recording vocals

Subject: recording vocals
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 02 May 06 - 08:32 AM

I friend of mine recently produced a recording of his songs. The recordings were produced by a chap who has done lots of other recordings. But I hate the sound of the vocals. My friend hasn't got a big voice, and, as a result, echo - or something - has been added, but, to my ears, the results are not a success. Sure, the voice is now bigger, but it is also hollow, and distant, lacking edge and character. Is it possible to broaden and add depth to a vocal track without getting the impersonal, distant sounds I hear on my friend's recordings?

Subject: RE: recording vocals
From:
Date: 02 May 06 - 08:39 AM

That was probably reverb which was added. To do reverb successfully, too much is easy to include. Sometimes less is better.

How does your friend feel?

Not hearing it makes it difficult to analyze though. Some times you have to try and accentuate the low frequencies which might help on the depth.

Subject: RE: recording vocals
From: Nick
Date: 02 May 06 - 09:24 AM

From the limited amount I know about these things I would say 'yes' it's possible. I would guess that the first thing that could be done would be to double the vocal and add a tiny amount of delay - that usually thickens a vocal sound. With a little judicious use of EQ you could boost some parts of the voice which would give a bit more depth.

There was a thread on here some while back about someone who was unhappy with the results they had when they were recorded where the engineer had made the voice sound all wrong, but I can't find it.

To the best of my knowledge the person went back and said 'I don't like it sounding like that, I want it to sound like this...' and the engineer said fine and changed it and everyone lived happily ever after.

Subject: RE: recording vocals
From: GUEST,Whistle Stop
Date: 02 May 06 - 09:44 AM

I have a home recording studio, and have recorded both of my solo CDs there. In my experience the vocals are the hardest thing to get right. I agree with the comment above that too much reverb can produce exactly the effect that you describe; it may have been added in an attempt to enhance a weak vocal track (a common mistake), but this rarely works as well as people hope it will.

Subject: RE: recording vocals
From: jeffp
Date: 02 May 06 - 10:36 AM

If you can hear the reverb, you have too much.

Subject: RE: recording vocals
From: GUEST,danks
Date: 02 May 06 - 03:45 PM

Don't they sometimes use compression to add warmth and depth to vocals.

Subject: RE: recording vocals
From: M.Ted
Date: 02 May 06 - 03:48 PM

You may not have liked the sound of your friend's recording, but chances are, your friend liked it, or it wouldn't have ended up like that--If your voice is similar to your friend's, you should find out how it was done, in order to avoid the same problem. Then read up on the various trick of the trade for enhancing a weak voice, and find a recording engineer who specializes in this--Often, the voice is recorded on more than one track--

If you don't have the same kind of voice, don't worry too much about your friend's problem--you will have a different set of things to deal with.