His “how to sing like Geddy lee” video goes into a lot of his technique behind it. I can’t sing quite as high as he does, but I did gain a few notes after following the video. His technique is impeccable.
Should be mandatory viewing for anyone engineering a vocal recording. No better way to get your singer comfortable than letting him/her go from a whisper to a scream without a concern.
I think this is one of the rarest of the rare videos where technology is being demonstrated with a real time use case. Buddy, you've got an amazing clarity & Range to your voice.. This was a very interesting video. Many thanks for making it.
I've been following recording techniques here and on other RUclips channels for several years. This was one of the very the first times where I tried the recommended technique and immediately got marked improvements on recording a vocal. Excellent advice! Thank you so much.
This was very eye and ear opening! While I've been singing pretty much my whole life (I'm 51) I've never really thought about recording until recently as I've begun learning guitar. New subscriber.
Thanks for the great video! I just ordered the AKG K240 headphones based on your recommendation. I've been using the Vic Firth isolating headphones and not always feeling quite right while singing...taking one ear off, then changing my mind and putting it back on. Hopefully like you said, these will be a good balance and help me sing better. I've never tried compressing the vocal while I record, and I want to give that a try too. Sounds like a great approach. - - One thing I do that helps me a lot is dimming the lights. I like it so dark I can barely see the microphone. I like to try to get lost in the song, forget about my body and the room, envision what's going on in the story/song and become a part of it.
Something I had started doing is throwing up a stereo pair of mics in the room when recording vocals, positioned as if recording drum overheads or rooms, and feeding those just into my monitor mix. My brain locks onto pitch far more accurately, and you can control the exact blend of room in your ears without having to worry about the right kind of bleed or using reverb plugins and having to think about latency, etc. Seems to work really well if you happen to have a pair. I use SDCs, but I'm sure it wouldn't matter what kind.
Great point with the tonal click track. Now that I'm thinking about it, I almost feel like little pink noise clicks with the transient rolled off would be ideal.
What I do myself, is use very isolating headphones, but then add loud room early reflections to the vocal and a bit to the click. It then sounds like you're in the room, and the vocals "pop out" of the mix in your head, allowing you to hear yourself and your pitch better, and get no bleed. Try it. It works.
Ya, been there... I can see how some would love this... it still messes with me. I love to hear the actual room added... putting it in the mix isn't the same for me for some reason
I always sound good in my room but as soon as I put headphones on to record, I have a hard time getting a good balance of being able to hear my voice in the room and the music. Then I tend to either over sing to compensate or start to lose pitch on certain notes. Hoping those semi-open headphones will help.
@@ririthereal I've tried wearing the headphones on 1 ear so the other ear is free to hear my natural voice in the room. Sometimes I get good results, sometimes I don't. I actually just ordered the headphones Chris recommended in this video. AKG K240. They are semi-open so you get some isolation but not so much that you can't hear what's going on in the room.
Great vid, but not a word about latency? I found solving latency problems to be critical. Singers hear their "head voices" alongside the headphones, and if the headphone signal is even SLIGHTLY late, it can sound very "phasey" and off-putting. Even at 48 samples, you can hear hear the phasing. I've fixed this by using direct-from-interface mic monitoring, which unfortunately limits my ability to compress vocals, but I can still add effects like reverb and delay to the headphones from the DAW software. Depending on your DAW and interface, this could be a little tricky, but doing so has definitely improved most singers' experiences at my studio.
Hey Chris! I was going down a rabbit hole looking for videos on the best headphones when tracking vocals and stumbled on your video. Like a lot of vocalists, I tend to wear only one side when tracking vocals so I can hear the room better. Most videos give terrible reviews of the AKG 240’s, but I took a leap of faith and picked them up. GAME-CHANGER! I can’t believe the difference it made in not only my comfort, but my performance. Thank you for making this video man, I’m forever grateful 🙌🏻
Hey thanks man, that's spot on! I just recorded vocals yesterday (after many years, yep!) with a new pair of really tight headphones, and I heard very loudly and somewhat organically the very-low-end... and predominantly... which was distracting me from concentrating on delivering the right pitch (we don't hear the pitch very well in the lower-end)... I thought I needed to use the EQ to correct that, until I discovered it was physically resonating in my chest or in my upper-torso bones and it was heard mostly "bio-internally"... because of the tight headphones! So I searched YT today to find a confirmation of that problem and a solution. Your video confirmed the importance of hearing the actual direct room environment, and that is exactly what I have discovered yesterday! I learned from you that there are specific headphones for that purpose, thanks so much! I didn't know that, after all these years (I'm not a pro audio guy)...! I'll first try with my in-ear headphones that came with my old Samsung cellphone, then maybe purchase your semi-open AKG headphones. Very nice channel BTW!
I was having the same issue since I live in a apartment. What I do now is drive to a secluded location in my car and sing in my car. You could also record vocals in your car to if you have a laptop. It’s easier if you have an suv.
