Should be mandatory viewing for anyone engineering a vocal recording. No better way to get your singer comfortable than letting him/her go from a whisper to a scream without a concern.
His “how to sing like Geddy lee” video goes into a lot of his technique behind it. I can’t sing quite as high as he does, but I did gain a few notes after following the video. His technique is impeccable.
I think this is one of the rarest of the rare videos where technology is being demonstrated with a real time use case. Buddy, you've got an amazing clarity & Range to your voice.. This was a very interesting video. Many thanks for making it.
Volume level? If I play the tracks back softly to sing along, I sing too soft. If I crank up the tracks I tend to yell. How do you determine the best volume to monitor at?
This was very eye and ear opening! While I've been singing pretty much my whole life (I'm 51) I've never really thought about recording until recently as I've begun learning guitar. New subscriber.
Hey Chris! Do you have a video on perceived pitch? I've always had problems hearing the right pitch on headphones, hearing everything a little flat on headphones, compared to speakers, resulting in me singing just a little flat.
Hey thanks man, that's spot on! I just recorded vocals yesterday (after many years, yep!) with a new pair of really tight headphones, and I heard very loudly and somewhat organically the very-low-end... and predominantly... which was distracting me from concentrating on delivering the right pitch (we don't hear the pitch very well in the lower-end)... I thought I needed to use the EQ to correct that, until I discovered it was physically resonating in my chest or in my upper-torso bones and it was heard mostly "bio-internally"... because of the tight headphones! So I searched YT today to find a confirmation of that problem and a solution. Your video confirmed the importance of hearing the actual direct room environment, and that is exactly what I have discovered yesterday! I learned from you that there are specific headphones for that purpose, thanks so much! I didn't know that, after all these years (I'm not a pro audio guy)...! I'll first try with my in-ear headphones that came with my old Samsung cellphone, then maybe purchase your semi-open AKG headphones. Very nice channel BTW!
I was having the same issue since I live in a apartment. What I do now is drive to a secluded location in my car and sing in my car. You could also record vocals in your car to if you have a laptop. It’s easier if you have an suv.
Ya that's BIG (the small space, neighbors thing) ... I was in that situation for many years with multiple living situations. In each case, I had to just MAKE FRIENDS with my neighbors, have conversations about it... that "this is what I do" and it was always a really positive experience. I made good friends! People started being interested in what I was doing... it was really cool
I always sound good in my room but as soon as I put headphones on to record, I have a hard time getting a good balance of being able to hear my voice in the room and the music. Then I tend to either over sing to compensate or start to lose pitch on certain notes. Hoping those semi-open headphones will help.
@@ririthereal I've tried wearing the headphones on 1 ear so the other ear is free to hear my natural voice in the room. Sometimes I get good results, sometimes I don't. I actually just ordered the headphones Chris recommended in this video. AKG K240. They are semi-open so you get some isolation but not so much that you can't hear what's going on in the room.
I've been following recording techniques here and on other UA-cam channels for several years. This was one of the very the first times where I tried the recommended technique and immediately got marked improvements on recording a vocal. Excellent advice! Thank you so much.
Thanks for the great video! I just ordered the AKG K240 headphones based on your recommendation. I've been using the Vic Firth isolating headphones and not always feeling quite right while singing...taking one ear off, then changing my mind and putting it back on. Hopefully like you said, these will be a good balance and help me sing better. I've never tried compressing the vocal while I record, and I want to give that a try too. Sounds like a great approach. - - One thing I do that helps me a lot is dimming the lights. I like it so dark I can barely see the microphone. I like to try to get lost in the song, forget about my body and the room, envision what's going on in the story/song and become a part of it.
You didn't mention the biggest obstacle when doing monitoring with vst plugins: latency. I use a RME ADAT Soundcard and I get a 3ms roundtrip, which is pretty low, but the latency still feels distracting to me. So what I usually do is monitor my voice directly via hardware and throw only vst plugins like reverb and delay in on a send channel in my DAW. I would love to hear what values you have, when you do your inthebox monitoring. Thank You!
best solution for that long term problem for me: using audient id22 you can direct monitor the mic dry and then use daw for reverb etc, so just don't send the mic signal coming in to master. Close to zero latency monitoring on any computer :P
Something I had started doing is throwing up a stereo pair of mics in the room when recording vocals, positioned as if recording drum overheads or rooms, and feeding those just into my monitor mix. My brain locks onto pitch far more accurately, and you can control the exact blend of room in your ears without having to worry about the right kind of bleed or using reverb plugins and having to think about latency, etc. Seems to work really well if you happen to have a pair. I use SDCs, but I'm sure it wouldn't matter what kind.
What I do myself, is use very isolating headphones, but then add loud room early reflections to the vocal and a bit to the click. It then sounds like you're in the room, and the vocals "pop out" of the mix in your head, allowing you to hear yourself and your pitch better, and get no bleed. Try it. It works.
Ya, been there... I can see how some would love this... it still messes with me. I love to hear the actual room added... putting it in the mix isn't the same for me for some reason
Doh! I just asked this question on one of your other videos, but it was meant for this video. How do you set this up? I don’t know how to put effects onto the vocal channel, so you can hear them while you sing but they don’t get recorded, baked in. I’m working in pro tools, I need a step by step guide. Have you got one? Many thanks by the way this and your other videos are great.
