Great vocals make great recordings. Period.
And while on the technical side of things, both matching the perfect microphone to your singer and following a simple two step workflow is crucial for a great sound – getting a killer vocal performance is paramount.
While many factors contribute to the performance of your vocalist, they can all be categorized under these two elements: comfort and confidence.
Via Ewan Topping Flickr
Comfort: Give Your Vocalist The VIP Treatment
The human voice is a unique and temperamental instrument. Put under a lot of stress it can crumble and close up. But if relaxed and comfortable it can soar with ease.
As is the goal with every recording session, your vocal sessions should be optimized for comfort. Specifically the comfort of the vocalist.
From lighting, to scent, to pace, to the number of people in the room: everything must be setup in such a way that the singer (and this could be you) is comfortable.
I try to think of vocalists as the VIPs of the band – because in all honesty, their part will make or break the recording. So this involves getting the technical side of things as much out of the way as possible in order to eliminate unneeded tension or stress in the studio.
Why is this so important?
Because if the vocalist feels at ease, relaxed, and comfortable her voice will undoubtedly be at it’s best. The muscles around her throat and diaphragm will be relaxed and ready to push air without any restraint or tension.
All of this leads to a vocal performance that has power, energy, and an effortless quality to it.
Give your singer the VIP treatment and you will be rewarded with a superb vocal performance.
Confidence: Learn The Powerful Art Of Encouragement
If a comfortable singer has the best chance physiologically to deliver a killer performance, than a confident one has the best chance psychologically to knock it out of the park.
You see this in sports often – we call it momentum.
The team with the biggest psychological boost (i.e. confidence, or belief in their abilities) has what commentators call momentum, and they seem to be unstoppable when “it” is on their side. The reverse is just as true with talented and healthy athletes and teams falling apart for no reason other than a giant lack of confidence in that moment.
In the studio we want the same thing for our vocalists. If they have confidence their abilities they will deliver a much better performance.
So how do you instill confidence in a singer who seems to lack in that department? The subtle (but powerful) art of encouragement.
Your job shifts from engineer to coach as you work to build up the vocalist quickly and quietly. The secret is to not focus on what he or she is doing poorly, but to highlight his or her strengths, their uniqueness, and offer your vote of confidence in them.
This is harder said than done, at least at first. Encouragement really is an art form – a craft that you get better at as an engineer. It’s not very flashy, but as a skill it is invaluable as it helps you squeeze the very best out of performers in your studio.
These Phantom Techniques Make All The Difference
The great thing about vocal recording techniques is that most of them are very obvious to see and do.
Learning how to “work the mic” and setup proper gain staging are things you either are doing or not doing. Once you learn them, you can simply work them into your workflow on each subsequent vocal session.
But what we’re talking about today are what I would call “phantom techniques” – less defined and harder to quantify than most things in the studio.
How do you measure comfort? How do you know if you are instilling confidence?
For the tactical and technical minded, these types of suggestions can drive you nuts. I understand, and I’m sorry.
But it’s these hard to pin point “techniques” that can make all the difference in your final vocal recording. These two elements (comfort and confidence) are what will more than likely contribute the most to your final recording’s energy, engagement, uniqueness, and professionalism.
People listening to the final mix won’t hear a recording – rather they will hear a performance, and one that draws them in every single time.
Are You Exploiting These Two Elements?
So let me ask you – in your studio sessions, with your artists (or yourself) are you taking advantage of these two elements: comfort and confidence? Answer these questions below:
- Specifically, how do you usually make the singer feel comfortable in your studio?
- How do you typically instill confidence in your vocalist?
- Have you seen these elements make a difference in your final vocal recording?
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
Great post Graham as always Graham!
What advice would you give to someone who records his or her own, without the help of someone else manning the DAW?
Sometimes I get frustrated when I record a vocal and I have no one around to give me encouragement.
All the best,
Kelvin
I record my own stuff without someone manning the DAW. Basically it’s all about the setup. Make sure you can reach everything, and try to set up as much of your session beforehand as you can. Then you can focus your effort on musicianship instead of engineering.
It is definitely tough not to have the encouragement or advice of someone else. I guess the answer is to collaborate with friends as much as you can. Personally, I do my own stuff, and haven’t done much collaboration. But it’s definitely something I’m going to try to do more of in the future, because I do believe it’s important.
Hope that helps!