Ya that's BIG (the small space, neighbors thing) ... I was in that situation for many years with multiple living situations. In each case, I had to just MAKE FRIENDS with my neighbors, have conversations about it... that "this is what I do" and it was always a really positive experience. I made good friends! People started being interested in what I was doing... it was really cool
Volume level? If I play the tracks back softly to sing along, I sing too soft. If I crank up the tracks I tend to yell. How do you determine the best volume to monitor at?
That messes with me... but glad it works for you! It definitely works for a lot of people. I miss the immersion in my vocal mix when I take one ear off.
Awesome vocals Chris. Thanks for the content. I'm not a singer, but rather a voice actor and deal with many of the same challenges as singers when in the studio.
I've loved Sony MDR-7506s for more than 20 years. I'm comfortable in every way with them and "know" them. I also have an old pair of AKG K141s that I never liked all that much. I guess it's time to really give the AKGs a chance. Chris Liepe hasn't steered me wrong once yet and I have a feeling this will keep his winning streak! Thank you Graham! (And Chris!)
You didn't mention the biggest obstacle when doing monitoring with vst plugins: latency. I use a RME ADAT Soundcard and I get a 3ms roundtrip, which is pretty low, but the latency still feels distracting to me. So what I usually do is monitor my voice directly via hardware and throw only vst plugins like reverb and delay in on a send channel in my DAW. I would love to hear what values you have, when you do your inthebox monitoring. Thank You!
best solution for that long term problem for me: using audient id22 you can direct monitor the mic dry and then use daw for reverb etc, so just don't send the mic signal coming in to master. Close to zero latency monitoring on any computer :P
THIS SIR, was an EXCELLENT video. THANK YOU! I've been trying to get my headphone mix dialed in for MONTHS! and have asked previous producers I've worked with etc. I'm using Logic Pro and Original Blue Baby Bottle and Apollo Twin interface. I have all the tools but just haven't been comfy cozy yet. YOU GET IT. I love the way you described everything from the vocalists point of view and understanding we go off of FEEL. Your pipes are great! I am also rangy and dynamic so again... so helpful and can't wait to try your tips.
If you are stuck using a headset that bleeds, eq the backing track dark and cut as much of the highs as possible. With bass on small devices, proximity is everything. You will hear the lower frequencies fine but your mic won't. Adversely, the highs will be picked up quite well as they will carry much farther.
Very helpful! I'm doing a session where it takes me a lot of setting up so I am glad to get my vocal chain sorted simply and easily beforehand! Thank you for the great information in a clear way!
I switched to tracking vocals with open back And it's great. The only bleed is in between vocal lines and it's pretty minimal. I could cut it but it's so low it doesn't matter. Don't use a click I use drums. Used to pull one ear off using closed back phones if I was having issues connecting but wound up cranking the volume way too loud. W the open backs I'm able to keep the volume fairly low and still be immersed in both the music and my voice resonance simultaneously. And it's almost like someone else is singing to me in the room, I get to listen to the singer do his thing even though it's me actually doing it. Kind of lowers my inhibition a bit.It's very performance inspiring
This was so helpful; thank you! I’ve been stressing about headphone bleed, AND about how my singing suffers when I try to record because I can’t friggin hear myself in the room and suddenly everything is strained. Now I have a plan and am actually excited to record.
This was amazingly informative. Thank you! My A/D converter (Steinberg UR-44) is USB 2.0, so I have to rely on direct monitoring. But, I have the capability/software to add compression, EQ, and reverb to my vocal monitor mix when tracking, with the option to include or omit these FX from the signal that goes into the DAW. BUT I never bothered with any of it. DUH! Instead, I usually record with one headphone on an ear and the other headphone on the back of my head so that I can hear myself in quieter passages. Not sure why it never occurred to me to decrease the dynamic range with compression before. I stopped the video for a couple of minutes and set up a signal chain with compression, EQ, and reverb using an SM57, and headphones over both ears. Amazing. Your vocal gymnastics are awesome, but the knowledge you shared today (and the last video on Recording Rev) equals your vocal chops. Thanks again.
I have the UR-RT-4, and sm57, and monitoring through the room reverb set very short with a long 80ms pre delay so its more like a slapback. The polarity switch can change the perceived tone too!
speaker bleed. this is very true. One time i heard a song and i heard the guy turning a lyric sheet. It is amazing what WE hear when we make make music. we notice everything. dont we?
What a voice! It makes me think of Cornell. I'm about to record new tracks but so disappointed by my beyerdynamic drummer for vocals... I'm thinking about buying the akg for a try on my sm7b. Thx for the tips! Music will save us all!
Does anyone else find it unnecessary to hear their processed voice while singing? I've just got the track playing quietly through headphones during the take, then I listen afterwards. The latency in my DAW is way too pronounced to do it any other way without sacrificing quality, and it feels better to get a good raw recording first then activate the effects later to really kick it up a notch.
I am agree with you. But when you don't have an external mixing desk and a reverb unit, this is the way to do. If not, you just need to adjust the buffer of your sound interface to 128 (the best) or 256, and all will be ok.
@@laurentlefeivre shortening the buffer in my case yields terrible clicking noises and glitches. For those stuck with the best setup we can currently afford, I feel like hearing your singing (with fx) in realtime is simply an unattainable luxury.
