R&B Mixing and Recording Techniques

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MistaFinnis

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Whats Up fellas I recently read probably one of my favorite threads on here regarding panning and making vocals thicker...Anyways I was wondering if you guys could give me some examples of yalls procedures when recording an R&B song..I know theres no right or wrong way just need a lil guidance...Like do you guys double the lead vocal (or should I say Stack)...I know you should stack backgrounds and chorus but what about the lead vocals...I learned from another post that its good to stack the lead vocals and then pan them to make it sound fatter and stand out more...I was wondering if this same technique works for R&B as well...When i listen to some commercial r&B songs it doesnt sound like theyre doubling vocals but yet they sound so FULL and Thick...How can I do this?....Suggestions please.
 
Excuse me but the last line of my post should say.. commercial recording doesnt sound like they are doubling "Lead" vocals but yet they sound so full and thick...How do I make an R&B lead track sound Thick and full without Doubling it or should I?
 
I know this may sound discouraging but realistically, if you refer to 'commercial' tracks (and I suppose you mean the big budget major productions) you have to keep in mind at least 3 things:

1 The performers are usually technically top notch and can sing the same phrase several times in a row with minimal differences between the takes. (I had the honour to record singers who can create a flanging effect on the lead with a double - which means the double is virtually identical!) Any well trained vocalist should be able to do proper doubles.

2 If there's the need for doubles the production will not pass on to mixing until they are perfectly tracked.

3 The cost of the recording equipment of larger commercial studios exceeds by far anything than most of us can ever afford privately. When used properly, top class equipment will reduce the need for DSP and all sorts of digital tricks to a minimum. (Well, somebody will always come up with the argument 'hey I've got 24bit/96khz too'. The question then is 'what are these 24 bits filled with?')
;)

Back to 'modest' reality and your question. I get the best results, especially with doubles on female vox, when I do a sharp shelving low cut at around 3 khz until the doubled vox sound really thin and breathy. When mixed under the lead vox it gives this nice 'gloss' on the vox. Both have to be panned in the same position btw. Like that it feels like one voice but with that little extra. Once again, keep in mind that the double has to be performed in PERFECT SYNC with the lead. And trust me, it IS possible. I know at least 5 singers who can do it within one recording session and quite effortlessly. We usually try to get each usable line twice - also each individual chorus phrase - and treat them as I described before. Like that you get x takes with x doubles but all sound like they're one when they're in the same pan position.

BTW, lots of compression on the vox make them perhaps stand out more but also make them sound 'smaller'.

easy
B#
 
good post R2B!

yeah perfect doubles are possible, but only with real musicians. this is a very annoying thing with most rappers, most of them don't even have the skills & timing of an 11 year old choir boy.

the best hidden secret is that the pros often use 2-8 mics (direct & ambience) at the same time to have more flexibility in the mix. and they don't use dead rooms.
 
Hey appreciate the feedback and honest responses fellas..So let me see if i understand ...When it comes to R&B leads its good to double the lead vocal and eq the doubled keep it panned exact and lower it in volume..what if I were to add small delay to second track would that be okay...Basically I wanna be able to manipulate the equipment I have so that it can at least compete with the big boys...By the way i use a rode ntk going into the MBox...lol..I know ur like damnnnn thats why your leads are thin...Im going to purchase the Eureka Pre Sonus pre amp with a built in eq and compressor..hopefully it'll help...Btw what are some good starting points with compression to start with meaning whats a good setting to set the compressor on so that the signal goes in Warm Deep and Smooth yet with a lot of clarity..(I know this probably should be an entire different thread..Sorry appreciate the feedback tho guys...
 
Im a rap artists and i do 4 layers of everything: verses, chorus, the whole 9 yards.....cut back 2 of the layers so it gives a little thickness and eq them

REAL rappers can stack verses 8 times on point with basically NO difference :)
 
ok, panning/dubbing/tracking/etc for vocals depends on the songwriting, especially in r&b where theres often a lot of vocal tracks. if your song is written such that 2 tracks are often holding notes in harmony with each other, maybe its good to pan them near each other, if not right on with each other. however, panning things around might help scatter the counterpoint elements in the music, especially for call-and-response song structure. then you can also do things like recording a ton of layers for a chours effect, or recording 2 layers of a vocal part and panning the layers 100% opposite of each other. btw the beatles (george martin) had lots of cool mixing work with different vocal layers (some very interesting panning).

its worth noting that lots of this used to be done in mono and some producers (such as phil spector and brian wilson) got tons of vocal layers to gel together really well in mono.
 
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