Creating vocal stacks with Kuk Harrell
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2021
- Full video available exclusively on mwtm.org/kh-for-you
A sneak peek of Kuk Harrell's 'Inside The Track' series in which he shares his masterful approach to arranging and blending backing vocals.
We're thrilled to release our first ever series with the prestigious vocal producer, songwriter, arranger, and engineer Kuk Harrell! Hosted at Sphere Studios in Hollywood, this installment dives deep into the art and science of evoking, capturing, and embellishing a vocal performance. Referencing the multi-track vocal session of 'For You' by Why Don't We, Harrell auditions the demo recording, gives his opinion, then shares how he tracked and produced the material. He takes you through the various parts of the intricate pop vocal, comprising five male leads, octave doubles, harmonies, and ad-libs. He comments on the project from both a musical and technical standpoint - melodies, structure, stacking, tuning, tracking chains, plug-ins, and much more. Aside from teaching the key elements of his workflow, Kuk imparts his wisdom on the social and psychological aspects of coaxing the best possible take out of an artist in the studio.
Full video available exclusively on mwtm.org/kh-for-you
Step 1: have an insanely good vocal
**many insanely good vocal takes in varying styles
I am sure these tracks are autotuned
@@JacobZirkin But they are well perform I think they say
Agreed they are well performed
step 0 hahah
That has always been my weakness not being that good a figuring out the right harmonies. I worked with a really good producer one time that had me singing all these different parts harmonies 5 parts I had no idea how he figured all these different notes out. He used an acoustic guitar hitting single notes and would have me go back in the booth and tell me to sing this line like this and he would hum the notes. After it was all done I sounded like I had a choir behind me. Then there is the whole little parts in between parts to fill gaps up. I really appreciate your talents. Sounds amazing.
We start to realize how much goes into these hot songs. The DAW looks crazy, AlL those bars
@@Keviekev115 I knew it was complex cuz I can hear it🤣☝
Kuk is a legend don't sweat it. I like to use the keyboard if I can't feel it out in my head. Once you can hear the root note of the stack part you're doing it's 100x easier.
It's not hard
You can use a plugin like Melodyne or Antares' harmonizer to figure out the harmonies you like and then go back and record them. I find it sounds better if you record over it because the plugins sound too robotic. Hope that helps!
More of Kuk Please and more vocal production series.
Get it on mix with the masters
As a Swede, his name makes me giggle.
Hehe. As a Norwegian, I concur
I honestly can't believe how many people are hearing his name for the first time. This man is one of the best vocal engineers of all time
god bless google translator for i get it 😄
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
@@svengali5862 bro I just checked his discography and I was like 😮
The biggest part of Kuk Harrell’s success in mixing and being a master at it-is he has exceptional feel... Do you see the way he moves his head, shoulders and body while listening back to his mix choices!?
This gentleman has supernatural feel.
You just can’t teach that... Music feel, confidence in decision making and general wisdom are all earned, on the job, through experience.
FAAACTSSS
Wowwwww. I unfortunately have never heard of Mr. Harrell and since this incredibly dense lesson in mastering sparked my interest, I looked him up and his credentials are just STUPID. Holy hell. This guy is a genuine icon and I appreciate some insight into how he made all these hits. Instantly a new favorite.
This guy’s catalog is crazy if you know you know!
RedZone team was crazy with it. The Dream, Tricky, and Kuk. Fiyaaa
Old school tricks🔥🔥💯 “pan hard left and right right away “
It's stupid and amateur trick. Your left and right vocal needs to be different in dynamic, if you have same copy of the vocal in center, left and right it sounds like crap. Yeah it sounds better than mono vocal but it will sound 100 times better if left and right vocal is different and unique.
@@nickepic1863 I think you still need to learn about pitch and tone... How they effect the dynamic of an audio, combined with compression and automation you can bring a feel that is different in texture.
@@nickepic1863 facts 💯
@@robert_tee Pitch and tone has nothing to do with this, and it would sound stupid if left vocal is differently pitched than rest of a song. You need new take on vocals with different mic setup than main vocal take, you need different FX and many other things. That is how you make better and wide vocals not by copy paste same thing.
@@nickepic1863 He didn't copy it, he recorded two different takes and panned them hard left and right
This is GREAT vocal production wow
Damn this was so good, I needed this. Also, the enthusiasm on the playback was good to see lol most engineers play their mix back and look uninterested or emotionless.
It's the best way to listen objectively
Completly offtopic but you just gotta love those little head moves!
He is feeling it
KUK! So good seeing him on here. I know him mostly from producing Rihanna’s song, ‘Umbrella.’ Insanely good vocal producer.
I YELLED at my computer when that high track came in... so good
No matter what style you mix, that’s amazing :)
6:08 he's spitting facts. Seriously though, that was informative.
lol
at 2:25 he really be spittin
lolz
Beast!! Great voice and insanely cool parts. Respect.................🙌🏾
you make swing the vocals , CRAZY work !! Thanks for share !
7:26 - Amazing insight about when to use vocal stacks. Kuk is a legend 👑
It's always reassuring when I already know everything he was talking about
But can you apply it.
@@nr126 I mean yes, because I know what he's talking about
@@nr126 *You are miserable, aren't you?*
as long as you enjoy what you do, everything will be fine ❤
Incredible sounding and incredible information. Thank you!
I love it 🙏🏾 thanks a million for sharing this knowledge.
Im about to record the singers for my album and this came in perfect timing! Very useful
amazing and thank you for stacking tips in studio.
Wow! The best video and info i have ever seen on the topic till now.. as a beginner, I appr3ciatr a lot his calm way of talking with stright forward, to-the-point quick information.
Thanks man!