Yep, I have my old sm58 set up on a stand near my recording chair and often end up singing a vocal sitting down when the mood grabs me. Often turns out better than standing up at my AT 4033 with posh pop filters etc because I’m more relaxed.
But heard a great story about Paul McCartney producing Ringo Starr singing. Ringo wanted to use one of those old Elvis style dynamic mics, the silver ones with the grilles (don’t know the model but you know what I mean). The engineer said “but it won’t sound nearly as good as my vintage Neumann U47 (or whatever it was)> To which McCartney replied,”actually it will sound better than the Neumann because Ringo will sing better”. It’s all about the performance, ESPECIALLY for singers.
Man, that’s a tough one. I struggle with this too on my guitar parts (I’m a guitar player). Even though I’m a seasoned player, it’s still nice to have someone around giving encouragement even if I’m the one doing all the “work” because I’m very hard on myself and have high expectations for my playing (as do my band mates). My personal recommendation would be to maybe take some vocal lessons and maybe have your voice coach hang out during your tracking sessions to give you feedback and encouragement, even if you’re doing the engineering and singing. A friend of mine has done this by combining vocal tracking with his voice lessons and his voice has grown immensely and he’s been singing at least as long as the 15 years I’ve known him. His voice coach does his lessons out of his recording studio, so this helps. I know it’ll probably cost you money up front for the coaching (unless you want to barter studio time or something else worthwhile), but in the end, it’ll be priceless to you because it made you and your tracks just THAT MUCH BETTER. I hope this helps.
I feel you Kelvin!
It’s hard to be the engineer and performer at the same time. When you get frustrated, try to remember that even if a few takes suck, you don’t 🙂
When I’m singing poorly I take a break and do something else that will make me feel better, or just rest. At least it helps me.
My suggestion is a bit of an obvious one, but it’s something that is easier said than done when working alone.
Don’t stop when you make a mistake.
Keep working through it, and you’ll eventually get in the zone. And once you get there don’t sweat any of the mistakes you made along the way. Because if you have a bad take you don’t have to use it, and a take with a couple mistakes can be fixed. There’s no shame in punching in where you messed up.
Sometimes I also find it helpful at a certain point to just work with what I have. Come back in a day or two, and something that seemed horrible before isn’t as bad as you made yourself think it was. Some flaws add character. Like a crack in your voice, or maybe you did something differently than you usually do.
And if something is still bugging you at least you got some time to think about it, and you can plug in the mic, and try again with a clearer head.
That’s my two cents.
Kevin,
I wrestled with this for years and recently, I discovered that I had been giving great advice to my students (I direct choruses as my day job) to help them unlock their own voices but rarely was I listening and acting on my own advice. It wasn’t until I realized that my singing voice was mine and mine alone – no one else sounds like me and I should take advantage of that. So I sing everything “no holds barred” in front of the mic. Own the performance. If your voice is pitchy or your not getting your phrasing right – you need to practice, maybe do some ear training – definitely warm up – I drink tea while doing vocals – sometimes if I have to record and my voice is not healthy I make a Pineapple Ginger Smoothie or a Juice that has a serious healing effect on the throat and vocal chords. Sometimes you have to transpose the song.
If you start feeling your voice fatigue, take a break, burning your vocal chords out does not do any good.
Sometimes you need to change the little voice in your head from “negative critic” to “you the engineer” giving a confidence boost to “you the vocalist”.
hope this helps,
Josh
Since I record in my home, I have the ability to treat people like close friends. A few weekends ago, I had 5 people come in to record 4 songs. We scheduled the whole Saturday to do it. Around lunch time, I stopped everything for about an hour and a half, grilled some burgers and we ate at my dining room table…like family.
The confidence issue is not only about singers. I had a keyboardist in once that got so nervous she flubbed every other line. and she was a seasoned pianist. I reassured her, and finally told her that she was in Nash county, not Nashville, TN. Sometimes a little humor can break the tension.
I am very upbeat when recording anything. I don’t make anyone feel uncomfortable. I talk to them first about how they are doing today and get into a conversation before anything is recorded. I have the vocal mic setup already before they even show up and everything is powered up and ready to go. I go as far as asking them how they would like to record the vocal,..example,.in one take or verse by verse, chorus by chorus. Most of the time, they say “lets just go for it” and they do the entire vocal part in one take. Then we’ll listen back and replace parts as we go if needed.