Can semi open back headphones be similar to taking closed back and pushing off slightly on 1 ear so I hear the room? That's how ive been doing it to stay on pitch
That's an ok compromise if you need to, but the problem with the "one ear off" approach is that you cheat yourself out being "in your headphone mix" ... It is imbalanced and you can't be immersed in your sound. But lots of people do this if their headphones are too stifling
Awesome vocals Chris. Thanks for the content. I'm not a singer, but rather a voice actor and deal with many of the same challenges as singers when in the studio.
Great vid, but not a word about latency? I found solving latency problems to be critical. Singers hear their "head voices" alongside the headphones, and if the headphone signal is even SLIGHTLY late, it can sound very "phasey" and off-putting. Even at 48 samples, you can hear hear the phasing. I've fixed this by using direct-from-interface mic monitoring, which unfortunately limits my ability to compress vocals, but I can still add effects like reverb and delay to the headphones from the DAW software. Depending on your DAW and interface, this could be a little tricky, but doing so has definitely improved most singers' experiences at my studio.
Thanks for sharing this info, and by the way, I luv your voice! I have been a pro vocalist for many years, and have studio work. So, I finally have a great pc a great audio interface, and Ableton. All I really want to accomplish at this point, is lay a vocal track on a backing track to create my own demos. I cannot seem to figure out how to get effects on my vocals in my headphones in real time. I am not sure if these DAWS just can't do it prerecording, or I am an idiot, but I am wasting so much precious time dealing with this. I refuse to accept that I cannot hear effects while monitoring. That's retarded and I have never had to record hearing myself dry. Any advice would be oh so appreciated! Thank you! Lil hugs
I've always used outdated computers. Even a 2 GHz dual core with 2 GB RAM was ok for recording and mixing. And of course in the past it was less. I started with a 200 MHz computer, and I remember it could do 8 track recording safely. One of the keys back then was the audio hardware and software quality and compatibility. And I guess it still is. Going on with zero to low budget, I jumped on Linux Ubuntu Studio with my 2 GHz second hand computer. Just recently upgraded to 6 core AMD, but haven't bothered to figure out RAM options so it's just a single 4 GB for now. Admitting I'm not using synth plugins, mainly just sampler plugins for drums. I like to record hardware synths. But now before this gets too long I have to say: you don't have to pay thousands or even hundreds for a studio computer. Chasing the low latency computer with money is mostly waste of money. Instead I recommend getting a mixer and a reverb unit (or a mixer that has fx built in). A hundred bucks might do it. I'm still using Alesis MicroVerb II I bought in the 90's. It's great for jamming in the studio with the piano, as well as vocal monitor mix. Also, having at least some knobs at hand makes a lot of the studio experience. Every second you spend on screen finding for the knob you need can add to the mood, negatively.
Came here to watch you teach me how to record vocals properly and now what I want you to teach me is how to sing hahah btw great videos, found you today and watched some, and I subscribed, love the way you talk about these things
For quite awhile I have paused recordings in between really soft to really loud vocal parts to change the input of the mic to not clip on high screams or notes. So you use the limiter on the compressor to avoid this typically when going from very soft to loud within a take?
Does anyone else find it unnecessary to hear their processed voice while singing? I've just got the track playing quietly through headphones during the take, then I listen afterwards. The latency in my DAW is way too pronounced to do it any other way without sacrificing quality, and it feels better to get a good raw recording first then activate the effects later to really kick it up a notch.
I am agree with you. But when you don't have an external mixing desk and a reverb unit, this is the way to do. If not, you just need to adjust the buffer of your sound interface to 128 (the best) or 256, and all will be ok.
@@laurentlefeivre shortening the buffer in my case yields terrible clicking noises and glitches. For those stuck with the best setup we can currently afford, I feel like hearing your singing (with fx) in realtime is simply an unattainable luxury.
@@matt_glista Honestly it's not necessary 80% of the time in my experience so I totally agree. When I couldn't afford the equipment needed I would pretty much setup my vocal chain, do live takes of the hard parts I knew I needed to hear with the effects and then take them off while recording. The extra 3 minutes was worth it. I can now do live recording with vocal chain on but honestly I still like to record without it and the vocal pretty low in the back.
That's a VERY good point. Latency can really get in the way of this approach! In almost every setup though... there's a way to get the latency low enough to be manageable. Submit/print stuff... I've done that many times.. then you can lower the hardware buffer for less latency!
@@dnp41 I feel you. It will come, I promise you. Listening to new artists helps. As well as transposing. I try to get my song key to where the chorus is just at the top of my comfortable range. High baritone here. Not a lot of modern popular songs in my range, but they are out there.
You nail it brother.. have to hear your resonate ambiance .. if not .. I have personally lost voice do to bad studios, not being able to address what you just did..live and learn.. take care
@@dnp41 keep vocalising, it takes time but with the right practice and training it will improve. Pick songs and most importantly keys that fit your voice today. I always made that mistake of not doing that in the past.
