Recording - February 2016 - 17

if the singer is singing, even if they are
warming up, just finding their way, you
must be in Record, always, no exceptions. You just never know when the
magic take will occur, and it may not
occur twice. So if you miss it, you are
simply not doing your job.
By the same token, if you capture the
vocal, but it's distorted and unusable,
you have also failed in your mission, soldier! Of course, some will argue that
software can even take care of distortion, but trust me, you do not want to be
the one to explain that the killer vocal
that was the magic take was distorted.
The way to achieve all this is by
putting on the headphones, standing in
front of the mic, and singing. I'll have an
assistant or a very good friend record
me, and then I make adjustments, until I
am happy with what is happening-all
before the artist walks in the room. If the
artist is already in the room, I'll ask them
to go out for a bit until I am ready for
them. This means that when the singer
walks in, everything is just a tweak away
from being perfect, and I'll do that within
the first five seconds of the first take.
If the singer is having a hard time with
a specific part, I will usually have them
sing a different part of the song, to get
them out of the rut. I sometimes will ask
them to just say the words that they are

singing, to think about what the words
mean. That can make a huge difference
in the performance.
Sometimes, I'll have them sing the part
in ways that are not what they are intending to do. For example, I'll ask them to
whisper the part, or sing it in a different
octave. That usually gets the vocal
chord/neuronal paths re-established, so
that when they go back to singing the
part that wasn't working, it will magically
come out different, and usually better.
When capturing a vocal, are you trying
to emulate some favorite recordings?
Do you do a lot of "A/B-ing" to try to
match the sound other engineers/
producers have captured? If so, how
do you do this? Do you have some
major influences?
In one sense, I am always trying to
emulate classic vocal recordings, i.e.,
vocals that make me feel something; if
that happens, I don't worry so much
about the technical aspects. Of course, I
assume once we are tracking that I don't
have to worry about the recording any
more. In this sense, as a producer, I very
much prefer to work with an engineer
who's going to be preoccupied with the
recording, so I can focus on the performance. If that's not possible, then I give
myself a ton of headroom, so I don't

have to think about levels once the initial
adjustments have been made. However,
in terms of sound, I don't necessarily go
for something specific. I don't really do
A/B comparisons; I rely on my emotional
"meters" to tell me if we are in the "red"
zone or not.
How has your extensive experience
with live broadcast television work
influenced and helped your work as a
vocal producer/engineer when making
records?
Working in the studio, there is this
gigantic safety net (which I could argue
isn't really there) that allows us to get a
little lazy about getting things right the
first time. In live television, you might get
a rehearsal, but many times your first
rehearsal with a singer will be on air, so
you have to get it right the first time. So
speed is important.
The other aspect is finding a good
balance between going for perfection
and going for expediency. In live broadcast television, time is short, so you are
always having to make a judgment
about what is most important. You have
to prioritize, while making sure that in
doing so, you haven't lost the essence of
the performance. So, working on live
television has taught me to prioritize in
the studio.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2016
