[TIL at AES 6/12] Recording rock vocals that fit with the instruments without any mixing

Finishing up this week’s “Thing I Learned at AES” lessons with this little rock vocal recording tip.

If you haven’t read the previous posts you can check them out below:

Mike Senior is one smart engineer. He has a really great way at looking at recording. He doesn’t focus on the perfect technicalities of the engineering as much as the naturalness of the performance. His focus is on capturing the best possible performance because we as listeners will always ignore the technicalities if the performance is great.

He had a really great point when it came to a rock vocal sound.

When you’re listening to a rock vocal you’re not hearing the vocalist scream right into your ear.

You’re hearing him on stage with the band where he blends in.

Similarly, when you listen to rock music on your speakers you don’t put your ears up to your monitors and hear the vocal from four inches away.

No, you hear the vocal blend in with the band.

So next time you’re trying to record a rock vocal, try recording with the mic a bit further away so that when you add it into the mix it automatically blends itself with the music. If it’s recorded up dry and personal then that’s how it will sound. It will sound tacked onto the mix and you’ll struggle to get it to fit within the music.

It’s so much easier to mix a vocal when you already did it by simply recording it with the mix in mind.

That’s it for today, have a great weekend.

Björgvin

P.S.

If you’re looking for more tips and tricks to help you improve your recordings then the Recording & Mixing Strategies Bundle is guaranteed to help you out.

www.audio-issues.com/strategies

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