@@matt_glista Honestly it's not necessary 80% of the time in my experience so I totally agree. When I couldn't afford the equipment needed I would pretty much setup my vocal chain, do live takes of the hard parts I knew I needed to hear with the effects and then take them off while recording. The extra 3 minutes was worth it. I can now do live recording with vocal chain on but honestly I still like to record without it and the vocal pretty low in the back.
That's a VERY good point. Latency can really get in the way of this approach! In almost every setup though... there's a way to get the latency low enough to be manageable. Submit/print stuff... I've done that many times.. then you can lower the hardware buffer for less latency!
Hey Chris! Do you have a video on perceived pitch? I've always had problems hearing the right pitch on headphones, hearing everything a little flat on headphones, compared to speakers, resulting in me singing just a little flat.
Came here to watch you teach me how to record vocals properly and now what I want you to teach me is how to sing hahah btw great videos, found you today and watched some, and I subscribed, love the way you talk about these things
Hi good people! Chris...this video is awesome,thank you! I think the bottom line is just to get comfortable so you can do your best performance,with or without the effects,whatever makes you happy is the best solution. One more thing is very important-how loud your vocals are in relation to the song because if your voice is too quiet you start to compensate and eventually hurt your throat...if you set it louder then you should-then you start to sing too softly which can ruin your performance in the opposite way...so be careful about the volume. Cheers,greetings from Croatia!
What about over-ear Noise Cancelling Headphones? Most of them have a mode where you just deactivate the cancelling and use them as microphones (to hear surroundings) while still isolating any "bleed".
As long as they don't kill your natural room environment for your ears! I've got some bose noise cancelling ones that still take too much room out even when the noice cancellation is OFF!
Thanks, Chris! I've been wrestling with getting this working, and out of all the videos I've watched, yours is the first to address the vocal chain *in the cans* and how to get the singer comfortable. I'm still working on getting the details, but it's fighting me less. The K-240s were a brilliant suggestion and saved me from the vacuum of my HD 280 Pros, and best part, I still had a pair in a drawer, working perfectly after 35 years, that I bought back when because they were cheap and flat. 😄
Nice job on mentioning not to get caught on having the cleanest recordings. It can work against you and stifle the process and sort of stop you in your tracks if your not careful.
I had a good chain going and still wasnt heating amy effects. I fixed that part Nd finally gotba bit of reverb and echo. Made a huge difference in mybconfidence. Im fine playing guitar and singing with a band or solo, alone in a room recording, i freeze up. Definitely helped dude
Absolutely Brilliant, Thank You For Being You & Sharing Your Gifts To Help Educate Me & The Wider World With Honest Humble Love. I Pray God Continues To Bless, Protect & Inspire You Always & Forever
I bought those AKG K240 headphones about a week ago for a totally different purpose in mind for using them, but after watching this I'm extra stoked I got them. The same day I picked up the Yamaha HPH-MT8's for tracking. I'll give the AKG a test run with vocals later today.
ive been watching a few of your videos lately. i decided i wanted to start recording vocals, my wife got me a shure sm58. ive just used some decent in ear headphones. i noticed i had a lot better control or awareness of my voice when i didnt have them in. so this video helped a lot, and made a lot of sense. i think the most important thing im missing is a good set of headphones
I just came here to get information as to why when I record on Smule, I hear white-noise in the recording when I stop singing, and it stops when I start start again. I now feel like a pre-k student that stumbled into a doctorial class. I have no idea what you were talking about but DARNIT you sound AWESOME. The rest just flew over my head but I listened anyway😁.
Wow, thanks--this is really helpful. Hadn't thought of the benefit of having the eighth note delay keep your voice in front of you for longer notes--brilliant! And great singing (obviously! lol), I really like your voice.
I pretty much set up my vocal recording exactly the same way but I don't use a click. I can't sing to those things. I always just put a drum loop on a channel and use that :)
I use the AKG K240 and there's still way too much bleed. And then when I go to pitch correction, it of course has bleed. So I just use my westone in ears I use at church because those still allow me to feel the room, hear myself, and it completely isolates the vocals.
having a bad setup for vocals is every discouraging when you try to record. when you listen back you realize you're out of key and out of time because you can't hear the music well, but when you turn up the music you don't hear yourself making stained notes sound terrible. this is why you want turn up the yourself to a point where when you get loud you can still hear yourself through the headphones. then bring in the music and turn it up so its a little less quiet the yourself but still loud enough to be heard even when you are loud
Doh! I just asked this question on one of your other videos, but it was meant for this video. How do you set this up? I don’t know how to put effects onto the vocal channel, so you can hear them while you sing but they don’t get recorded, baked in. I’m working in pro tools, I need a step by step guide. Have you got one? Many thanks by the way this and your other videos are great.
amazing tips, this is exactly what I am always experiencing. I need to hear myself ín the room while I sing, ánd I need to hear the recording. Otherwise I have the feeling I am slightly out of tune as well! But...I create video recordings, and I do not like to have headphones on in the video. Which in ear monitors would you recommend? Or does it work to wear only one in ear? Thanks!
