Hi Friends, I get asked this question ALL the time! How did I get great vocals, well of course it goes way beyond the gear! Having a great performance is THE most important thing! Please check out the video and leave me any comments and questions and of course feel free to let us know your own personal experience! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

Great points. As an artist who's recorded with multiple producers, I can say that what stood out to me most about recording vocals with Warren was how comfortable he made me feel. Personally, tracking vocals was always the most stressful part of making a record. However, he keeps the room feeling light rather than making it feel like a giant spotlight is on me and every vocal moment. It's an atmosphere that's helped me grow immensely as a singer. Thanks, Warren!

I recorded a vocalist last year who would come in for sessions, but we actually needed an hour of each session for him to lose his anxiety. We worked this out after the first session and started each subsequent session with a relaxing cup of tea on the sofa, just chatting away. I could sense him relaxing over time and he signaled me when he felt ready to record.

Warren, you are so spot on when you talk about getting a vocal recorded at the time when it's relevant in the singer's mind. I have experience of recording a vocalist who wrote a beautiful and angry song about losing a loved one a few years ago, but he didn't actually get round to recording it until this year. Guess what - the passion, the fire, the tears and the emotion in his voice had gone because he'd got over it and his life had moved on. As a result I got a passable vocal performance in the end, but nothing in the class that I would have had if I had just got him to sing the vocals into a computer at the time when his life was in pieces. Keep up the excellent work Warren, we love what you do.

The advice about sometimes the first recording of a song is the best is totally correct. No matter how hard i try I can't replicate the first take of a song. It's gold

I love how you’re not snobby about these things; you’re accessible to anyone from cheap homemade studios (like mine) to professional studio setups. Love your videos, thank you! I’m hoping to record the vocals for my next album today, in a study, through an SM58, through an M-Audio interface into Reaper...wish me luck!

Thanks! #5: Yes, as a songwriter, there is often something very emotional and magical happening when writing, and it sorts of fades out a little after a while :)

My morning is fun and exciting. The word of God and prayer time and Warren pushing me to be better today and Warren you are a pitcher of silver full of golden apples thanks.

The vocal melody on "Ungodly Hour" is incredible! The vocal production on it really sounds great. Excellent job, Warren.

Pure class as always. Superb stuff. This is exactly what we need to see on You Tube -- a global village of like-minded people helping each other out. As Morrissey (love him or hate him!) wrote on the Smiths song 'I Know It's Over': "It's so easy to laugh and so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind." Thanks Warren for rising above the rabble with your pure positivity! Keep it up, and you've got a fan in me forever. Cheers mate.

I'm an audio engineering graduate and I can share one of my early experiences regarding this subject matter: People who you record are unfortunately not always well rehearsed when it's time to record. So what you end up doing is recording his/her vocal performance a couple of times and essentially having to "fix it in the mix" by chopping up and using different parts of the recordings you did. Therefore it is important to isolate the singer from the rest of the band and make sure that every recording follows the same tempo. It just makes things easier to fit the vocals back into the track. I'm still learning though, and having a feeling that I will never stop learning in this field. :)

I wrote a song and recorded it. No matter how much I tried I couldn't beat that first vocal. Even though it clipped a bit. He's bang on the money with that last comment. It's fresh it has emotion that matters.

Fantastic video. I used to record always my own voice in the last decades, but it happens, that I know work with a guest vocalist and some things are maybe so obvious, that I wouldn't have thought about :). Thanks Warren!

Headphone mix is super important. I always start the mix with just a little bit of reverb too if they ask for more, the reverb send is already setup and I can quickly give them a smidge more, and if they don't want it, I can pull it down in their mix.

My best & (my opinion) recording, mix, performance to date was the very first go, and I did a straight freestyle and had to write the words Down in order to redue it. The same thing happened on different occasions with half the technology on instruments as well. The 1st take is usually my best, it just sucks when there's too big of an error to fix. But I'm learning the hard way, maybe I just need a singer

I've watched many of his videos and like them all. This is one of his best, great video.

