20d • General discussion
Never Let The Singer Mix The Record!
By James Sanger @ VibeyStudios
Singers, or more specifically the original performer or singer/songwriter of the song, ‘hear’ the song differently from everyone else… They 'perceive' their vocal in the song to be, in my estimation, 12db louder than it really is.
So, by definition singers are the least qualified to mix their own songs!… because they make the vocal too quiet!.. They turn it down because they are already filling in 12db of it already in their own brain, they can hear the lyrics , cos their brain knows them and is magically filling them in…
When I’m developing, producing, or recording a vocal, I have a secret technique, (formerly secret because I’m sharing it with you now, lucky you..!)
My secret technique is that I tell the singer to ‘sing the song as if they are just teaching the song to the audience’ I advice them to emphasize the lyrics and the melody… really teach it to the audience when singing! …
Or I ask them to pronounce and enunciate the vocal like they are singing the lyrics and melody to their ‘hard of hearing old granny’ who wants to know the melody and lyrics…
Then when I’ve recorded the vocal, just how I want it, I get the singer to go and watch funny cat videos on the Internet while I really work on it, EQ-ing, compressing, compressing at different stages, different attack speeds etc, sometimes 6 compressors in total at different stages, adjusting the tuning and timing with Melodyne, etc and then I turn it up!… loud….really really *ucking loud!!
I also NEVER tell singers to ‘get into it’ or ‘feel the vibe, man’ etc… that is the single worst advice ever to give a singer! FFS (I colour vocals yellow for a reason you know!!! pm me for details!!)
If you want a steaming pile of dog do ask a singer to just feel the vibe’!
Ok …here’s the most important point… look, - If you have taken the time to write the lyrics make sure the audience can hear them! … writing lyrics is all part of the spell yo are casting…the meaning is the most important thing.
Because, heres the most important thing, the song only exists. In the mind of the audience once the music has stopped… if the audience are not singing it on their way home fro the gig…. Then its not a ‘song’
You’re welcome
Keep it vibey!
James
PS. Remember every lyric you write is a piece of propaganda in a war against the dark side!
I think we exist here on earth to use our talents to ‘AFFECT POSITIVE CHANGE!’ (If you wanna learn more about this kind of vibey stuff then vibe linktr.ee/jamessanger … pester me until I send you a free copy of my crazy book! <— I will you know!
0
0 comments
Never Let The Singer Mix The Record!
skool.com/the-artist-development-academy-2812
Come and vibe with us - get feedback and tips from a community of serious artists and bands... Let's make music with style!
Leaderboard (30-day)
1
+1
2
+1
Powered by