Chris, thanks for putting the time and work into your channel. I loved this video and found it extremely helpful! Keep it up, you’re helping the community!
Man.. if they didn't notice your great voice during the lesson, I feel sorry for them... Man.. I'd Love to write a song for you...Your singing throughout happily keeps distracting me from the lesson.. Thanks on both fronts.. time to rewind the track a bit... Great Video!
Me too. I thought this video gave perfect advice but even one effect added, created enough latency to distract me and tempt me to go off tempo. I googled it and changed DAW settings but that didn't help.
Can semi open back headphones be similar to taking closed back and pushing off slightly on 1 ear so I hear the room? That's how ive been doing it to stay on pitch
That's an ok compromise if you need to, but the problem with the "one ear off" approach is that you cheat yourself out being "in your headphone mix" ... It is imbalanced and you can't be immersed in your sound. But lots of people do this if their headphones are too stifling
The part about warming up with the set up is EXTREMELY important. I had my adopted dad produce my tracks for a while before covid (he grew up I the 80s era hair bands) and would always just have me sing the parts for like 15 min and not even think of touching the record button. At first I was like "man what if I get a great take and we miss it!" But in reality I could probably do it better and better as I got more into the session. Neat that I've seen this presented In two different ways now.
Great video and info. I’ve got a decent mic, using basic software….have a nice voice, but get frustrated as I end up sounding like a goat being choked from the other room. Checking out the PDF next
Wow!!! I'm just learning this stuff for recording at home, and this was an AMAZING video! I love to sing, and am going through lots of stuff about using my DAW of choice (Logic Pro).
![How To Get Great Vocals From A Budget Mic [Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TB0Fvig32lQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![How To Get Great Vocals From A Budget Mic [Tutorial]](/img/tr.png)
This guy is a terrific singer wow
Honestly, you have remarkable range and it’s crazy how relaxed you are when executing it, thanks for the information, very helpful.
His “how to sing like Geddy lee” video goes into a lot of his technique behind it. I can’t sing quite as high as he does, but I did gain a few notes after following the video. His technique is impeccable.
he's simply demonstrating he knows his intrument.
Should be mandatory viewing for anyone engineering a vocal recording. No better way to get your singer comfortable than letting him/her go from a whisper to a scream without a concern.
YES
I think this is one of the rarest of the rare videos where technology is being demonstrated with a real time use case. Buddy, you've got an amazing clarity & Range to your voice.. This was a very interesting video. Many thanks for making it.
as a fellow voice coach...just wanted to say..your voice is amazing!
I am seeking a vo coach how can I contact you
I concur... was really surprised to hear this great voice. With the track, it reminded me a litte of Jimi Hendrix. Great pipes.
@@BorisBerlin That's because it's an instrumental of Hey Joe
@@Taylor-ip6ek Ooops... that's explains it, LOL!
Definitely! I love his voice too! My own voice is more classical-oriented, but I can definitely appreciate an awesome rock vocal.
I've been following recording techniques here and on other RUclips channels for several years. This was one of the very the first times where I tried the recommended technique and immediately got marked improvements on recording a vocal. Excellent advice! Thank you so much.
This was very eye and ear opening! While I've been singing pretty much my whole life (I'm 51) I've never really thought about recording until recently as I've begun learning guitar. New subscriber.
such an amazing tutorial and singing....one of the best I have seen so far......Thanks Sir
This video was EXACTLY what I needed as I have been feeling stumped with recording vocals. Thank you 🙏
You're so welcome!
Thanks for the great video! I just ordered the AKG K240 headphones based on your recommendation. I've been using the Vic Firth isolating headphones and not always feeling quite right while singing...taking one ear off, then changing my mind and putting it back on. Hopefully like you said, these will be a good balance and help me sing better. I've never tried compressing the vocal while I record, and I want to give that a try too. Sounds like a great approach. - - One thing I do that helps me a lot is dimming the lights. I like it so dark I can barely see the microphone. I like to try to get lost in the song, forget about my body and the room, envision what's going on in the story/song and become a part of it.
and thats how my eardrum was torn. 😂
with low either low parts, plus the bass boost plus the isolation...
I’ve been doing the same thing with the Vic Firth headphones! It’s been so frustrating. I ordered the K240s too and am stoked
Something I had started doing is throwing up a stereo pair of mics in the room when recording vocals, positioned as if recording drum overheads or rooms, and feeding those just into my monitor mix. My brain locks onto pitch far more accurately, and you can control the exact blend of room in your ears without having to worry about the right kind of bleed or using reverb plugins and having to think about latency, etc. Seems to work really well if you happen to have a pair. I use SDCs, but I'm sure it wouldn't matter what kind.
Great point with the tonal click track. Now that I'm thinking about it, I almost feel like little pink noise clicks with the transient rolled off would be ideal.
What I do myself, is use very isolating headphones, but then add loud room early reflections to the vocal and a bit to the click. It then sounds like you're in the room, and the vocals "pop out" of the mix in your head, allowing you to hear yourself and your pitch better, and get no bleed.
Try it. It works.
