Vocal processing Chain

[Broadway927]

What's up F.P. fam...been quite some time since i been on here, but I was curious to hear the general consensus of what everyones approach is for when it comes to recording vocals in a session with your artist (or yourself if that applies) .

- Do you add some inserts to your mic input b4 the recording ?

-Do you only do some light Eq'ing and then add your vocal process and effects after you've recorded into your daw?

-Do you create FX tracks and add sends to your mic input b4 after recording?

I tried to search this on FP forums, but seeing as though this question has been asked by several ppl and may not have been direct I thought this might be one of those threads that might b posted at the top and resolve alotta questions for the masses!

I definitely can agree there's no certain way to go about recording/mixing your vocals, but there definitely are some standards we all should go by when it comes down to recording a session. the usual approach that I've learned over the time and this is in no specific order is for you to : apply noise gate, eq or parametric your vocals, compression, de-esser, enhancer or exciter, reverb, and delay...and in some circumstances pitch correction.
When I have a session with an artist I usually do some light EQ to the mic inputs channel to get a fairly decent level and after it's recorded I add all the others I mentioned before. FP family, what's your approach on mixing vocals for a nice post production mix ?

my DAW is cubase 5 and I produce rap/hip-hop pop/club and some RnB , so if I don't sound like a seasoned veteran on here, don't judge me. we're all on here to gain knowledge and share ideas or theory that may be of assistance to the next person. Peace an Positive Energy

 

[chris carter]

I EQ and compress vocals on the way in (mic-> pre -> eq -> compressor -> daw). With the EQ I'm pretty much trying to absolutely nail it. With the compression, I'm probably trying to do about 75% of it on the way in.

But bear in mind, I'm really very experienced and have recorded tons and tons of records for labels. If I were a newbie, I would not EQ on the way in and I probably would not compress on the way (or at least very very lightly at most). I also have a killer control room and an isolation booth; if I were tracking a singer in the same room, I might compress but I would not EQ because you simply can't make any kind of tonal decisions on headphones. Last, if for some reason I'm recording myself, I'm much more likely to not EQ on the way in because, again, I can't make those judgments when I'm not listening on monitors.

I never use send effects while tracking vocals. Vocals are dry in the headphones. I'll give some reverb as a last resort, but I try to avoid it because it can mess with pitch. It also often causes the singer to not be as critical of their singing - when it's dry they try harder. But if they can't get the confidence at all, then I will give them some verb in the cans. But really, I'm very good at making singers feel comfortable, so it's very rare (maybe once in the last few years).

 

[Broadway927]

well i can definitely say i'm not a newbie to this, but more so in the experimenting process of what sounds good in the mix and what doesn't when it comes to engineering vocals...and drums as well, but i was questioning what ppls approach is on recording vocals on futureproducers... i skimmed thru your work on reverb nation..quality is nice....salute bro...what you got in your setup? i have a home stu, and i by that i don't just mean a laptop, fruity loops, and a usb mic! lol ...i run a blue mic the baby bottle, into a universal audio solo 610 to my sound card (lord knows i need to update) an e-mu 616m pci, out to my yamaha hs80 and and hs50's and the sub woofer that comes wit that shit...for my daw i'm using cubase 5, but i'm familiar with the standards..anything from reasons record, logic, and pro tools.... btw, i don't have a booth but i damn sure have that SE reflexion filter so the vocals don't bounce all over the place...appreciate your input...do you recommend any other forums that are more geared towards "how to's" on the engineering side ...i would love to learn the tips and tricks that are relevant today...not because i want to copy whats trending, but because from a business stand point, artists that come thru here and record , they want to do there own rendition of that...and its a notch under the belt as an engineer to have those techniques down...its necessary...

 

[WeissSound]

My chain at home is usually m147->avalon m5->BSS FC960->1176->tube tech pe1c. Basically, I know my equipment really well and I know what I'm doing, so I have the vocal coming in more or less mixed. Mainly because I'd rather spend time automating unique moments than tweaking out the balances. So that's two EQs and a compressor.

At a public facility I keep an EQ and compressor handy, but I'll rely on them a bit less. I'll switch mics around before pluging in an EQ if I can. At some studios I'll create a separate reverb return and print it in on a separate track.

I pretty much never use a noise gate on vocals. I can't remember a single time I've done it. I also rarely use exciters, though I used to. As for my approach to mixing vocals, I actually have a tutorial on it in my signature.

I'm on Pro Tools, but I've mixed in Cubase before - great program, no reason you can't get a great sound out of it.

 

[JJ108Official]

Mic > Pre > Sound Card/Mixer > EQ (only to illuminate low end that isn't needed nor wanted) > Comp > DAW. On the odd day that i'm recording a singer i will add verb and delay (DSP) to make them feel important lol. Nah seriously though i add verb and delay to make the recording process easier for the singer.