Sir, I am beginner. I want to record my written poetry professionally. In which my line will go in high tone and will also come in low tone. Tell me such a mic and audio interface. So that I can record and mix later. My room is not sound proof. My total budget is $300. But a shopkeeper told me that you cannot do recording with dynamic mic. Please tell me what should I do. Tell me such a mic and audio interface that I will not regret after buying.
speaker bleed. this is very true. One time i heard a song and i heard the guy turning a lyric sheet. It is amazing what WE hear when we make make music. we notice everything. dont we?
That messes with me... but glad it works for you! It definitely works for a lot of people. I miss the immersion in my vocal mix when I take one ear off.
Why does my mic have a low end boxy sound when I have a 800$ mic with my whole signal chain being set up perfectly and my room is fully soundproofed and also my mic is set up in the middle of the room.
What about over-ear Noise Cancelling Headphones? Most of them have a mode where you just deactivate the cancelling and use them as microphones (to hear surroundings) while still isolating any "bleed".
As long as they don't kill your natural room environment for your ears! I've got some bose noise cancelling ones that still take too much room out even when the noice cancellation is OFF!
Me too. I thought this video gave perfect advice but even one effect added, created enough latency to distract me and tempt me to go off tempo. I googled it and changed DAW settings but that didn't help.
Nice job on mentioning not to get caught on having the cleanest recordings. It can work against you and stifle the process and sort of stop you in your tracks if your not careful.
How do I get rid of the horrible low end buzz as if an AC or fan is right next to mic) that drowns and kills my ears and kills my pitch accuracy? Every set of headphones I’ve used I have this problem. I’ve yet to figure out how to make it go away.
If you are stuck using a headset that bleeds, eq the backing track dark and cut as much of the highs as possible. With bass on small devices, proximity is everything. You will hear the lower frequencies fine but your mic won't. Adversely, the highs will be picked up quite well as they will carry much farther.
What a voice! It makes me think of Cornell. I'm about to record new tracks but so disappointed by my beyerdynamic drummer for vocals... I'm thinking about buying the akg for a try on my sm7b. Thx for the tips! Music will save us all!
I got three pair of the akg headphones you got there and they are pretty cheap today. Besides I never have my voice in my headphones I just sing anyway with only the music in there
Man.. if they didn't notice your great voice during the lesson, I feel sorry for them... Man.. I'd Love to write a song for you...Your singing throughout happily keeps distracting me from the lesson.. Thanks on both fronts.. time to rewind the track a bit... Great Video!
I switched to tracking vocals with open back And it's great. The only bleed is in between vocal lines and it's pretty minimal. I could cut it but it's so low it doesn't matter. Don't use a click I use drums. Used to pull one ear off using closed back phones if I was having issues connecting but wound up cranking the volume way too loud. W the open backs I'm able to keep the volume fairly low and still be immersed in both the music and my voice resonance simultaneously. And it's almost like someone else is singing to me in the room, I get to listen to the singer do his thing even though it's me actually doing it. Kind of lowers my inhibition a bit.It's very performance inspiring
Great point with the tonal click track. Now that I'm thinking about it, I almost feel like little pink noise clicks with the transient rolled off would be ideal.
I had a good chain going and still wasnt heating amy effects. I fixed that part Nd finally gotba bit of reverb and echo. Made a huge difference in mybconfidence. Im fine playing guitar and singing with a band or solo, alone in a room recording, i freeze up. Definitely helped dude
I use the AKG K240 and there's still way too much bleed. And then when I go to pitch correction, it of course has bleed. So I just use my westone in ears I use at church because those still allow me to feel the room, hear myself, and it completely isolates the vocals.
This was amazingly informative. Thank you! My A/D converter (Steinberg UR-44) is USB 2.0, so I have to rely on direct monitoring. But, I have the capability/software to add compression, EQ, and reverb to my vocal monitor mix when tracking, with the option to include or omit these FX from the signal that goes into the DAW. BUT I never bothered with any of it. DUH! Instead, I usually record with one headphone on an ear and the other headphone on the back of my head so that I can hear myself in quieter passages. Not sure why it never occurred to me to decrease the dynamic range with compression before. I stopped the video for a couple of minutes and set up a signal chain with compression, EQ, and reverb using an SM57, and headphones over both ears. Amazing. Your vocal gymnastics are awesome, but the knowledge you shared today (and the last video on Recording Rev) equals your vocal chops. Thanks again.
I have the UR-RT-4, and sm57, and monitoring through the room reverb set very short with a long 80ms pre delay so its more like a slapback. The polarity switch can change the perceived tone too!
it might be a legend, someone talks about the Fredie Mercury trick, he recorded the voice without the headphones, listening the base at a lower volume good to sing well, then recording only the mix -vocal on another track, at the end summing the two tracks inverting the polarity of base to eliminate the room effect on the voice in the final mix. To test, it wil be true ? :-)
i noticed when you got really loud the signal going was clipping. Is that something you worry about because i've been told by many engineers to not let this happen...