Good example for the "performance is key" (and the click track thing): on Christina Aquielra's "Beautiful" you hear a click in her headphones (especially at the end of the song). That is because it is the recording of the very first time she sang that song in Linda Perry's studio. That performance was so good they decided to keep it, despite the click. (Edit: that story is told on Christina's Story Tellers, missing the fact that there is a click in the recording) Another great tip if your happen to get a lot of smacking sounds from the singer, let them have an apple! :-)

I've found that I get easily distracted by robust mixes, and I can usually get a better vocal performance with a stripped down version of the mix -- i.e. guitars / drums (or whatever the main instrument is). Also, I prefer to mute the vocal channel and pop the left headphone ear off slightly so I can hear myself. Thanks for the awesome video and channel.

Great video Warren. And as always such useful information. Superb.

Excellent advice! Please do more videos with a focus on working with artists and production techniques!

Massive thanks as always, Warren - vocals is something I still struggle with - especially trying to capture my own / recording myself.

Great info as always. As a singer songwriter who is learning to record for my own music only, the comment about sometimes the best take is while writing rings absolutely true. I may stop breaking out my phone and actually turn on my gear to see if I can take better advantage of some scratch tracks. Thanks.

Performance is key. Period. Wise words (as usual). Thank you Warren.

You're so engaging.

As always, I find your tutorials to be entertaining, informative and inspiring. Thanks for making me feel better about the fact that I prefer recording vocals with my secondhand Shure SM57 than I do with my Bluebird that I paid four times as much for. It's funny how you can feel like you're doing something "wrong" even though your ears are telling you that you're doing something right.

Thanks for the tips Warren, Your channel is great, I've learned so much, keep going

Ironically enough, my internet connection freaked out for a couple of minutes at "cause if they get in front of that $15,000 and then freeze" so you literally freezed for me. Some dramatic impact to emphasize the point I guess!

Fantastic Warren. So true, the most important thing about anything is the performance. Everything else is just prep for making that happen. It's great that your putting these videos out, very informative and encouraging. It's been longer than I care to remember since I was the tea boy but I learn something or reinforce what was drummed into me every time I watch a vid. You're so lucky to be doing what you're doing and it's magic that you're sharing your knowledge. Warmest greetings from the Scottish Borders. Keep your legs up :-) Dave Replicant.

The amount of help this man has given me is crazy😁 very easy to understand and great tips

Excellent tips!!!! The truth is that I always put on headphones and set the levels myself. That's the only way to be sure.. Some singers cannot tell what the want… so it's up to me :D

Thank you for the very informative video! I found it very useful! After listening to you, it makes me want to record in your studio :)

production techniques! yes! absolutely!

Really great advice. It’s all about the performance!

Really appreciate your advice Warren, informative and seconds my own beliefs

Thanks for your great information! I've become a little obsessed with watching all of them when I'm not in the studio lol

Thank you so much for all the information you share

This is Gold. Of all the yourtube videos about best recording. This is the only one I have seen with Artist comfort wants and needs and ready to record is covered in detail and a PRIORITY! Glaringly obvious yet so overlooked by sound techs. Thanks

Another great video! Simple yet powerful tips from an expert. Thanks for making these amazing tutorials...

Thanks for the tips. Singers/vocalists and voice over artists are just that, artists. You wouldn't give inadequate time/equipment/preparation to a painter and expect a masterpiece, so the same applies to vocalists.

A real pleasant style. Good info but just plain nice to listen to. Thanks!

That's golden advice !! Even more than any mixing tips you can have. I experienced that when working in a studio when Nicky Minaj came. We didn't took the time to ask for her favorite headphones (whereas we get a huge list of everyday goods and accommodation from her) and we have to run to buy the headphones she liked. Which is totally normal but make use loose a bit of time. And for microphone it was the same, we chose a vintage Telefunken M 251 E for her but she end up using another microphone because she was more comfortable with, not exclusively for the sound. Singing in front of a AKG 414 is not that engaging for a singer for example haha (even if that Telefunken looked nice, but the mic she chose was a lot bigger and smaller). Her engineer knew the mic well and also asked for an outboard comp to work with in an environment he manage really well. All that to say : artist before that "audio mojo", we sound engineer and producer love. Because the mojo comes from the performance in the end. Thank for your video Warren :).