Ya, been there... I can see how some would love this... it still messes with me. I love to hear the actual room added... putting it in the mix isn't the same for me for some reason
I always sound good in my room but as soon as I put headphones on to record, I have a hard time getting a good balance of being able to hear my voice in the room and the music. Then I tend to either over sing to compensate or start to lose pitch on certain notes. Hoping those semi-open headphones will help.
Same, any solution?
@@ririthereal I've tried wearing the headphones on 1 ear so the other ear is free to hear my natural voice in the room. Sometimes I get good results, sometimes I don't.
I actually just ordered the headphones Chris recommended in this video. AKG K240. They are semi-open so you get some isolation but not so much that you can't hear what's going on in the room.
Chris you have an outstanding voice. And these tips help take some of the pressure off. Graham and Chris, thanks for everything.
Thank you!
Great vid, but not a word about latency? I found solving latency problems to be critical. Singers hear their "head voices" alongside the headphones, and if the headphone signal is even SLIGHTLY late, it can sound very "phasey" and off-putting. Even at 48 samples, you can hear hear the phasing. I've fixed this by using direct-from-interface mic monitoring, which unfortunately limits my ability to compress vocals, but I can still add effects like reverb and delay to the headphones from the DAW software. Depending on your DAW and interface, this could be a little tricky, but doing so has definitely improved most singers' experiences at my studio.
Get a Presonus 192 interface. It's perfect for tracking as it has the Fat Chanel for direct monitoring.
Hey Chris! I was going down a rabbit hole looking for videos on the best headphones when tracking vocals and stumbled on your video. Like a lot of vocalists, I tend to wear only one side when tracking vocals so I can hear the room better. Most videos give terrible reviews of the AKG 240’s, but I took a leap of faith and picked them up. GAME-CHANGER! I can’t believe the difference it made in not only my comfort, but my performance. Thank you for making this video man, I’m forever grateful 🙌🏻
Hey thanks man, that's spot on! I just recorded vocals yesterday (after many years, yep!) with a new pair of really tight headphones, and I heard very loudly and somewhat organically the very-low-end... and predominantly... which was distracting me from concentrating on delivering the right pitch (we don't hear the pitch very well in the lower-end)... I thought I needed to use the EQ to correct that, until I discovered it was physically resonating in my chest or in my upper-torso bones and it was heard mostly "bio-internally"... because of the tight headphones! So I searched YT today to find a confirmation of that problem and a solution. Your video confirmed the importance of hearing the actual direct room environment, and that is exactly what I have discovered yesterday! I learned from you that there are specific headphones for that purpose, thanks so much! I didn't know that, after all these years (I'm not a pro audio guy)...! I'll first try with my in-ear headphones that came with my old Samsung cellphone, then maybe purchase your semi-open AKG headphones. Very nice channel BTW!
Thanks! Now i just need a more isolated space to learn singing without disturbing the neighbors 👌🏻
I was having the same issue since I live in a apartment. What I do now is drive to a secluded location in my car and sing in my car. You could also record vocals in your car to if you have a laptop. It’s easier if you have an suv.
😂
Ya that's BIG (the small space, neighbors thing) ... I was in that situation for many years with multiple living situations. In each case, I had to just MAKE FRIENDS with my neighbors, have conversations about it... that "this is what I do" and it was always a really positive experience. I made good friends! People started being interested in what I was doing... it was really cool
@@chrisliepe I haven’t found out what my neighbors think of my King Diamond-esque shrieking 😮
@@chrisliepe thats dope! I should try that out
Volume level? If I play the tracks back softly to sing along, I sing too soft. If I crank up the tracks I tend to yell. How do you determine the best volume to monitor at?
I wear headphones when recording, one ear i hear other ear i hear my self and record, works 🌪️🔥♥️🙏
That messes with me... but glad it works for you! It definitely works for a lot of people. I miss the immersion in my vocal mix when I take one ear off.
Awesome vocals Chris. Thanks for the content. I'm not a singer, but rather a voice actor and deal with many of the same challenges as singers when in the studio.
Exactly why I watched the video and downloaded the PDF.
I've loved Sony MDR-7506s for more than 20 years. I'm comfortable in every way with them and "know" them. I also have an old pair of AKG K141s that I never liked all that much. I guess it's time to really give the AKGs a chance. Chris Liepe hasn't steered me wrong once yet and I have a feeling this will keep his winning streak! Thank you Graham! (And Chris!)
You didn't mention the biggest obstacle when doing monitoring with vst plugins: latency. I use a RME ADAT Soundcard and I get a 3ms roundtrip, which is pretty low, but the latency still feels distracting to me. So what I usually do is monitor my voice directly via hardware and throw only vst plugins like reverb and delay in on a send channel in my DAW. I would love to hear what values you have, when you do your inthebox monitoring. Thank You!
Great idea!