I also have special lighting I use and burn candles. No bright lights going on, mellow, comfortable. Most of the time the singer will pick up on mistakes and let me know they would like to redo that part. If not I let them know in a professional manner that this or that I would like to retake. Encourage them. My studio is in a 24×14 open room with no vocal room/booth. I have a sweet spot to the left of my gear where I setup the mic. They are standing about 3 feet to the left of me and back about a foot or 2. I just go for a laid back feel so they are comfortable at all times. Never had anyone complain yet,..knock on wood!!
Thanks Graham..!!
Great post Graham. I would like to add this topic extends outside the recording studio and into the live venue as well. I believe vocalists and musicians need this level of comfort and encouragement in both realms. A stressed out performer makes for bad stage presence and there’s no plug-in nor knob that will fix it. Being genuine, truly sincere, and having a heart of servanthood with your vocalists / musicians can make a world of difference.
True. I play piano and used to play gigs with a sound engineer i really trust. Seeing his head nodding to the rhytm at the desk was one of my best indicators that the band was OK this evening. Only few can perform when the sound engineer seems like he does not like what he hears. So nod! – or something else showing you interest or even appreciation of the performance.
The one comment in this article that really sticks out to me is:
“People listening to the final mix won’t hear a recording – rather they will hear a performance, and one that draws them in every single time.”
That really changes the perspective for sure. Wise words.
I think this is one place where it’s ok to lean on technology a little bit too.
Sure, the goal is to get as good a recording as possible. But for me, the fact that I *can* fix small problems later makes me much more at ease when I’m singing. When I step up to the microphone, I know that if I mess up the verse, I can always record another take, or if I hit a sour note, I can probably just fix it with Melodyne.
Again, we want to try to get as good a recording as possible. But I think knowing that it doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect does help to make the singer more relaxed. It works for me, anyway 🙂
I usually try to emphasize the importance of emotion and confidence. If a note is sour, or a word is wrong, that can be fixed (within reason). But sing with as much emotion and confidence as you can muster. Because a “weak” sounding vocal cannot be fixed later.
Alex
Excellent article! I have a quick tip in the “Confidence” category. I’m sure you’ve all dealt with people questioning the validity of your home studio, not necessarily in a malicious way, just because they’ve been conditioned to think all of the same things about gear and big studio spaces that most of us think when we start out.
I do mostly vocal music and the following move improved the performances I got out of my singers instantly and undeniably-
I flipped the mic upside-down.
You see video upon video of professionals singing into the inverted mic set-up and it’s like singing into it that way does something psychologically to the singer that makes them be MONSTERS in the studio.
Again, great article, and thanks for doing all you do!
Thats an awesome trick !
I only feel that it sounds better when the mic is setup “properly” …ah, I get it make the singer happy 🙂
I have yet to engineer a lot of records so far, and the one’s I have done have mostly been of my band, my friend’s music, and my own music. I don’t feel like I do a bad job with comfort. I’m pretty cool with anyone, not only vocalists, doing whatever they need to feel at home. So long as it’s legal, and doesn’t break my stuff.
But I can be sarcastic and critical of myself as a musician, and my band’s singer (my then girlfriend now wife) knew this when we made our first album. I admit I had a hard time treating her differently while recording vocals. And a time crunch combined with my lack of experience didn’t help make things more relaxed. But as we work on new music I have been trying harder to just be nice. especially since I have since done vocals on some of my own music. I might have a tendency to beat myself up until I get the result I expect from myself. But when you’re mostly working with friends, and especially your spouse. It can be a real challenge to put that brutal honesty away, and be kind and encouraging.
Lastly this article came at a great time as lately I’ve been thinking of the old Smiths lyric “It’s so easy to laugh. It’s so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind.” As a good motto for life in general. Hopefully I won’t have such a hard time applying these techniques in future sessions.
My studio setup is not super fancy and I don’t have tons of amazing gear – the main reason people keep coming back, besides my ears, is my attitude. Couldn’t agree more that the number one key to a great vocal performance is making the artist feel comfortable and at ease. What’s the best way to do this? Simple – be comfortable and at ease yourself, and make it obvious that your client is welcome in your space as a guest. Take time to make sure they have everything they need before the recording begins. Ease into it. Don’t make it feel like a big deal that you are pressing the button.
Here’s some more tips I’ve come up with.
– If they want to do a “practice” take say “absolutely, let’s do it!” and then secretly record it anyway if you’re smooth enough. Often the practice take can have exactly the calming quality a nervous singer needs.
