Recording - March 2015 - 41

little reverb going and delay on deck if the
song calls for it. Sure, singers have their preferences-for example, rappers almost
always want to track without reverb-but
those changes are just a click away.
I always make sure that there is some sort
of rhythmic pulse happening throughout the
song, whether a click, drum tracks, percussion tracks, or any other instruments that can
hold down the pulse and the feel. I always
have a click track ready, but by default it's
muted. I always try to hear the song through
the singer's or musician's ears, and hopefully I can predict and compensate what they
will need while recording.
For example, if it's a softer, vibey, ballad
feel, I'll turn down their overall headphone
volume so they have to quiet themselves
down. I'll turn up the ambient effects so they
feel like they're swimming in the music.
Conversely, if it's a loud, energetic song, I'll
turn up their headphone volume a bit so
they have to push more to match the music.
If it's a song with a lot of vocal tracks, harmonies, doubles, etc., I'll mix it as we
record, making sure their vocal track is
always loudest and panned center. A little
trick for this is to have a vocal input track
that's set to monitor the mic. Don't record
on that track, just have it monitor the live
vocal in addition to the track that's recording. This is just to boost the level of the
recorded vocal, saving a mouse click. This
also works great for punch-ins, so they can
hear themselves while the current take is
playing up to the punch point.
The punchline
The most important thing to remember
is that so much of the recording process is
psychological. If a musician or singer is
inexperienced or nervous, they may compensate for this by fiddling or asking for
many headphone adjustments. I've experienced this too many times, and my solution is to confidently give them what I
think they need, while also being warm
and accommodating... to a point.
I'll always try to get to recording
warmups or first takes as quickly as possible, because I've found that getting into a
groove solves some of those issues. Also, I'll
try cracking some jokes, maybe in the form
of putting a funny effect on their vocals or
the music to get a laugh. I lighten the mood,
because music should be fun and an enjoyable experience. If you apply some of these
ideas to your monitor mix the next time you
track a vocalist or band, hopefully you'll
enjoy some of the fun, enjoyment, and musical success that it's brought me.
Greg Ogan (ogan@recordingmag.com) is
a writer-producer signed to The Writing
Camp/Sony/ATV, and former chief engineer for J.R. Rotem and Beluga Heights.
His credits include Britney Spears,
Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Sean Kingston, and
Kelly Clarkson.
RECORDING March 2015

41


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Recording - March 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - March 2015

Contents
Recording - March 2015 - Cover1
Recording - March 2015 - Cover2
Recording - March 2015 - 1
Recording - March 2015 - 2
Recording - March 2015 - 3
Recording - March 2015 - 4
Recording - March 2015 - 5
Recording - March 2015 - Contents
Recording - March 2015 - 7
Recording - March 2015 - 8
Recording - March 2015 - 9
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Recording - March 2015 - Cover3
Recording - March 2015 - Cover4
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