I curious if anyone knows how to make the headphone louder when monitoring. What I mean is that I have to turn my volume on my phone up almost all the way to hear myself over the headphones? My ears universally expel ear buds, there is not one pair that works, when you use over ear headphones for vocal monitoring you kinda have to have only one ear covered so you can hear yourself in real time. I really want to try these open back ones.
why does my heaphone when i sing sounds weird and different when i listen on the audio monitors? it makes my voice sound metallic, not in the way the monitors sound
I've loved Sony MDR-7506s for more than 20 years. I'm comfortable in every way with them and "know" them. I also have an old pair of AKG K141s that I never liked all that much. I guess it's time to really give the AKGs a chance. Chris Liepe hasn't steered me wrong once yet and I have a feeling this will keep his winning streak! Thank you Graham! (And Chris!)
THIS SIR, was an EXCELLENT video. THANK YOU! I've been trying to get my headphone mix dialed in for MONTHS! and have asked previous producers I've worked with etc. I'm using Logic Pro and Original Blue Baby Bottle and Apollo Twin interface. I have all the tools but just haven't been comfy cozy yet. YOU GET IT. I love the way you described everything from the vocalists point of view and understanding we go off of FEEL. Your pipes are great! I am also rangy and dynamic so again... so helpful and can't wait to try your tips.
Hi Chris, I LOVE your Videos! Two questions: 1) What mic is that you're using? 2) I have seen MANY famous Artists using a SM7 when recording vocals, and they are monitoring through the Studio Monitors, along with the entire mix, not using headphones. Do you believe that method works as well, and it keeps the vocalist from "holding back", (as I do when recording my vocals monitoring through me Sennheiser HD-600's)?
![How To Get Great Vocals From A Budget Mic [Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TB0Fvig32lQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![How To Get Great Vocals From A Budget Mic [Tutorial]](/img/tr.png)
Should be mandatory viewing for anyone engineering a vocal recording. No better way to get your singer comfortable than letting him/her go from a whisper to a scream without a concern.
YES
This guy is a terrific singer wow
Honestly, you have remarkable range and it’s crazy how relaxed you are when executing it, thanks for the information, very helpful.
His “how to sing like Geddy lee” video goes into a lot of his technique behind it. I can’t sing quite as high as he does, but I did gain a few notes after following the video. His technique is impeccable.
he's simply demonstrating he knows his intrument.
I think this is one of the rarest of the rare videos where technology is being demonstrated with a real time use case. Buddy, you've got an amazing clarity & Range to your voice.. This was a very interesting video. Many thanks for making it.
Volume level? If I play the tracks back softly to sing along, I sing too soft. If I crank up the tracks I tend to yell. How do you determine the best volume to monitor at?
This was very eye and ear opening! While I've been singing pretty much my whole life (I'm 51) I've never really thought about recording until recently as I've begun learning guitar. New subscriber.
Hey Chris! Do you have a video on perceived pitch? I've always had problems hearing the right pitch on headphones, hearing everything a little flat on headphones, compared to speakers, resulting in me singing just a little flat.
Hey thanks man, that's spot on! I just recorded vocals yesterday (after many years, yep!) with a new pair of really tight headphones, and I heard very loudly and somewhat organically the very-low-end... and predominantly... which was distracting me from concentrating on delivering the right pitch (we don't hear the pitch very well in the lower-end)... I thought I needed to use the EQ to correct that, until I discovered it was physically resonating in my chest or in my upper-torso bones and it was heard mostly "bio-internally"... because of the tight headphones! So I searched YT today to find a confirmation of that problem and a solution. Your video confirmed the importance of hearing the actual direct room environment, and that is exactly what I have discovered yesterday! I learned from you that there are specific headphones for that purpose, thanks so much! I didn't know that, after all these years (I'm not a pro audio guy)...! I'll first try with my in-ear headphones that came with my old Samsung cellphone, then maybe purchase your semi-open AKG headphones. Very nice channel BTW!
Thanks! Now i just need a more isolated space to learn singing without disturbing the neighbors 👌🏻
I was having the same issue since I live in a apartment. What I do now is drive to a secluded location in my car and sing in my car. You could also record vocals in your car to if you have a laptop. It’s easier if you have an suv.
😂
Ya that's BIG (the small space, neighbors thing) ... I was in that situation for many years with multiple living situations. In each case, I had to just MAKE FRIENDS with my neighbors, have conversations about it... that "this is what I do" and it was always a really positive experience. I made good friends! People started being interested in what I was doing... it was really cool
@@chrisliepe I haven’t found out what my neighbors think of my King Diamond-esque shrieking 😮
@@chrisliepe thats dope! I should try that out
I always sound good in my room but as soon as I put headphones on to record, I have a hard time getting a good balance of being able to hear my voice in the room and the music. Then I tend to either over sing to compensate or start to lose pitch on certain notes. Hoping those semi-open headphones will help.
Same, any solution?
@@ririthereal I've tried wearing the headphones on 1 ear so the other ear is free to hear my natural voice in the room. Sometimes I get good results, sometimes I don't.
I actually just ordered the headphones Chris recommended in this video. AKG K240. They are semi-open so you get some isolation but not so much that you can't hear what's going on in the room.
Awesome vid, thanks! Q: My local store has the AKG K240S and the AKG K240 Mkii? Which one are your referring to?
Thanks for good tips. How loud do you have the vocals compared to the mix when recording? And how loud in the headphones in total?
This video was EXACTLY what I needed as I have been feeling stumped with recording vocals. Thank you 🙏
You're so welcome!
as a fellow voice coach...just wanted to say..your voice is amazing!