– If a singer is having trouble with a particular passage or note, make sure they know it’s not a big deal. Stress makes singing worse. Always suggest these two things to singers having trouble: RELAX your muscles, and make sure to BREATHE to get the support you need for those notes.
These tips are for singers who are having trouble in the studio environment concentrating on their performance or engaging with the track.
– encourage them to think back to exactly how they were feeling when they wrote the song. If the singer is not the songwriter, encourage them to go back to exactly what they first thought of or felt like when they heard the song first.
– spiraling down into worse and worse takes? TAKE A BREAK. have a glass of water or tea. leave the room.
– a secret weapon i’ve used for some uncomfortable singers on a particularly delicate track: kill the lights. turn off the main lighting in the room, maybe everything except for one small lamp, or light from a window. even turn off your computer screen if possible. Then hit record.
Specifically, how do you usually make the singer feel comfortable in your studio?
Get comfortable, discuss song & recording logistics and set levels to satisfaction. The recording environment is ergonomic, lower lighting, comfortable seating along with a vocal booth.
How do you typically instill confidence in your vocalist?
Whether with new vocalist or with one I’ve worked with often before, it’s all about keeping it fun. Mistakes are welcome. Reaching for the best emotion is essential. Use humor to relax all parties from the get to.
Have you seen these elements make a difference in your final vocal recording?
These elements are totally essential. Our objective is to capture the emotion & strength, vulnerabilities and nuances of the vocalist that best suit the song. Keeping the vocalist relaxed is crucial.
Hi Graham, when I’m going to record my vocals I’ve found out that sometimes it’s necessary for me to enter in a “live show” type of situation where I can get my voice out and belt some powerful stuff which I wouldn’t be able to do on a normal situation with an acoustic guitar for example…
Sometimes when I’m singing over the passaggio and I need to get a very powerfull sound, before I start recording I tend to do some jumping around to get the blood flowing in my veins and warm up for the moment. If I don’t do that sometimes I feel too cold in a very quiet situation which is difficult for me cause I feel there’s no energy and no emotion…
Another thing which helps sometimes is to have a a loud mix in my headphones, the same as I would hear live with my Guitar Amp on my back while playing live, sometimes you have to be careful with the bleed of the headphones on the mic but I prefer a little bleed and a powerfull real performance than a cleaner signal but with no emotion…
Here is a song from my band Scalectric in which I used this method and It helped me get a very powerful tone on the Chorus, just the same as I sing it live, quite surprisingly as I was so in the mood of the music I didn’t need many takes to get THE TAKE whereas another songs which are easier to sing took me so much time and effort, haha.
I hope you like it https://soundcloud.com/scalectric/scalectric-temblando-vivo
Cheers from Argentina
Matt Montali
I always have a hard time recording my own vocals. That’s usually how I have to do it, but I get so tied up with managing the recording side that it’s hard for me to be as comfortable and focused on the performance as I need to be. Guitars, bass, drums are not a problem – I can handle that. I’ve actually recorded my vocals in another studio before just so I can focus on the performance and let someone else handle everything else. I had much better and quicker results. It was so much easier. I’m thinking about doing that again for my next EP – track everything but vocals myself and do vocal somewhere else.
This is one of the best post, very good information. There is no greater way to get the vocalist to perform at their best than making them feel comfortable.
I found one of the best way of doing this, especially if you are meeting the artist for the first time, is to have a little chit chat before starting the session and talk with them like you known each other for years.
A little encouragement goes a long way, always telling the vocalist that he or she is doing great. If you’re not getting the sound you want, tell them they would sound even better if they do this or that. I notice that some of the best talent always need a bit of encouragement.
It is a valuable skill for audio engineers to have if they can quickly sense when the artist is uncomfortable and what would/could make ten more comfortable. If you can’t, simply ask them. I do a lots of crazy techniques, lol, but what they all accomplish is that I don’t come across as superior to the artist because I am the one tracking.
Has Noone suggested… Grab them a beer?
Nothing like liquid courage in a social setting
And I did say “a little”
But I suppose some purists would scoff at the thought…
100% agree here! Had a singer come in to do a track that was a little hard-rock-y-er than he was used to. In a live environment he could get pumped and feed off the energy of the crowd, but in the studio he was struggling.
I gave him a shot of whiskey and said “Alright let’s take a 10min break and come back to it.”
Next take he did was the one we printed.
