Recording Guitars & Vocals for Alex Mills!

I know, 3 blogs in one day, what is this? Well, its called a hustle ladies and gentlemen and I'm feeling it today! This blog is going to be more of a continuation from my drum recording with Dan Sugars blog as all of these recordings are actually for the same song - an original by Alex Mills himself known as 'Lighten Up'. Lets get to it!

Original recordings

Originally, we set out to record both Alex's vocals and guitar at the same time as that was how he had wanted to sound initially. However, once it was revealed that Alex has a scratch track on him after our first session that didn't match entirely with what we had recorded, we decided to record drums to the reference track and then re-track guitars and vocals later and have them in time! However, this is not to say what had already recorded of Alex's vocals and guitars weren't useful as that became reference material in itself for both Dan with drums and Alex himself when re-tracking vocals in particular!

The original mic setup of Alex consisting of a Royer R-121, Shure SM7B and Electrovoice RE20 on vocals and Neumann U87 and KM184 mics on the guitar. Photo taken on 28/9/18 by yours truly

Recording Guitars

The second time around recording guitars was rather basic as we just used the exact same setup as we did originally with the Neumann U87 and KM184 on the body and 12th fret (or equivalent with a capo on) respectively. After capturing a solid few takes, Alex decided to bring out his other guitar to record seperate voices using a capo on a different and higher fret. This layered with his other guitar's primary voicing of the song sounded absolutely stunning and this was before Alex's out of this world vocals were added to the mix!

Re-tracking Vocals in isolation

After some time out of the studio for a week or two, Alex had eventually come to the decision of re-tracking his vocals separately from his guitar after consulting back and forward a few times with my lecturer and professional audio engineer - Guy Gray. This worked out for the best in the end as the mics we recorded with (a combination of a Royer R-121 and AKG 414 set to cardioid) gave off a really clean and beautiful sound which really suited the tone and feel of Alex's voice. We decided to reduce the amount of mics for vocals this time around purely and simply because 3 mics on one vocal is a little too much and can be overwhelming and nerve-wracking for some artists. I've listed a photo of our mic setup on the day below for anyone who is interested!

Royer R-121 & AKG 414 in action with 2

Pop filters - photo taken by yours truly on

12/10/18

Things I've learn't about working with Vocalists/ArtistsSomething that's really hit when working with Alex and Dan over the last week is that a good recording take from an artist/musician has to suite and balance well between two main categories - Technical and Performance. On the technical side, the artist needs to make sure that they're playing/singing their desired instrument well with good technique and at a pitch that they're happy with. On the other hand in terms of performance, the artist has to portray and express the character/mood that they were in when they first wrote the music in which they are performing. It may seem tedious but it's actually very noticeable when an artist/s give a take while not being motivated or in the zone because it doesn't have that spark or impact that it did when they wrote the song or performed it live.

A few more key aspects to be aware of at all times are maintaining communication, setting a vibe and making sure the artists is feeling comfortable and having fun in your studio environment. Without these in mind, recording becomes a lot more of a job than actual fun and this is something I think a lot of new people including myself need to realise and think about more because you won't get anywhere without these and spending time in a studio without taking them into a count is honestly a huge waste of time because you won't get what you're looking for at all in terms of that 'perfect take'.

Alex in the zone, mid-take in our most recent

studio session! Photo taken by yours truly

on 12/10/18

Another small trait I've come to notice with vocalists in particular from experience in recording them is that you know when they're in their element when their eyes are shut, forehead is slightly creased from emotional frowning and they begin to sway to the groove that they make for themselves. You can take that as an indicator that you're doing a relatively good job :P.

Overall, working with Alex has been a complete joy so far and big props to him for having to put up with our class having to learn as we go, his patience is rather impressive :'). With all of this being said I'd say that just about does it for Levels' 3 in one blog extravaganza! Cheers for tuning in guys and I'll catch ya next time!

Levels :)