I am seeking a vo coach how can I contact you
I concur... was really surprised to hear this great voice. With the track, it reminded me a litte of Jimi Hendrix. Great pipes.
@@BorisBerlin That's because it's an instrumental of Hey Joe
@@Taylor-ip6ek Ooops... that's explains it, LOL!
Definitely! I love his voice too! My own voice is more classical-oriented, but I can definitely appreciate an awesome rock vocal.
I've been following recording techniques here and on other UA-cam channels for several years. This was one of the very the first times where I tried the recommended technique and immediately got marked improvements on recording a vocal. Excellent advice! Thank you so much.
Thanks for the great video! I just ordered the AKG K240 headphones based on your recommendation. I've been using the Vic Firth isolating headphones and not always feeling quite right while singing...taking one ear off, then changing my mind and putting it back on. Hopefully like you said, these will be a good balance and help me sing better. I've never tried compressing the vocal while I record, and I want to give that a try too. Sounds like a great approach. - - One thing I do that helps me a lot is dimming the lights. I like it so dark I can barely see the microphone. I like to try to get lost in the song, forget about my body and the room, envision what's going on in the story/song and become a part of it.
and thats how my eardrum was torn. 😂
with low either low parts, plus the bass boost plus the isolation...
I’ve been doing the same thing with the Vic Firth headphones! It’s been so frustrating. I ordered the K240s too and am stoked
These headphones are discontinued. Can't find 'em new. What's your fallback recommendation?
Thanks for this!
I hate hps.. I'd rather record to low volume monitors with a sm7 smashed double gatted ..
Agreed. I’m having real trouble with intonation when using closed back headphones. I’ll be trying some different approaches.
Writing down everything to try in my homestudio. Thank you. NOt easy sometimes to feel comfortable recording vocals. BTW, your voice is amazing!! :0
You didn't mention the biggest obstacle when doing monitoring with vst plugins: latency. I use a RME ADAT Soundcard and I get a 3ms roundtrip, which is pretty low, but the latency still feels distracting to me. So what I usually do is monitor my voice directly via hardware and throw only vst plugins like reverb and delay in on a send channel in my DAW. I would love to hear what values you have, when you do your inthebox monitoring. Thank You!
Great idea!
@@chrisliepe So, what's your roundtrip in ms? Are you fine with the latency issue?
best solution for that long term problem for me: using audient id22 you can direct monitor the mic dry and then use daw for reverb etc, so just don't send the mic signal coming in to master. Close to zero latency monitoring on any computer :P
@@callmedeno hell yeah, fellow id22 user
Feel like there aren't many of us on the internet, in an ocean of focusrite people lol
We still in dis bish 😤
yeah but like... how do I even monitor with 0 latency through my headphones? lol
been recording for 10 years and still haven't figured that out.
AMEN!!!!! I have been TORTURED trying to record in extremeIy isoIating headphones. It's torture!!!!!
Something I had started doing is throwing up a stereo pair of mics in the room when recording vocals, positioned as if recording drum overheads or rooms, and feeding those just into my monitor mix. My brain locks onto pitch far more accurately, and you can control the exact blend of room in your ears without having to worry about the right kind of bleed or using reverb plugins and having to think about latency, etc. Seems to work really well if you happen to have a pair. I use SDCs, but I'm sure it wouldn't matter what kind.
Holy god, your voice is beautiful & thanks for the guide.
Thank you and you're so welcome!
What I do myself, is use very isolating headphones, but then add loud room early reflections to the vocal and a bit to the click. It then sounds like you're in the room, and the vocals "pop out" of the mix in your head, allowing you to hear yourself and your pitch better, and get no bleed.
Try it. It works.
Ya, been there... I can see how some would love this... it still messes with me. I love to hear the actual room added... putting it in the mix isn't the same for me for some reason
Doh! I just asked this question on one of your other videos, but it was meant for this video.
How do you set this up? I don’t know how to put effects onto the vocal channel, so you can hear them while you sing but they don’t get recorded, baked in. I’m working in pro tools, I need a step by step guide. Have you got one?
Many thanks by the way this and your other videos are great.
What microphone is that you're using looks Neumanish but could also be an AT or Slate.
Mojave MA300
Can semi open back headphones be similar to taking closed back and pushing off slightly on 1 ear so I hear the room? That's how ive been doing it to stay on pitch
That's an ok compromise if you need to, but the problem with the "one ear off" approach is that you cheat yourself out being "in your headphone mix" ... It is imbalanced and you can't be immersed in your sound. But lots of people do this if their headphones are too stifling
This has been done for decades. Works for me.
Awesome vocals Chris. Thanks for the content. I'm not a singer, but rather a voice actor and deal with many of the same challenges as singers when in the studio.
Exactly why I watched the video and downloaded the PDF.
HOLY S#%& !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE BALD ????????????
Wow, things have changed !
awesome video !
Great vid, but not a word about latency? I found solving latency problems to be critical. Singers hear their "head voices" alongside the headphones, and if the headphone signal is even SLIGHTLY late, it can sound very "phasey" and off-putting. Even at 48 samples, you can hear hear the phasing. I've fixed this by using direct-from-interface mic monitoring, which unfortunately limits my ability to compress vocals, but I can still add effects like reverb and delay to the headphones from the DAW software. Depending on your DAW and interface, this could be a little tricky, but doing so has definitely improved most singers' experiences at my studio.