It would be so great, if you could show us all the different examples of harmonies with vocal ttacks for different singers and for different songs. Maybe in separate videos. That would be so amazing..
Love this. Very concrete demonstration of how to do stacking, and how to create movement with the arrangement of the stacks (some notes are only doubled, some have the full stack, etc.). I've really struggled to understand how many layers to add, and how to treat them. Thank you so much!
This video was much more informative than the last one. Thank you.
Whenever he listens back to the track he gives me life 😂🔥
This guy is incredible!
It sounds so nice😮
He's a genius and a legend.
This dude is on another level! Im trying to follow along but his expertise is honestly intimidating at times 😅
This is too beautiful
This is pretty neat.
Thanks, Man! Will definitely use these tricks.
this is so beautiful
Mas Videos Asi Este Es Un Maestro 🔥🔥💯
I love the passion
Great information & lesson. Thank You. 🔥🔥🔥
Kuk is a genius.
🤭
Sounds so good 😁
Great information. Thank you so much
Doctor! Amazing vocals
Soooooo Good!!!! I love this!!
Amazing information
the best ive seen so far.super.sound.great.help.to.me.thank you .
true work of art
This is really a great video, very informative. Appreciate the share.⚡️🌪⚡️
Straight gems 💎 ✨ 😌
never worked with vocalist this good
I love this
Wonderful.. Thank you
so good, thank you
Wow!!! Stupid good, and opens up creatively
This Man Is Genius!!!!
This is Why dont we, such amazing artists
Great Video🔥🔥🔥Thank You🙌🙌.
his reputation is so fucking well deserved it aint even funny
i always focus on how many harmonies to put in, and max i always go for was 2 for each note L and R, guess this just shows that ive been thinking about the notes when i was supposed to think about the microseconds of timings in each track that would make it sound big
learning this in school
Wow 👏🏻 nice and good advices
Nah working alongside with you would be a blessings at this moment 🎵🔥
Thank you!
Thank you.
very good insights
Good video I do this in my Studio. Nice job
This guy would be popular in Sweden
Why
cus he in the den makin shit sweet
@@yvesdje820 kuk in swedish means d..k
amazing
Fire🔥thanks
This is the way right here! LOL! Mastery for real!
thank you!
Great content
Thank yuu so fucking much I been FUCKING my vocals up for 5 YEARS Daym on moms this shit elevated my damn thinking on vocals. Used to think vocals were so simple and the beat was so complex but I been ending up putting too much shit at once for my beat and my vocal mixing and stacking were lackin. I just wrote a song too if I finish it imma fucking credit him and yuur channel no cap 🧢 one luv 🙏🏼💯
Go off with the cross fade 😩
Thank you
That song was my favorite from that album and it makes sense lol. I was confused why they didn't do harmonies like that on their other tracks and it's bc Kuk was behind that song and not the others.
You should also release a record kuk 😎 🤙
Very helpful ❤️🙏
Sukriya
5:06 this is magic
Someone needs to show BRANDY that last part when shes Producing herself she stacks now just because she can not really because the song needs it
Yeahhhh she’s in her I’m doing what I want phase clearly and she’s earned it lol
that's her signature style lol I literally listen to her music for the harmonies
@101Zatch it was always over seen by producers and arrangers during the process but when shes producing herself she over does it ...she cant sing borderline live because shes turned the whole song into a harmony chorus basically
Nice !!!
Nice harmony’s
Kuk is not only an ancient Egyptian deity, it's also a word in Swedish that people here would avoid as a name ...
Other than that it's a great video about vocal stacking. Mr Harrell knows what he's doing, no doubt.
What does it mean
@@theboy1625 Slim jim
@@theboy1625 It's slang for penis. Same in Norwegian.
@@kensmechanicalaffair It literally means cock in swedish. And yes, I am serious and not trolling.
Just watch the video and learn something silly 😜 🤷🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️
really useful ty
Thanks boss
Kuk can sing too!
THANKS
"most of the records we do with Rihanna" does Kuk know something we don't 👀👀👀
It’s a well known fact Rihanna doesn’t sing like 50% of her songs
@Anne Day yea, I realised he probably wasn't referring to unreleased Rihanna moreso the song that are already released
@@TheBlashMusic why d you say that? im pretty sure all leads are her. background vocals are often by background singers
@@TheBlashMusic that’s a lie
Thanks
Legend
For me, the best vocal producer ❤️🎶
max martin too🖤
@@PrimeValenzuela overrated
True! Love his work on Melodrama so much!
@@bhaveshtochabbra6853 Pahaha how? He's the best out there.
@@bw2937 oh i was just having bad day and wanted to argue with someone lol. No one cared. I like him.
Note for your editor. Please stop doing a picture in picture while we are watching his screen. there is valuable info being lost because I cant see what is happening in the program, because of the positioning of 2nd angle.
I love how it take 4 minutes for him to tell us how he pans the vocals left and right
With that kind of attitude, I'm willing to bet you missed something sitting there thinking you know it all.
@@queenhenry3314 yep lol
Wtf amazing
Is each stack a separate vocal track? This sounds wonderful. I don’t do vocals often but I like how full this sounds.
@desdentado9 music and it also causes phasing if you duplicate the same tracks on top of each other
@@CanadianBully What if you double the track and add delay. Would that reduce the odds of phasing issues? (btw I’m a different SH lol)
@@SH-jv5uf it would still phase as long as it’s the same wave, ur best bet is to pitch it down or up an octave so it acts as a harmonic vocal
@@SH-jv5ufa double of the same thing does nothing for layering. You can do whatever tricks you want and it doesn't matter
Nice...
I found this super interesting i naturally have good pitch correction but never had a engineer that can smooth n blend my vocals 🥶🥶
Goat 💪🏾
Yes sir🔥
mennn I love that background art lead .small voice