work to the studio in case you have extra time.

38) Know your equipment. Just because a studio looks official doesn’t mean it is. A $80 mic can sometimes look like a $8000 mic but they sound a lot different. Ask the studio what "mic and mic pre-amp" they use and google it before booking a session. These are the 2 most important pieces in vocal recording.

39) Understand basic vocal effects such as delay (echo), reverb, compression, EQ and distortion. This will allow you to clearly make effects requests.

40) Consider having a basic recording set up at home. This allows you to preview how the song will sound and could lead to a more elaborate studio in the future.

41) If you want to hear more of your raw vocal, take the headphone off one of your ears.

42) Know the difference between mixing and mastering. Mixing has to do with putting effects on or adjusting individual instruments (ex. turning volume of ad-libs down or boosting the high EQ on the snare drum, etc.). Mastering is the final step before getting the CD manufactured. It boosts the overall presence of the songs and evens out the overall EQ and volume levels from song to song.

43) Make it sexy. Unless you are doing religious, alternative, or folk music, sexiness drives the musical engine.

44) Measure your song up against your competition and ask how it can be better.

45) Singers have about a 2 octave range. If you sing, know what keys best compliment your vocals. This is especially important if you are singing a song someone else wrote or if a producer or writer is creating a song for you from scratch.

46) When you write lyrics, consider where you are going to take a breath.

47) If the energy is not coming across in the recording, try to over-project. The booth is a place to express, not to be shy.

48) Avoid excess noise in the booth. Take off any jewelry or nylon cloths that make noise. If you write on paper, watch out for shuffling the paper while you record. If you write on a phone, make sure to turn the service off. Signals can cause digital blips in the recording.

49) Check your ego at the door. If your producer, engineer, or group member offers some advice, take it into consideration. They are there to help. If one person in the studio doesn't like an idea or take, there will be a thousand more outside of the studio that don't like it. Unanimous decisions are the best decisions.

50) Be yourself in the booth. Imitators can only strive to be 2^nd best. Be an original.