How to handle bleed... just don’t care about it
Chris you have an outstanding voice. And these tips help take some of the pressure off. Graham and Chris, thanks for everything.
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing this info, and by the way, I luv your voice! I have been a pro vocalist for many years, and have studio work. So, I finally have a great pc a great audio interface, and Ableton. All I really want to accomplish at this point, is lay a vocal track on a backing track to create my own demos. I cannot seem to figure out how to get effects on my vocals in my headphones in real time. I am not sure if these DAWS just can't do it prerecording, or I am an idiot, but I am wasting so much precious time dealing with this. I refuse to accept that I cannot hear effects while monitoring. That's retarded and I have never had to record hearing myself dry. Any advice would be oh so appreciated! Thank you! Lil hugs
I've always used outdated computers. Even a 2 GHz dual core with 2 GB RAM was ok for recording and mixing. And of course in the past it was less. I started with a 200 MHz computer, and I remember it could do 8 track recording safely. One of the keys back then was the audio hardware and software quality and compatibility. And I guess it still is.
Going on with zero to low budget, I jumped on Linux Ubuntu Studio with my 2 GHz second hand computer. Just recently upgraded to 6 core AMD, but haven't bothered to figure out RAM options so it's just a single 4 GB for now. Admitting I'm not using synth plugins, mainly just sampler plugins for drums. I like to record hardware synths.
But now before this gets too long I have to say: you don't have to pay thousands or even hundreds for a studio computer. Chasing the low latency computer with money is mostly waste of money. Instead I recommend getting a mixer and a reverb unit (or a mixer that has fx built in). A hundred bucks might do it. I'm still using Alesis MicroVerb II I bought in the 90's. It's great for jamming in the studio with the piano, as well as vocal monitor mix. Also, having at least some knobs at hand makes a lot of the studio experience. Every second you spend on screen finding for the knob you need can add to the mood, negatively.
My voice is the hardest thing about recording
Came here to watch you teach me how to record vocals properly and now what I want you to teach me is how to sing hahah
btw great videos, found you today and watched some, and I subscribed, love the way you talk about these things
man your voice sounds similar to Devin Townsend, arent you influenced by him by any chance?
YES! and Thank you!
Wasn't expecting to hear the voice of God today. Thanks guy.
For quite awhile I have paused recordings in between really soft to really loud vocal parts to change the input of the mic to not clip on high screams or notes. So you use the limiter on the compressor to avoid this typically when going from very soft to loud within a take?
I’m not a starving child from Yemen, but I did love the video, thanks!
😂 So few will get this now that those spammy comments are gone.
@@matt_glista yeah only the early gang
Does anyone else find it unnecessary to hear their processed voice while singing? I've just got the track playing quietly through headphones during the take, then I listen afterwards. The latency in my DAW is way too pronounced to do it any other way without sacrificing quality, and it feels better to get a good raw recording first then activate the effects later to really kick it up a notch.
It can help us stay on pitch.
But yeah, my DAW can’t process and record at the same time.
My PC is not that good 😵
I am agree with you. But when you don't have an external mixing desk and a reverb unit, this is the way to do. If not, you just need to adjust the buffer of your sound interface to 128 (the best) or 256, and all will be ok.
@@laurentlefeivre shortening the buffer in my case yields terrible clicking noises and glitches. For those stuck with the best setup we can currently afford, I feel like hearing your singing (with fx) in realtime is simply an unattainable luxury.
@@matt_glista Honestly it's not necessary 80% of the time in my experience so I totally agree. When I couldn't afford the equipment needed I would pretty much setup my vocal chain, do live takes of the hard parts I knew I needed to hear with the effects and then take them off while recording. The extra 3 minutes was worth it. I can now do live recording with vocal chain on but honestly I still like to record without it and the vocal pretty low in the back.
That's a VERY good point. Latency can really get in the way of this approach! In almost every setup though... there's a way to get the latency low enough to be manageable. Submit/print stuff... I've done that many times.. then you can lower the hardware buffer for less latency!
Headphones/monitoring included... What would you say your biggest challenge is when recording YOUR vocals?
That I can't sing in tune and write melodies that don't fit my voice
@@dnp41 I feel you. It will come, I promise you. Listening to new artists helps. As well as transposing. I try to get my song key to where the chorus is just at the top of my comfortable range. High baritone here. Not a lot of modern popular songs in my range, but they are out there.
You nail it brother.. have to hear your resonate ambiance .. if not .. I have personally lost voice do to bad studios, not being able to address what you just did..live and learn.. take care
Latency when monitoring through my daw.... and also and trying to get the balance right
@@dnp41 keep vocalising, it takes time but with the right practice and training it will improve. Pick songs and most importantly keys that fit your voice today. I always made that mistake of not doing that in the past.
Sir, I am beginner. I want to record my written poetry professionally. In which my line will go in high tone and will also come in low tone. Tell me such a mic and audio interface. So that I can record and mix later. My room is not sound proof. My total budget is $300. But a shopkeeper told me that you cannot do recording with dynamic mic. Please tell me what should I do. Tell me such a mic and audio interface that I will not regret after buying.
speaker bleed. this is very true. One time i heard a song and i heard the guy turning a lyric sheet. It is amazing what WE hear when we make make music. we notice everything. dont we?