@@chrisliepe So, what's your roundtrip in ms? Are you fine with the latency issue?
best solution for that long term problem for me: using audient id22 you can direct monitor the mic dry and then use daw for reverb etc, so just don't send the mic signal coming in to master. Close to zero latency monitoring on any computer :P
@@callmedeno hell yeah, fellow id22 user
Feel like there aren't many of us on the internet, in an ocean of focusrite people lol
We still in dis bish 😤
U dont need any effect wat a voc god gifted❤❤❤
THIS SIR, was an EXCELLENT video. THANK YOU! I've been trying to get my headphone mix dialed in for MONTHS! and have asked previous producers I've worked with etc. I'm using Logic Pro and Original Blue Baby Bottle and Apollo Twin interface. I have all the tools but just haven't been comfy cozy yet. YOU GET IT. I love the way you described everything from the vocalists point of view and understanding we go off of FEEL. Your pipes are great! I am also rangy and dynamic so again... so helpful and can't wait to try your tips.
If you are stuck using a headset that bleeds, eq the backing track dark and cut as much of the highs as possible. With bass on small devices, proximity is everything. You will hear the lower frequencies fine but your mic won't. Adversely, the highs will be picked up quite well as they will carry much farther.
Very helpful! I'm doing a session where it takes me a lot of setting up so I am glad to get my vocal chain sorted simply and easily beforehand! Thank you for the great information in a clear way!
I switched to tracking vocals with open back And it's great. The only bleed is in between vocal lines and it's pretty minimal. I could cut it but it's so low it doesn't matter. Don't use a click I use drums. Used to pull one ear off using closed back phones if I was having issues connecting but wound up cranking the volume way too loud. W the open backs I'm able to keep the volume fairly low and still be immersed in both the music and my voice resonance simultaneously. And it's almost like someone else is singing to me in the room, I get to listen to the singer do his thing even though it's me actually doing it. Kind of lowers my inhibition a bit.It's very performance inspiring
That sounds good! Looking for tips on how to improve the experience for vocalist.
This was so helpful; thank you! I’ve been stressing about headphone bleed, AND about how my singing suffers when I try to record because I can’t friggin hear myself in the room and suddenly everything is strained. Now I have a plan and am actually excited to record.
This was amazingly informative. Thank you!
My A/D converter (Steinberg UR-44) is USB 2.0, so I have to rely on direct monitoring. But, I have the capability/software to add compression, EQ, and reverb to my vocal monitor mix when tracking, with the option to include or omit these FX from the signal that goes into the DAW. BUT I never bothered with any of it.
DUH!
Instead, I usually record with one headphone on an ear and the other headphone on the back of my head so that I can hear myself in quieter passages. Not sure why it never occurred to me to decrease the dynamic range with compression before.
I stopped the video for a couple of minutes and set up a signal chain with compression, EQ, and reverb using an SM57, and headphones over both ears. Amazing.
Your vocal gymnastics are awesome, but the knowledge you shared today (and the last video on Recording Rev) equals your vocal chops.
Thanks again.
I have the UR-RT-4, and sm57, and monitoring through the room reverb set very short with a long 80ms pre delay so its more like a slapback. The polarity switch can change the perceived tone too!
@@StevieBoyesmusic Thanks, Steve. I'll give that a try.
speaker bleed. this is very true. One time i heard a song and i heard the guy turning a lyric sheet. It is amazing what WE hear when we make make music. we notice everything. dont we?
I hope this comes across in the spirit of helpful. What you heard was not "speaker bleed." The turning page was picked up directly be the mic.
Regarding the click...I use a kick drum...very helpful in eliminating any bleed.
On my life you and gram are twins but with different parents. Great addition to the team and I’m very gracious you’re here. Thanks for the tips.
You’re the only one that acknowledges this. This is my BIGGEST problem
What a voice! It makes me think of Cornell.
I'm about to record new tracks but so disappointed by my beyerdynamic drummer for vocals...
I'm thinking about buying the akg for a try on my sm7b.
Thx for the tips!
Music will save us all!
My favorite is a single-sided closed-back headphone. Useless for anything other than monitoring during tracking, but perfect for that.
Chris, your channel is a necessity in my life, thank you.
Does anyone else find it unnecessary to hear their processed voice while singing? I've just got the track playing quietly through headphones during the take, then I listen afterwards. The latency in my DAW is way too pronounced to do it any other way without sacrificing quality, and it feels better to get a good raw recording first then activate the effects later to really kick it up a notch.
It can help us stay on pitch.
But yeah, my DAW can’t process and record at the same time.
My PC is not that good 😵
I am agree with you. But when you don't have an external mixing desk and a reverb unit, this is the way to do. If not, you just need to adjust the buffer of your sound interface to 128 (the best) or 256, and all will be ok.
@@laurentlefeivre shortening the buffer in my case yields terrible clicking noises and glitches. For those stuck with the best setup we can currently afford, I feel like hearing your singing (with fx) in realtime is simply an unattainable luxury.
@@matt_glista Honestly it's not necessary 80% of the time in my experience so I totally agree. When I couldn't afford the equipment needed I would pretty much setup my vocal chain, do live takes of the hard parts I knew I needed to hear with the effects and then take them off while recording. The extra 3 minutes was worth it. I can now do live recording with vocal chain on but honestly I still like to record without it and the vocal pretty low in the back.
