Eminem Vocal Effect

[Lyrical Myracle]

I have two theories to how Eminem records his vocals. Theory One: He records his verses two or three times on different audio tracks, pans them all to the center, and leaves one track to be his main vocal track. The other track(s) are set a few decibels below the main track. All tracks are compressed tightly and equalized with a few dBs above 0 from 1K to 10K. Theory Two: Eminem records his verses one time, excluding choruses, and uses a specialized doubling VST effect that allows for the separate equalization of both stereo channels.

 

[OnceMe]

Yeah, and someone said like your voice will not be the same as EMinem's voice. Well that true, but still he can use the same technique as eminem. Its still technique doesnt have to do nothing with the voice. You can imitate your voice in other scale range or even pitch. So give a shoot, try composing, not just rapping around.

 

[Torrio]

When I would record vocals I do 1 regular track, 1 dub track highlighting certain words, another dub track highlighting words panned to the left and then another dub track highlighting certain words panned to the right! Always came out great and like many of you said before its all about emotion and the way the artist delivers. The right compression on a vocal can make it stand out too with the right EQ. I heard Michael Jackson would record a bunch of crazy vocal tracks. He also would do a whisper track.

 

[ScorchinBeats]

SMH. I think in the persuit of some profound secret to recording, people manage to overlook common simplicity.

He rapped the song the way it sounds recorded. That's why it sounds the same when you hear it live.

Put on a pair of headphones and just vibe to it.

You can tell he's layered a coulple doubles over some words he wanted emphasized. He also used delay(or manually repaeated)a few words for atmospehere of the song.

There are parts where he yells, parts where he impersonates the voice of his naysayers, ect.

This is called RECORDING.

This is why it can't be done in the living room of an apartment where neigbors will knock on the wall and tell you to shut up, or your mom will bang on your door and ask you what you're doing.

There is no "trick" or "secret" to recording good vocals. It's all in the performance. And although in 2000 that was a great mix, anyone with a daw and a $200 USB mic can achieve something close to it in 2010. If they give the equivalent performance.

Bingo. If he was rapping 4 takes, or even 2 through the whole song it would sound strange. Phasing issues, timing issues, etc.

Of course there are a few techniques they use:

-Duplicate the track twice, pan the extras to the side and process them heavily to avoid phasing

-Auotune/Pitch correction

-2 or 3 compressors, the first one mild then the second one heavier

-eq to cut some mids, boost the highs get a more agressive tone

-Comping (having multiple takes and taking the best parts of each one and making one final performance)

-If you want to be like Eminem, you gotta pretend you ARE him. shout into the damn mic, be agressive and think about something that makes you angry while you're rapping or something. One of the reasons that Em (used to) have such emotion in his tracks is because he was rapping about his kids and drugs and sh*t like that


EDIT: And pitch. Make sure to have the same pitch as Em when you're rapping. Yes, even rap has a base pitch

 

[StrictlyBiznez]

^Reaaaal talk. Emotion is so key with Eminem's voice, it's not as easy as shouting. You gotta think like you're talking to the mic, and this is why it's always best to write your own bars because youfeel them a lot more. If you feel pissed spitting, don't be afraid to shout. One track I did was like an argument with myself so I went aggressive and then midway i "calmed" myself down. It sounds really weird like a schizo but they say the best art is crazy.

 

[b1fg54fg]

Opticom MKII Compressor

A compressor made by Acme Audio.

“It brings out hidden emotions in Eminem’s vocal performance, Aggressive without being disruptive. Easy level matching and easy gain bypass set up. This allows for quick comparison. It sets vocals in the mix well. I used to use an LA2A. You can’t get the same sound out of the LA2A … no dirt.”

Mike Strange – Eminem’s Engineer / Mixer

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

^^^I don't think Mike Strange mixed "The Way I am". Great engineer though. All that quote says is "tons of stuff I used to mix for Em was done on an LA2a, now I use the Opticom...." that translates to...the tool apparently didn't matter.

 

[Tayker]

I had some good rappers come over to record a demo song and it was thier first time in any decent studio and I think they were kinda nervous. They wanted a really live sound and he asked me why it wasn't sounding aggresive so I told him that he need to just perform more. Studio mics pick up everything. Even your mood. I told him to do what ever he needed to do to get excited. I ended up makin him jump around and mosh to the beat for a minute and it came out 20 times better. Dubbing will maked every thing sound fatter and nice when done right. You have to have all of your takes dead on balls and then you can pan them or whatever.

ya, that delivery can get killer or real loser, takes so much practice to get it right, thanks for the insight, i'll probably be one of those nervous people asking why my recording isn't sounding stellar on my first time at the studio.