Thanks for the tips, Warren! Now to work on my vocal performances! haha

loved all the tips. Thanks for sharing the wisdom.

Produce Like A Bro

My friend Michael Evans recorded the vocals for one of his songs in a deep well. It sounded good - the voice had a very haunting echo quality. On the Olympic Penninsula in Washington State there is an old underground cistern where composer Pauline Oliveras and The Deep Listening Band like to record.

Really great video so on point. I agree on all of the tips. I remember when I was tracking my friend (our band vocalist) and I have set up an SM58 on a stand. He was like "Is it ok if I hold it in my hand instead?" I was like sure!!! I then recorded his vocals for our song in 2 takes (for double tracking) and that went on in the final record. And that proves making the singer be as comfortable and in the zone can have top notch results. I'm pretty sure I just didn't record a track, I recorded a performance!

Thanks Warren ! Back Vocals (Process, Recording & Mixing) Topic would be great in the future ! Cheers

Really good tips. Even if you are recording just yourself doing vocals. Too often I don't have a cup of tea (oh so English! Tea fixes everything!), or something's not right because I was lazy! Now I'm watching on HD on a big screen for the first time, I see all your funny stuff on the desk.. cockpit of a Spitfire and some kind of aeronautical instrument? Love it.

Great video! Thanks for the tips! It seems that this is one of the most esoteric aspects of recording, so it's great to see some concrete things to implement.

Great tips Warren! Gonna start working on these!

you're videos are amazing! thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Bought a used mxl for 20 bucks, and i use it for a room mic (i think it's broken, but it still works). One day i needed to do a scratch vocal with a singer and just grabbed it because it was close. it was perfect for her voice. Now, this particular singer only uses that mic. Someday i will have her try the better mics (my opinion), but for now, if she's happy, the recordings are happy.

This was a video I got a lot out of and confirmed some things to me. The comfortable thing leading to a vocal you're creatively happy with was good to hear amongst the technical tips and although it goes without saying it actually does seem to go without saying in the studio. Thanks for the well rounded thoughts Warren. I remember a time I was doing some small time 'hardly paid enough for a bus ticket' backing vocals for a little known local song writer I felt an affinity for (Rob McFields) in a studio in Fairy Meadow and he spent the last hour going for a take and he got so flustered and disillusioned by the occasion in the booth it was confusing to me what was going on with him as it was out of time and flat. I was sitting on the couch noting all this and the poor producer even went out for a coffee whilst Rob just continued to fail the takes with no producer in the room. Afterwards I said what happened and he said he couldn't hear himself in the headphones but he didn't say anything because he just didn't think to ask the producer to change the mix. Also I find if there's a weird vibe in the studio and I feel I'm not being listened to for my mix because of whatever and I just want to get on with the moment I'm in I'll just take one side of the headphone off my ear and adjust it that way physically to get it over with.

I always find vocal sessions very precarious. There's a fine line between saying "that was good, but let's get another one", and letting a bit of a messy take slide and moving on. I find ambient lighting helps to get people relaxed, and there's even been times where I've turned the lights off completely to divert the vocalist's attention from their nerves, to focussing on the darkness of a room when the lights are off and thinking how ridiculous recording vocals like that is. In a weird way, it can take the pressure off the session doing something like that.

Hi Warren, on one of your future videos could you add a few lines about Vocal microphone placement , distance , hanging the mic above vs it standing, singing off axis etc. We’ve just bought a SE RNT Neve Mic, Space shield, Apogee Quartet & treated the room. in some people are talking about sibilance & the microphone angle but it wasn’t in dept at all. Best Wishes 😊

I like this channel so much man,you really know what youre talk about,i like this also as a Musician ,very sympathetic Dude😎🙏🏼...keep on my support you got😊👌

Love this video. Thanks!

Great Tips!! I just learned how important the headphone mix is too!

