1. Music Performance & Ensemble
Preparing to Record Pt 2 Vocals & Keyboards
musicstudentinfo.com
Chris Baker

2. Preparing to Record Singers
• In Popular Music vocals are the focus of the recording.
• They tell the story.
• They have to be in front.
• Few vocalists understand mechanics of their instrument.
• it's impossible to outline all that goes into having a strong
vocal technique.
• Singers should take lessons with a good coach.

3. Preparing to Record Vocals
• Singers need rest.
• Singers should remain healthy.
• Practice parts & work out phrasing in rehearsal.
• Practice harmony parts beforehand.
• Singers should establish a vibe.
• Turn off the lights, light candles WHATEVER is needed to get
into the lyric.
• Sincere delivery overrides most technical aspects in the
studio.

4. Preparing to Record Lead Vocals
• Keep hydrated.
• Determine what is needed in the headphones.
• If necessary record about 4-5 takes of a song and then
"comp” (short for composite track) the best phrases into a
take.
• Listening for continuity and problem spots.
• It's important also to pace yourself in the studio.
• Do not sing too much and lose your voice.

5. Preparing to Record Background Vocals
• With background vocals the big issue is tuning.
• Every part has to be on pitch - perfect, or they won't stack.
• Phrasing - make sure consonants hit at the same points, and
the phrases end at the same time.
• In a digital audio workstation environment, this is easy to
edit.

6. Preparing to Record Vocal Production 1
• Layering.
• Use of special effects as talking tracks, whisper tracks, and
shouting tracks.
• How you layer vocals can depend on your preferred style, you
might use up 16 tracks.
• Experiment with vocal doublings in choruses for added
strength.

7. Preparing to Record Vocal Production 2
• Try doubling harmonies and panning them opposite each
other for a natural chorusing feel.
• Vocals take time, harmonies take time, and doublings take
time.
• You cannot rush vocal takes.

8. Preparing to Record Keyboards
• Direct In by running a line into a multitrack recorder.
• Using mixer, you'll have more control over the signal.
• Keyboard Amp - mike a keyboard or guitar amp and run your
electric keyboard through that.
• This can sometimes give a warmer, sound.
• Plug the keyboard into the keyboard or guitar amp, as you'd
normally do, and place microphone (such as a Shure SM57)
about 1-3 inches from the speaker cone, pointed slightly off
from the center.
• Or try both & blend the two signals.

9. Recording & Mixing Keyboards
• Boost around the lows really makes the piano sound more
realistic.
• If you're using a synth or electric keyboard sound, you might
be happy with the direct-in.
• Experiment with boosting and cutting the mids and highs to
see if you can get a better sound.
• Add a little reverb, depending on the song type.

10. Mixing Keyboards
• You will probably want to pan the keyboard or piano if there
are a lot of other instruments.
• You don't want the keyboard taking up a space occupied by
another instruments.
• Panning - Keyboard or Piano to the left and anything
occupying the same frequencies to the right.
• If you've got two outputs it might automatically pan the high
end to the left and the low end to the right.