I hope this comes across in the spirit of helpful. What you heard was not "speaker bleed." The turning page was picked up directly be the mic.
I wear headphones when recording, one ear i hear other ear i hear my self and record, works 🌪️🔥♥️🙏
That messes with me... but glad it works for you! It definitely works for a lot of people. I miss the immersion in my vocal mix when I take one ear off.
Really fantastic advice and amazing demonstration - Thank you!
Why does my mic have a low end boxy sound when I have a 800$ mic with my whole signal chain being set up perfectly and my room is fully soundproofed and also my mic is set up in the middle of the room.
What about over-ear Noise Cancelling Headphones? Most of them have a mode where you just deactivate the cancelling and use them as microphones (to hear surroundings) while still isolating any "bleed".
As long as they don't kill your natural room environment for your ears! I've got some bose noise cancelling ones that still take too much room out even when the noice cancellation is OFF!
That's soul singing, that's beyond diaphragm 😂❤❤❤
I’m curious how you managed to
Avoid latency while
Recording with the plugins directly on your audio track like the compressor chain for example.
Me too. I thought this video gave perfect advice but even one effect added, created enough latency to distract me and tempt me to go off tempo. I googled it and changed DAW settings but that didn't help.
Nice job on mentioning not to get caught on having the cleanest recordings. It can work against you and stifle the process and sort of stop you in your tracks if your not careful.
It's like watching a young John Malkovich who can sing. Add that to being an audiophile and tech whizz in the studio? Kudos! :)
How do I get rid of the horrible low end buzz as if an AC or fan is right next to mic) that drowns and kills my ears and kills my pitch accuracy? Every set of headphones I’ve used I have this problem. I’ve yet to figure out how to make it go away.
If you are stuck using a headset that bleeds, eq the backing track dark and cut as much of the highs as possible. With bass on small devices, proximity is everything. You will hear the lower frequencies fine but your mic won't. Adversely, the highs will be picked up quite well as they will carry much farther.
What a voice! It makes me think of Cornell.
I'm about to record new tracks but so disappointed by my beyerdynamic drummer for vocals...
I'm thinking about buying the akg for a try on my sm7b.
Thx for the tips!
Music will save us all!
I got three pair of the akg headphones you got there and they are pretty cheap today. Besides I never have my voice in my headphones I just sing anyway with only the music in there
NICE
Man.. if they didn't notice your great voice during the lesson, I feel sorry for them... Man.. I'd Love to write a song for you...Your singing throughout happily keeps distracting me from the lesson.. Thanks on both fronts.. time to rewind the track a bit... Great Video!
I'm actually looking for a co-writer. I'd love to connect!
google me :)
I switched to tracking vocals with open back And it's great. The only bleed is in between vocal lines and it's pretty minimal. I could cut it but it's so low it doesn't matter. Don't use a click I use drums. Used to pull one ear off using closed back phones if I was having issues connecting but wound up cranking the volume way too loud. W the open backs I'm able to keep the volume fairly low and still be immersed in both the music and my voice resonance simultaneously. And it's almost like someone else is singing to me in the room, I get to listen to the singer do his thing even though it's me actually doing it. Kind of lowers my inhibition a bit.It's very performance inspiring
That sounds good! Looking for tips on how to improve the experience for vocalist.
this dude ALWAYS gotta flex his amazing voice every video lmao. Like audioslave mixed with jesus or something
Great point with the tonal click track. Now that I'm thinking about it, I almost feel like little pink noise clicks with the transient rolled off would be ideal.
Pov ur recording with telephone (rookie mistake)
What exactly are you saying you don't like about the Vic Firths?
I had a good chain going and still wasnt heating amy effects. I fixed that part Nd finally gotba bit of reverb and echo. Made a huge difference in mybconfidence. Im fine playing guitar and singing with a band or solo, alone in a room recording, i freeze up. Definitely helped dude
What's your opinion on Audio-Technica's ATH-M40x?
Wait.. What?! Some people actually use click when recording vocals?
12:00 I thought he was dropping an F bomb 🤣🤣
I use the AKG K240 and there's still way too much bleed. And then when I go to pitch correction, it of course has bleed. So I just use my westone in ears I use at church because those still allow me to feel the room, hear myself, and it completely isolates the vocals.
If you can accept a feedback you might mit like, say so...
@@MrKulturembargo yeah if you have any suggestions go right ahead
Wtf is westone
@@TheSpeedyr6 www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AmPro20--westone-am-pro-20-ambient-earphones-clear?mrkgadid=3280890931&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=livesound&lighting&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046934995709&lid=92700046934995709&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283820792&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=426884694463&product_id=AmPro20&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=1016216&creative=226299461201&targetid=aud-297527862170:pla-426884694463&campaignid=953755110&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7y5QUJIfEcfScvSHsCmmkFBPPO1137eb4O3u1ckxXJ9H2m-IUqSAJYaApUeEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Clearly, talent is the key factor. Nonetheless, thanks for the very helpful video.
