By T. Perry Bowers
I was seventeen years old when I had my first recording session in a studio. I was a senior in high school and I didn’t have a clue! My task was to lay down vocal tracks for eight songs in one afternoon. My rock band only had 2 days total in the studio! So I sang the songs once through and called it good. There were some magical moments on that recording but some cringe worthy ones as well.
Since that day, I’ve learned a lot! Here are some tips you can take into the studio with you:
- Know your Limits
Your voice has a limit and you need to know it. Even if you’re classically trained and supremely healthy your voice will eventually wear out. When you get to your limit you need to call it a day. Fresh bright energy is the key to any recording and flat, tired sound is your enemy. Vocals are the first thing people notice when they’re listening to music. The guitars, drums, keyboards and horns can be blazing hot, but if the vocal is weak the recording will be mediocre. You’re only as good as your weakest link, especially if your weakest link is the vocals.
- Stay Hydrated
Keep hydration at the forefront of your awareness. If you’re going to be singing that day, keep your voice hydrated from the time you wake up until the time you sing. If you’re like me and have a caffeine addiction, you may as well feed it because you don’t want to have a headache or withdrawal symptoms while you’re in the booth. But keep it to a minimum. Caffeine dehydrates you, especially in high doses. Black or green tea is less dehydrating. Once you’re all charged up, limit your intake to water, juice and herbal tea. Bring awareness to your vocal chords. They should be supple and fresh.
- Warm-Up
Once you’re all lubed up you need to warm-up. About forty-five minutes before you cut your tracks, spend about fifteen minutes doing warm-up exercises. They don’t have to be sophisticated. Hum in a low voice very gently. Hum while sweeping up and down in pitch. Keep it gentle and consistent. You are literally bringing blood into your vocal chords, thus warming them up. When your voice is warm, it’s supple, which makes it easier to sing and more pleasant to hear.
- Try a steam machine
Some people use a personal steam machine in the booth – you can buy these on Amazon. They are often sold as face steamers, but you can use them for your vocal chords as well. I used to use one but don’t anymore as I find hydrating with beverages works really well for me and no amount of steam is going to compensate for not being hydrated. However they are worth trying and if it works for you go for it! Don’t be shy about bringing things into the studio that make your performance better.
- Work with your own sound
I used to get nervous about singing in the studio even when it was my own studio! I think I set such high expectations for myself that I was afraid to fail. But I’ve learned enough studio tricks over the years to compensate for the flaws in my singing voice and technique. Nobody is perfect – even Mariah Carey has weaknesses in her voice. Bob Dylan had a few extra challenges. You need to work with your own sound.
Pitch is critical. There’s really no way around it. Sure, there is pitch correction software, but it can only do so much. Don’t beat yourself up about it but listen and discern whether or not you hit a note. If you didn’t get the note re-sing it. If you didn’t quite get it, but you think it’s the best you can do, then you have a judgment call to make. Keep trying, use pitch correction software or some other studio trickery.
In the studio you have the power to “punch” every single syllable if you choose. You engineer can set an automatic punch in and punch out point. I’ve heard rumors that the young Britney Spears had to do a lot of punches to get her vocals to pitch. Work with your engineer to get the best vocal line you can without it sounding choppy or robotic. Think about how your recording represents your live sound too. Yes, a studio recording is different from a live show, but you want your recording to give your audience an idea what they can expect if they come to your show. Work hard to make it sound good, but remember you are human. Sometimes it’s the humanity that makes a recording great.
- Think about Diction
Diction was more important fifty years ago than it is now. My parents always tell me they can’t understand what I’m singing about. But I grew up on Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins where understanding the lyrics was an afterthought. I recently had a recording session with a vocal coach who helped me with my diction. In the end, I only kept half of her suggestions. My style and her idea of what sounded good didn’t completely mesh. However if you’re a crooner or a pop singer, you want your lyrics to be understood. Pronunciation and diction is an important aspect of singing in the studio. Work with your band mates and engineer. Ask them if they can understand what you’re saying. Feedback from the people in the room is invaluable.
- Use Techniques and Effects
One technique I use a lot is doubling vocals. John Lennon loved this method. It’s singing the same line at the same pitch right over top of the lead line. Often it can make pitch problems less detectable. It takes skill to match the vocal lines but with a few takes you’ll get it. Another technique is harmony. Try laying a harmony line on top of the faulty line. Harmonies do a great job of masking little pitch imperfections.
Effects can be handy as well. I used to love to bathe my voice in reverb. (I think this was because I didn’t like the sound of my own voice!) You have to strike a good balance between too little and too much effect. My philosophy is if you can hear the effect it’s a little too much. You should be able to hear a delay after a vocal line is finished, but not when the line is being sung. Reverb should give a feeling to a vocal line rather than a sound. If the effect is obviously audible, back off a bit.
Lastly, being open to criticism and feedback is critical. Other people’s thoughts can be extremely helpful. Sometimes when I’m in the booth, I can’t tell whether I sung a line well or not. I depend heavily on the folks in the control room to tell me whether it’s good or I need to try again. Singing is a hard job and every little imperfection is highlighted in the studio but remember you’re all on the same team. Do your best to be work openly with your team and have fun!
