Preparing Yourself For The Recording Studio By Jimi Zimmardi
Jimi Zimmardi discusses his comprehensive philosophies on recording Vocals in the Recording Studio. This article is a must read.
Preparing yourself to record vocals in the studio Click to read
By Jimi Zimmardi
Preparing yourself to record vocals in the recording studio
By Jimi Zimmardi
I would like to open this article by saying that before we even think about a strategy of preparation to record in the studio that you should do everything possible to make yourself comfortable by having everything that you need for any performance situation. I urge you to read the article I’ve written previously on “What’s in Jimi Zimmardi’s Gig Bag” and bring everything you need to the studio.
Now recording in the studio is a different environment than live as you know. You have the opportunity to record, re-record and get the best performance that you can with many takes. I think that when you’re recording that your phrases and your overall performance have a flow to them. Sometimes this flow can be disrupted when you’re punching in and out of phrases that may not have been executed perfectly and have to be re-recorded.
I recommend that you try to get at least two takes where you perform the entire song and if you absolutely have to correct any phrases that were sub-par that you keep them minimal so that you have a comprehensive performance that has the flow that I spoke about earlier. You should always “Map” the performance. In Lesson 4 of my technical lessons, I take all of the methods I teach and interface them into a mapped performance that allows my students to apply the all the techniques they’ve learned into the performance.
The things that are mapped within the performance should be placed on a comprehensive lyric sheet of the song you have with all of your notes on the lyric sheet. Even if you have the lyrics memorized, a lyric sheet with all of the Mapped Performance should be there on a music stand in front of you by the studio microphone. The mapped performance should include Breath Marks where you breathe to keep the performance under control. Also included should be word emphasis, dynamic markings, crescendos and most important climaxes of the song as well as climactic builds to those climaxes. Singing it and Winging it should never happen in the studio when you’re spending so much money to record.
One major thing that will optimize the recording session of the vocals is to obtain a CD copy of the Basic Tracks without vocals after they’re recorded so you can practice with the Basic Tracks prior to the vocal recording session. I strongly recommend that you have a separate recording session to record the rhythm section Basic Tracks with a Scratch or Reference Vocal and then have the engineer burn you a CD copy of all the songs for you to practice them prior to a second vocal recording session. It is vitally important in my opinion to not record everything on one day for a variety of reasons. Once the basic tracks are recorded, everyone who is involved with Lead and Backup Vocals will then take the Burned CD and practice their vocal executions with the basic tracks at home prior to the vocal recording session.
I have watched many singers who were not prepared for the studio come apart at the seams in the studio and it’s not a pretty sight. If you are rehearsed with the track and you’re ready, you might just go in and nail the performance on the first or second take. But remember what I said earlier. Always get at least two takes. In this day and age of Pro Tools, we have a lot of flexibility when it comes to recording and how we can save many takes. You might want to record the Lead Vocals twice on two tracks to fatten the vocal performance by using natural doubling or use TC Helicon’s Doubling effects. Keep in mind that if you record the Lead Vocal twice for Natural Doubling that your phrasing must be exact in terms of cutoffs, attacks, decays, sustains and releases. Recording Unisons in the studio has to be one of the toughest things to execute because the intonation and phrasing must be accurate on every syllable in every phrase.
As far as Pitch Correction is concerned, I really think that if you have severe pitch and intonation issues and rely on Pitch Correction tools, you shouldn’t be in the music industry. The only time I will use Pitch Correction is if we really have an awesome take and one note might be out of tune, I will have the engineer use Pro Tools to correct the one note. Your performances in the studio will later on be executed live in a live performance setting. You must learn how to execute ALL of your notes in tune at ALL times. Pitch Correction tools are great to help you overcome your intonation shortcomings, but you should work with your voice coach to work on Ear Training issues and eliminate pitch intonation issues.
Now I must address the issue of Background or Backup Vocals. In the Pre-Production stages of the project, you should be having separate rehearsals to rehearse all of the background vocals. I recommend that you have an Unplugged rehearsal where you all sit in a circle facing each other where you sing directly at each other. You should use one acoustic guitar and simply sing together without amplification. In these Background Vocal Rehearsals all entrances, harmonies, note choices, intonation and cutoffs should be practiced and executed to perfection. Final consonants should also be looked at as well so you have crisp diction coordinated with the cutoffs. Of course, you should then practice your vocals with the Basic Track CD prior to the Vocal Recording Session.
In the studio the Lead Vocal should be put down first and the backup vocals should then be recorded. I have always liked layering numerous tracks of backup vocals where everyone stands in circle around the microphone. I urge you all to get used to using headphones (cans) so you’re used to them. It is also vitally important when recording Lead or backup vocals to ask the engineer for what you need in the headphones while recording. I like to hear myself hot in the mix and have enough of the backing tracks to retain good feel, intonation and execution. Hearing yourself is important as it is with live monitoring in a live performance, so make sure that you have what you need in your headphone mix.
Once you get the vocal performance you want, then you must consider how you’re going to dress it up as far as equalization, compression and effects are concerned. You should start with equalization by consulting with the engineer prior to final mixdown as to how you want your voice mixed in terms of Bass, Midrange and Treble settings. This is VITALLY important. If you’re a Tenor or Soprano, you’re voice will need a lot more low frequencies to beef up your tone. Once you come up with these equalization settings, you can then start considering effects within the studio as well as using the awesome technology out there. Using TC Helicon’s Voice Live and TC Helicon’s Effects Pedals will give you amazing options. Obviously you should test these settings prior to the recording session so you’re not running up studio time. If you’re fortunate enough to afford your own studio microphone that gives you the tone you want, you should bring it to the studio. Rob Lunte, a colleague of mine on Voice Council.com has tremendous expertise in live and recording microphones and is a great source to ask questions on the voicecouncil.com forum.
One final consideration is to be physically ready. Get lots of rest the night before a recording session and stay hydrated by drinking lots of water in the studio. Studio air can be dry in the booths, so this is important. You should also consider all of the healthy voice practices I outline in voice health tips in many of my other articles. You also must keep your emotions in check. Emotions and stress will affect the voice. If you have practiced your performances and know your songs thoroughly, you won’t stress out while recording. The bottom line is that Preparation is everything. This applies in the studio and in live settings.
Comments
Really liked this Jimi......I think it is a very sound and useful article for recording.........It's sometimes strange to see written down what you do naturally without thinking.....and I like the way you explain it for those that perhaps haven't thought it through!
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What a great article.! Thank you