Vocal mixing and recording help

[Acsii]

Hi,
Not sure if this has been asked before but, I was wondering if anyone had any tips for mixing and recording vocals. You see I've been wanting to put vocals in my songs but I have no idea how to record and mix them. Oh and for the record I have Adobe Audition CS5.5

[Kromium]

First off read this book

Its been pretty much my bible ever since I bought it off amazon. If you can't shell out the money pirate it because it is so important to the fundamentals of electronic music. I'll just paraphrase from the book so that you won't need to read the section on vocals on page 389.
1.Start off with compression of the vocals at a ratio of 9:1. Set the attack so that initial transients are still there.
2.Add in some automation on the volume fader if required after compression.
3.Vocals should be just about done if proper care has been taken during the recording process.
4.If vocals have not been mixed or it doesn't sound right, use an eq.
5.Boost at 10khz (1/2 octave Q) (very slightly) for consonants and be sure to use a de-esser to get rid of sibilance (the "lisp" sound)
6.If vocals are still muddy use an eq (octave Q) to reduce the 400hz range by 2 db's, this will reduce the overall energy of the vocals but if you boost the vocals up by 2 cents then it will have that higher energy required for EDM at the cost of the vocals being off pitch.

For recording vocals... there is a whole chapter on that subject. (chapter 7)
What it basically says is that most of the work is done through the mic. Have a good sample and you won't need to edit it as much during the mixing process.
Also have a good room to record in. Rooms with flutter echo and reverb will make it even more difficult to work with vocals later on. You can make acoustic panels or just hang packaging blankets around the room to deaden it up before you start recording. I would also recommend a condenser microphone, and if you don't have one already and an audio interface with phantom power to pair up with the mic.

[Acsii]

Cheers. Might go and buy this book right now. Also I've been looking at a condenser however I do have a sound desk

[Versilaryan]

Recording vocals, get your absolute best mic, get a pop filter, and sing your heart out. EAT THAT MIC. If you can't smell your own breath on it when you're done, you're not doing it right.

Couple tips that Kromium didn't already cover. In chorus sections or other parts that you want to pop out, write one or two harmony lines, preferably lower than the main melody (unless you want those harmonies to be audible). If you wrote one harmony line, record it twice. When you're singing these harmonies, make sure your vowels pop and your consonants are more or less nonexistant because they're not important. Then hard-pan those tracks left and right, lower the volume so you can only barely hear them. The combination of multitracking the vocal line and distinct harmonies will make your vocals sound much bigger. At the same time, the listener will hardly be able to notice that there are multiple voices.

If you're feeling really lazy, record the same line three times and do the same thing above. It gets kind of the same effect, but not nearly as much.

When you record, mute the track you're recording into and pop an ear out of your speakers (and turn up the volume if you have to, but take care it doesn't get picked up by the mic). You'll perform a lot better if you can hear yourself perform.

Avoid using a de-esser. If there's too much s, just rerecord it and work on making your s's not as loud. De-essers, unless you have a REALLY good one, give you an unnatural lisp and/or dull your vocal line.

The main vocal line should be centered. That way, if a speaker goes out or if your track gets converted to mono, the vocal line stays clear. That, and vocals are usually really prominent, and it's kind of annoying to have something really prominently in one ear.

And lastly, use an EQ to cut frequencies around 600Hz-1kHz in background tracks to help the vocals pop. If the consonants are hard to hear, find the culprit (buzzy synths, cymbals, etc.) and cut around the 10kHz area while the vocals are going so the vocals don't have to fight for dominance.

[Acsii]

When you record, mute the track you're recording into and pop an ear out of your speakers (and turn up the volume if you have to, but take care it doesn't get picked up by the mic). You'll perform a lot better if you can hear yourself perform.

Thanks for the tips but I don't get this one...

[Versilaryan]

Did I say pop an ear out of your speakers? I meant headphones. >.>

When you arm a track for recording in Ableton, everything that goes into that mic comes out through the audio track you're recording into. But because your computer has to manipulate both the data coming into your mic and out through your speakers, there's a delay between what you hear in the room and what you hear from your speakers. If you don't mute the track you're recording into, this feedback will seriously mess with your timing while you sing.

If you have one ear in your headphones and one ear out if your headphones, you can both hear yourself sing and hear the music you're singing with. Win-win.

[Acsii]

Did I say pop an ear out of your speakers? I meant headphones. >.>

When you arm a track for recording in Ableton, everything that goes into that mic comes out through the audio track you're recording into. But because your computer has to manipulate both the data coming into your mic and out through your speakers, there's a delay between what you hear in the room and what you hear from your speakers. If you don't mute the track you're recording into, this feedback will seriously mess with your timing while you sing.

If you have one ear in your headphones and one ear out if your headphones, you can both hear yourself sing and hear the music you're singing with. Win-win.

Aaah Cheers I always had a problem with that. One ear out got it. Thanks that helps heaps because I have Shure HDJ-750s so they're pretty noise cancelling