Those headphones would have been perfect for me during my last recording session. Thanks for this video!
You're so welcome!
This was amazingly informative. Thank you!
My A/D converter (Steinberg UR-44) is USB 2.0, so I have to rely on direct monitoring. But, I have the capability/software to add compression, EQ, and reverb to my vocal monitor mix when tracking, with the option to include or omit these FX from the signal that goes into the DAW. BUT I never bothered with any of it.
DUH!
Instead, I usually record with one headphone on an ear and the other headphone on the back of my head so that I can hear myself in quieter passages. Not sure why it never occurred to me to decrease the dynamic range with compression before.
I stopped the video for a couple of minutes and set up a signal chain with compression, EQ, and reverb using an SM57, and headphones over both ears. Amazing.
Your vocal gymnastics are awesome, but the knowledge you shared today (and the last video on Recording Rev) equals your vocal chops.
Thanks again.
I have the UR-RT-4, and sm57, and monitoring through the room reverb set very short with a long 80ms pre delay so its more like a slapback. The polarity switch can change the perceived tone too!
@@StevieBoyesmusic Thanks, Steve. I'll give that a try.
Can anyone here recommend a good budget Mic for recording. When I say budget I mean around $80-$100.
Sure SM58
Akg has a budget model condenser mic
There was an advertisement for a vocal course at the end of this video, but when I went to the link, it no longer works :-(
you sound like Devin townsend.> One of my favs.>
Thanks!
it might be a legend, someone talks about the Fredie Mercury trick, he recorded the voice without the headphones, listening the base at a lower volume good to sing well, then recording only the mix -vocal on another track, at the end summing the two tracks inverting the polarity of base to eliminate the room effect on the voice in the final mix. To test, it wil be true ? :-)
There's some great questions in the comments, I just wish they were answered 🤦♂️ Its always like that.
i noticed when you got really loud the signal going was clipping. Is that something you worry about because i've been told by many engineers to not let this happen...
or don't use a click when doing the vocals. it's really not necessary. it's really only necessary when doing the drums.
I curious if anyone knows how to make the headphone louder when monitoring. What I mean is that I have to turn my volume on my phone up almost all the way to hear myself over the headphones?
My ears universally expel ear buds, there is not one pair that works, when you use over ear headphones for vocal monitoring you kinda have to have only one ear covered so you can hear yourself in real time. I really want to try these open back ones.
Please don't do the high-pitched screaming . . . Please don't do the high-pitched screaming . . . Please don't do . . . oohhh . . . you're doing it, again . . . the high-pitched screaming . . . 😁
Well how about recording with airpods max with transparency mode on so you can hear the room without bleeding into the mic😂😂
Man, wish my FL would give me instant feedback would be nice
Apollo twin solved my issues-
Get any interface that has dsp effects that you hear before it even goes into your computer-
You bastard, what an intro with that awesome voice 😀I can't sing to save my life, thanks for the info
What band do you sing in? Would you be interetsed in doing a song with us? I'd listen to any song you've release, have you?
Have you tried the beyerdynamic 880s? Any opinion?
Congrats, what a voice.... and amazing tips, thx
I need help with audio-technica bp40 to get the best audio for stream/podcast
did you see my video from last week? That should be able to help you dial that in a little better for sure!
I love that Jeff Buckley's vibe. Great.
I love Jeff Buckley!
Also you must have your gain down pretty low to scream into the mic with no compression before it hits the converters...?
why does my heaphone when i sing sounds weird and different when i listen on the audio monitors? it makes my voice sound metallic, not in the way the monitors sound
it would be interesting to see the split screen of meters during your vocal environment performance test .
Agreed!
Regarding the click...I use a kick drum...very helpful in eliminating any bleed.
Please what DAW do you use to record and make music
U dont need any effect wat a voc god gifted❤❤❤
I've loved Sony MDR-7506s for more than 20 years. I'm comfortable in every way with them and "know" them. I also have an old pair of AKG K141s that I never liked all that much. I guess it's time to really give the AKGs a chance. Chris Liepe hasn't steered me wrong once yet and I have a feeling this will keep his winning streak! Thank you Graham! (And Chris!)
THIS SIR, was an EXCELLENT video. THANK YOU! I've been trying to get my headphone mix dialed in for MONTHS! and have asked previous producers I've worked with etc. I'm using Logic Pro and Original Blue Baby Bottle and Apollo Twin interface. I have all the tools but just haven't been comfy cozy yet. YOU GET IT. I love the way you described everything from the vocalists point of view and understanding we go off of FEEL. Your pipes are great! I am also rangy and dynamic so again... so helpful and can't wait to try your tips.
Where can I find some MPC tone to download?
Hi Chris, I LOVE your Videos!
Two questions:
1) What mic is that you're using?
2) I have seen MANY famous Artists using a SM7 when recording vocals, and they are monitoring through the Studio Monitors, along with the entire mix, not using headphones. Do you believe that method works as well, and it keeps the vocalist from "holding back", (as I do when recording my vocals monitoring through me Sennheiser HD-600's)?
Seems Chris can't reply much, but at 8:05 he mentioned the mic in this video: Mojave MA-300.
lol it does help to be an awesome singer
I could never sing like that in my bedroom lol