Recording - February 2016 - 19

there has been vocal comping (where
you take little bits of different vocal takes
until you make a final composite vocal
take), and in many ways, some of the
performances on the records that we love
may not have always actually been sung
by anyone anywhere, they were
chopped up to be what we now hear.
This is all to say that vocal producing,
like music producing in general, involves
no small amount of artifice.
But back to your question-I do use tuning technology, mainly to make what is
otherwise a great take, based on emotional impact, also great on pitch. If we didn't
all expect perfection, we would probably
not need to do this as much, but this is the
reality of the music industry today.
At what point in the vocal production
process do you start adding effects to a
vocal? Is this always done while mixing,
or do you add effects from the very
beginning of tracking to give the right
feel?
I start to add effects to the vocal from
the get-go. It generally gives me an idea
of how things will end up sounding. Also,
as we do overdubs, whether vocal or
instrumental, it gives the musician or
singer a chance to listen to the lead vocal
in the context of the song, not just sitting
there out of context. Of course, in the end

I will tweak and get much more precise
with the effects, but I am definitely in the
vicinity of where the lead vocal will end
up from the beginning.
Can you share some of your techniques
for doubling vocals effectively, as well
as for capturing the best possible
background vocal performances?
Each singer has their own way of
recording vocal overdubs. There are
methods that I favor, but I will always listen and let the vocalist tell me how he is
accustomed to cutting doubles of backing
vocals. I let that be my guide. For example, if a singer is used to recording doubles by listening to a previous take in the
left ear with the current vocal panned up
the middle, I will set up the panning that
way. I will also always comp the lead
vocal and have a finalized lead track
before cutting any backgrounds or doubles. This way the singer has a clear
idea of what he/she is following.
The other thing I do is to have all the
tracks I need prepared before we start cutting, so I can quickly record and play back
without making the singer wait around.
Once I have a set of vocals recorded, I will
listen with and without music. If I am
happy, I move on, but if I hear anything
rubbing me the wrong way, I then solo
each track until I find the offending take

and quickly replace that while the singer is
still warm and in the zone.
Please add any other aspects of your
approach that you think are important
for up-and-coming vocal
producers/engineers to learn!
Talking to the singer ahead of time, to
get a sense of what the song means to
them, and what they want to go for in
their performance, is very important.
Many times, I've found that because we
get so wrapped up in the mechanics of
recording a song, we sometimes forget
what the song is about. I am always
paying attention to make sure that what
is being said in the lyrics is congruent
with the way it is being sung.
Even in situations where the singer is
the songwriter, I have found that it is
very easy for the singer to lose track of
what the specific lyric is trying to convey. By having that conversation about
what the lines in a song are about, you
can completely change how the singer
delivers the lines, and this can lead to a
completely unexpected performance for
both the producer and the artist!
More info at: www.pablomunguia.com
Beto Hale (beto@recordingmag.com)
is Recording's LA Editor At Large.
http://www.pablomunguia.com http://www.RibbonMics.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2016