That's a VERY good point. Latency can really get in the way of this approach! In almost every setup though... there's a way to get the latency low enough to be manageable. Submit/print stuff... I've done that many times.. then you can lower the hardware buffer for less latency!
Thanks for good tips. How loud do you have the vocals compared to the mix when recording? And how loud in the headphones in total?
Hey Chris! Do you have a video on perceived pitch? I've always had problems hearing the right pitch on headphones, hearing everything a little flat on headphones, compared to speakers, resulting in me singing just a little flat.
Holy god, your voice is beautiful & thanks for the guide.
Thank you and you're so welcome!
Came here to watch you teach me how to record vocals properly and now what I want you to teach me is how to sing hahah
btw great videos, found you today and watched some, and I subscribed, love the way you talk about these things
Thank you. It amazes me that this topic isn’t talked about much more! I think I’m gonna give those AKG’s a try.
Really fantastic advice and amazing demonstration - Thank you!
Hi good people! Chris...this video is awesome,thank you! I think the bottom line is just to get comfortable so you can do your best performance,with or without the effects,whatever makes you happy is the best solution. One more thing is very important-how loud your vocals are in relation to the song because if your voice is too quiet you start to compensate and eventually hurt your throat...if you set it louder then you should-then you start to sing too softly which can ruin your performance in the opposite way...so be careful about the volume. Cheers,greetings from Croatia!
Exactly. Get comfortable... you'll have a great performance!
You have the voice of an angel
Thank you! :) Glad you enjoyed!
Writing down everything to try in my homestudio. Thank you. NOt easy sometimes to feel comfortable recording vocals. BTW, your voice is amazing!! :0
Your videos have been instrumental in my music making journey you are quite literally a legend to me
Those headphones would have been perfect for me during my last recording session. Thanks for this video!
You're so welcome!
What about over-ear Noise Cancelling Headphones? Most of them have a mode where you just deactivate the cancelling and use them as microphones (to hear surroundings) while still isolating any "bleed".
As long as they don't kill your natural room environment for your ears! I've got some bose noise cancelling ones that still take too much room out even when the noice cancellation is OFF!
Thanks, Chris! I've been wrestling with getting this working, and out of all the videos I've watched, yours is the first to address the vocal chain *in the cans* and how to get the singer comfortable. I'm still working on getting the details, but it's fighting me less. The K-240s were a brilliant suggestion and saved me from the vacuum of my HD 280 Pros, and best part, I still had a pair in a drawer, working perfectly after 35 years, that I bought back when because they were cheap and flat. 😄
Nice job on mentioning not to get caught on having the cleanest recordings. It can work against you and stifle the process and sort of stop you in your tracks if your not careful.
I had a good chain going and still wasnt heating amy effects. I fixed that part Nd finally gotba bit of reverb and echo. Made a huge difference in mybconfidence. Im fine playing guitar and singing with a band or solo, alone in a room recording, i freeze up. Definitely helped dude
Wow!!! What a great voice. The tips about recording are also great, but your voice is AWESOME.
Devin Townsend is known for intentionally using bleed from the monitors and iso room speakers in some cases.
Absolutely Brilliant, Thank You For Being You & Sharing Your Gifts To Help Educate Me & The Wider World With Honest Humble Love. I Pray God Continues To Bless, Protect & Inspire You Always & Forever
Wow, that tip about improvisation has really helped me a lot! First time on this channel, greetings from Kyiv!
Surely grabbing the mic whilst recording is not the best idea? Chris you have an amazing range.
Thank you! Grabbing the mic is fun :) and works if it gets you in the mood :)
I bought those AKG K240 headphones about a week ago for a totally different purpose in mind for using them, but after watching this I'm extra stoked I got them. The same day I picked up the Yamaha HPH-MT8's for tracking. I'll give the AKG a test run with vocals later today.
ive been watching a few of your videos lately. i decided i wanted to start recording vocals, my wife got me a shure sm58. ive just used some decent in ear headphones. i noticed i had a lot better control or awareness of my voice when i didnt have them in. so this video helped a lot, and made a lot of sense. i think the most important thing im missing is a good set of headphones
I just came here to get information as to why when I record on Smule, I hear white-noise in the recording when I stop singing, and it stops when I start start again.
I now feel like a pre-k student that stumbled into a doctorial class. I have no idea what you were talking about but DARNIT you sound AWESOME. The rest just flew over my head but I listened anyway😁.
Yooo you're one of the few who's intro music of themselves in the beginning is actually 🔥🔥🔥
These headphones are discontinued. Can't find 'em new. What's your fallback recommendation?
Thanks for this!
This video is so helpful and you explain it so clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much Chris 😊
AMEN!!!!! I have been TORTURED trying to record in extremeIy isoIating headphones. It's torture!!!!!
Dang that track and vocals in the beginning! 😳👌🏻
Very interesting ! I test that as soon as possible. Thanks a lot !
You're very welcome!
Congrats, what a voice.... and amazing tips, thx
omg your ad-libbing in this is amazing! Awesome voice :)
Wow, thanks--this is really helpful. Hadn't thought of the benefit of having the eighth note delay keep your voice in front of you for longer notes--brilliant! And great singing (obviously! lol), I really like your voice.
