Multiple Mood Vocal Takes

Sometimes, when recording vocals, you might be stuck looking for that special vocal character/sound from your otherwise excellent singer. All seems great and yet the vocal seems to have lost that edge, once committed to tape. If ever you're in this position, here's a simple strategy which just might help you overcome this.

Requirement: Lots of patience and an Audio editing program (e.g. Cubase, Logic, ProTools, etc) which allows you to edit multiple audio takes on one screen, with all takes aligned in time.

The method: Ask your vocalist to do a couple of takes in his or her best "standard" singing voice. Ask the singer to do the entire song and don't stop for errors. Stop after 2 takes. Next, ask the singer to deliver the entire song in a "special" voice. For example, ask him/her to "weep" through the whole song (even if it's not a weepy kind of song!) - call it a "for fun" or "taking the piss" (as the Brits would say) kind of take. The only thing you're now demanding is that they do it as best they can, no matter how over the top it comes out. Do at least 2 takes of this. Ask for another interpretation, for example "nasal" - but ensure it's consistently like that throughout! Do 2 takes of this as well. Don't worry if it sounds "horrible!" Now do 3 or 4 other moods (sexy/whispery, angry, loony, psychotic, romantic, yawning - you can make those moods up as you go). Typically go for 2 takes of each kind. Finally, do 2 takes in a speaking voice. That's a completely unaffected "plain and ordinary" speaking voice. You'll now have at least 10 or 12 takes, possibly as many as 20. When they're all aligned, your mission is to find the best bits in the "alternative" takes which might be useful in your "main" takes. The "main" takes are the artist's "normal" trademark sound - that's those few takes which you've just compiled into a coherent whole with the best bits selected, the rest muted. So, now you're looking for individual sounds, sometimes so small so as to be nearly ridiculous. Perhaps a "k" or a "t" or an "umm" or a "aaa" (or whatever) that you think sounded really cool in one of those "alternative takes. Sometimes you might find whole words or even phrases which sound awesome. At this point try to crossfade between the main take and the alternative bit and see if it works.

Once you develop this technique you'll be able to create amazing vocals - even from singers who are average. But remember, once you've comped the "final take," it's not really final. You now should ask your singer to re-sing the whole song "just like that." And then re-compile the whole take again, using the best bits from each performance.

This technique is frequently used by some of the best producers in the world. Remember: studio performance and live performance are two completely different animals. What works live may not work in the studio (and vice versa). In the studio, the idea is to create a vocal which people can listen to over and over and over...! Certain mannerisms which go down great live may have to go in the studio. Certain tricks which won't work live, may need to be perfected in the studio.

If you do your multiple-mood vocal session right, you'll wind up with the "best performance the singer never sung." Don't worry. It's not a reflection on you or your singer. People will judge you on the quality of your final product, not on how long it took you to develop it or how you did it!

LISTEN TO: 223-Q/Monday May 19, 2009