Graham!!! U never cease to axe me with intrinsic and extrinsic gifts dude!!! I read the title greatly anticipating what great advice you have to give… Only to “gladly” find out that they are two techniques (phantom techniques… Love that name by the way) that already use… Glad to know me and someone of your caliber are on the same wavegreatly anticipating what great advice you have to give… Only to “gladly” find out that they are two techniques (phantom techniques… Love that name by the way) that I already use… Glad to know me and someone of your caliber are on the same page!!
Please excuse the typos… LOL… I was letting Siri do all the work for me… And she obviously doesn’t completely understand my accent… LOL
Something I’ve recently learned in helping draw great performances is to listen to the mix you are expecting the performer to listen to, through the headphones. Analyse the mix you are giving your performer. I ask, am I inspired by what I hear? Usually it takes something as simple as a “happy face” eq and a touch of reverb inserted on the headphone send and BAM, the sound you’re hearing is more pleasing and inspiring. It was such an obvious, eye opener for me….
I built a vocal booth to look like a shower stall.
Shake!! Your whole body. I get every body recording to do a little ,shake your whole body session . It will get rid of any anxiety, and everybody gets a good laugh. Try it on your self, it works. When My band gets ready to go on stage we always do a few rounds of leapfrog also works well.
Great subject Graham!
I’ve used the “practice” run before, too – and if I’m trying out multiple mics on a vocalist, I can call 2 or 3 takes “practice” runs. 😉 Sometimes that really is the best take.
Some vocalists are really intimidated by the big mic, etc., and getting them to loosen up and have fun singing can be a challenge – especially for us left-brained engineers.
What’s great is when the vocalist is really pumped up about getting to sing in a studio setting – it makes this part of the job easier and a lot of fun.
These are Great thoughts and Recommendation to live buy ! You can use These in any area of Life. Always Lift someone up an You will see the Results Great Job, ! Graham !
Sometimes for me an event stimulates me to write and record and each one seems to produce a different song, the one below was written and recorded in my home studio ( a small corner) after an operation to remove 3 discs on my neck by going through my throat. Fearing I could never sing again. I recovered, wrote, recorded and mixed using tips from TRR and learning from a gifted teacher.
Thank You Graham
https://soundcloud.com/freddiesan/freddie-sanborn-a-time-in-life
Great post, G!
My answers:
-Comfort: The wall I look at while I sing is full of photos (see image below*). It makes me feel in peace. Also, I sing when the kids are at school so I can really focus without interruption.
-Confidence: I keep in mind that, though I’m not even close to being the best singer in the world, every voice is unique. Even mine.
-Does it make a difference?: Oh yeah. In the EP I’m about to release I feel I’ve improved from the previous one, and that’s something.
Cheers.
*
https://www.facebook.com/LoundMusic/photos/ms.c.eJwzNDQwMjIzsTA2MzE1MTA21zOECFgaWppbmBubGQEAcFIGqw~-~-.bps./1102264836454037/?type=1&theater
The headphone mix is crucial. Most singers I’ve recorded need their voice to be pretty loud in the cans unless they are comfortable with the one ear trick. A bunch of reverb will help them stay in tune as well as having clearly pitched instruments up in the mix. If the singer is singing too loud it means their voice isn’t loud enough in the mix, however beware of inflicting hearing damage so often you turn down the mix instead of turning up the vocal. If they are singing too quietly, their voice is too loud in the cans or the instrument they like to sing to is too quiet. Take all the time the singer needs to get the headphone mix set up to their satisfaction. The attention by itself will help get them in the right frame of mind.
When I’m recording myself I go big on the headroom so that clipping is never something to worry about and I’m not tempted to look at the metering.
Mike I just wanted to say I totally agree with the headphone mix. I believe this most crucial for me any ways because this will determine what the singer may be doing correct or incorrect as far if the mix is too loud or too soft. So many variables can happen in the headphone mix. Getting this right is a must for me. Thanks for bringing this up.
Graham as always, you leave me thinking and re-thinking the possibilities….and that’s good. Sometimes I get side tracked with all the other stuff and forget about the comfort aspect. The only thing I allow in my studio is water because i do not want to take any chance of equipment getting damaged. But I m sometimes too focused on the technical aspects to get right in the first few recordings that I forget about what the singer really needs or if I haven’t noticed the insecurities if they are there or not. Wasn’t always like this but I get over the last two years I have been too technical and not enough focused on the artist(s) themselves. Thanks.