This was exactly what I needed to watch thank you so much for making it ... 🎶🎧🎙️
You're so welcome!
I pretty much set up my vocal recording exactly the same way but I don't use a click. I can't sing to those things. I always just put a drum loop on a channel and use that :)
Awesome!
I use the AKG K240 and there's still way too much bleed. And then when I go to pitch correction, it of course has bleed. So I just use my westone in ears I use at church because those still allow me to feel the room, hear myself, and it completely isolates the vocals.
If you can accept a feedback you might mit like, say so...
@@MrKulturembargo yeah if you have any suggestions go right ahead
Wtf is westone
@@TheSpeedyr6 www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AmPro20--westone-am-pro-20-ambient-earphones-clear?mrkgadid=3280890931&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=livesound&lighting&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046934995709&lid=92700046934995709&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283820792&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=426884694463&product_id=AmPro20&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=1016216&creative=226299461201&targetid=aud-297527862170:pla-426884694463&campaignid=953755110&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7y5QUJIfEcfScvSHsCmmkFBPPO1137eb4O3u1ckxXJ9H2m-IUqSAJYaApUeEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
having a bad setup for vocals is every discouraging when you try to record. when you listen back you realize you're out of key and out of time because you can't hear the music well, but when you turn up the music you don't hear yourself making stained notes sound terrible. this is why you want turn up the yourself to a point where when you get loud you can still hear yourself through the headphones. then bring in the music and turn it up so its a little less quiet the yourself but still loud enough to be heard even when you are loud
You sound absolutely great :O Thanks for the tut
Doh! I just asked this question on one of your other videos, but it was meant for this video.
How do you set this up? I don’t know how to put effects onto the vocal channel, so you can hear them while you sing but they don’t get recorded, baked in. I’m working in pro tools, I need a step by step guide. Have you got one?
Many thanks by the way this and your other videos are great.
amazing tips, this is exactly what I am always experiencing. I need to hear myself ín the room while I sing, ánd I need to hear the recording. Otherwise I have the feeling I am slightly out of tune as well! But...I create video recordings, and I do not like to have headphones on in the video. Which in ear monitors would you recommend? Or does it work to wear only one in ear? Thanks!
Chris, thanks for putting the time and work into your channel. I loved this video and found it extremely helpful! Keep it up, you’re helping the community!
Awesome vid, thanks! Q: My local store has the AKG K240S and the AKG K240 Mkii? Which one are your referring to?
So that’s how they do it..Thank you for sharing your awesome! video
yeah but like... how do I even monitor with 0 latency through my headphones? lol
been recording for 10 years and still haven't figured that out.
JST Howard Benson's plugin chain is pretty rad.. love your videos Chris , I've learned a ton from you.. 🙏👍
Glad to hear it!
Man.. if they didn't notice your great voice during the lesson, I feel sorry for them... Man.. I'd Love to write a song for you...Your singing throughout happily keeps distracting me from the lesson.. Thanks on both fronts.. time to rewind the track a bit... Great Video!
I'm actually looking for a co-writer. I'd love to connect!
google me :)
Wonderful fantastic instructions and tutorials! Thank you for sharing this!
I’m curious how you managed to
Avoid latency while
Recording with the plugins directly on your audio track like the compressor chain for example.
Me too. I thought this video gave perfect advice but even one effect added, created enough latency to distract me and tempt me to go off tempo. I googled it and changed DAW settings but that didn't help.
Amazing Tips! Awesome Singer.
Wow, Chris! Great video, and your voice sounds unbelievable!! Thanks for this!
Thank you, bro. You are an Amazing vocalist also !
it would be interesting to see the split screen of meters during your vocal environment performance test .
Agreed!
very very precious video and tutorial. love you
I really enjoyed your video, I think I'm going to try these headphones ~ thanks!
Can semi open back headphones be similar to taking closed back and pushing off slightly on 1 ear so I hear the room? That's how ive been doing it to stay on pitch
That's an ok compromise if you need to, but the problem with the "one ear off" approach is that you cheat yourself out being "in your headphone mix" ... It is imbalanced and you can't be immersed in your sound. But lots of people do this if their headphones are too stifling
This has been done for decades. Works for me.
The part about warming up with the set up is EXTREMELY important. I had my adopted dad produce my tracks for a while before covid (he grew up I the 80s era hair bands) and would always just have me sing the parts for like 15 min and not even think of touching the record button. At first I was like "man what if I get a great take and we miss it!" But in reality I could probably do it better and better as I got more into the session. Neat that I've seen this presented In two different ways now.
You adopted your dad?
Bro... Your Vocals are ridiculously GOOD😎👍
Great video and info. I’ve got a decent mic, using basic software….have a nice voice, but get frustrated as I end up sounding like a goat being choked from the other room. Checking out the PDF next
Awesome video. Thank you so much for sharing those super helpful tips!
Your vocal is insane!
Really great advice you are sharing. Thank you so much.
Wow!!!
I'm just learning this stuff for recording at home, and this was an AMAZING video! I love to sing, and am going through lots of stuff about using my DAW of choice (Logic Pro).