Amazing advices Warren, thank you ;-)

old video but such great advice thank you Warren

thank you for sharing your Experience. Good Video and I could pick up much knowledge for future Vocal recording^^ Greetings from Switzerland

The pop screen is great to keep that distance from the mic and you can also use it in front of a dynamic mic

Awesome! Its great to have these worthwhile videos to watch instead of TV. cheers

Didn't realize you produced the Fray. Colorado guy and I'm a fan of them. Nice work on those albums.

I really enjoyed singing from Ez Voice because I love singing with headset microphone and playing with the piano and write the lyrics from my tablet.

By far... by faaarrrr the most compeling topic of this subject.

obrigado, so, so useful you are (also) a fabulous communicator !

really like your videos! 100% agreed! thanks warren

Again, you're the best !

Great video as always. Every part is important for a singer, because singers are isolated. They might feel the eyes staring at them. Guitarists, bassists, drummers etc do feel it but not to the same level as a singer does. I only have two headphones so I set up the sends to singers headphones and give them what they want. If they want it brighter or more lows I just add an EQ on the aux track and tweak until there happy. As for distance I go for around 6 inches 3 inches minimum. I use a Rode NT1-A and the pop filter is attached to the shock mount. With the pop filter parallel to the mic it's about 3 inches which gives me a reference point for the distance. Further back you get more chest sound and volume, proximity and plosives issues. Not too far back then it's more of a ambient mic not a direct mic. Maybe more ambient, natural reverb is needed. It's all about what works to get that killer vocal.

Best explanation yet glad your British leading the way

One vocalist I work with holds a hand held close to the condenser... Works like a charm. But there are some really great tips here. Thanks. One thing I have learnt is that most singers have what I call ’Red Light Syndrome’. As soon as they know they are recording things get serious, so I tell them I’m just getting levels and record everything. In that way they approach the moment a lot more relaxed and most of the time they are the best takes.

I am my own producer and I'm having a problem communicating to myself about what I need to record vocally hahah. I have never had this much trouble with a mix engineer ;)

I love your channel! So many useful tips!

Tip 5 is a good help, i will testing this

Thank you for being so thoughtful.

Great video! I was working with an artist recently who initially asked for lots of reverb in his headphone mix. As it turned out, he actually did a better performance without the reverb - much to his surprise. I feel that sometimes lots of reverb and effects on a singer's headphone mix is like a safety blanket, what do you think? Cheers from Newcastle!

This info is worth its weight in gold. Thanks man!

Hi Warren, thank you SO MUCH for your videos, website and tips. They help a LOT. Question: Recording vocals with a compressor ON... what do you think? Do you prefer to record the vocal "dry" and apply it later, or is it much better to pass the signal through it while recording, and "print" the signal already compressed? Thanks so much! --- Sergio

Thanks for another great vid Warren.

My recording partner puts forth amazing emotion laying down and developing vocal tracks as we are playing together in the moment, usually based upon something personal he is going through at the time; however, his lyrics are not always developed and tend to be non-sensical at times since he likes to deliver on content as it comes out organically in the moment. I’ve only recently been successful at getting him to work with a notebook in front of him so he can jot down his lyrics as we are working so that he commits to them, otherwise he constantly changes a phrase in a way that just becomes more cliche and less true to his emotional mindset and we wind up with take after take of a song heading into completely different directions and wasting time and drive space. What I am also having a difficult time with is getting him to come back and re-doing the vocals again while he’s not playing guitar at the same time so we can get a clean recording that doesn’t have the sound of his guitar strumming and my drums that I can only partially soundproof in my basement studio space from bleeding into vocal mics. I’m working on it but in the meantime I wind up having to make eq and compression decisions for his vocals that also have to deal with that instrument bleed. Oh well, Working on it and doing the best with the space and workflow style that is at least working well at getting material captured.

Let the singer bring their own in ears (in stead of headphones, in case of spill) they are used of, what I know about for example the Vic Firth drummers headphones, is that the bass-spill is a bit annoying, so you hear the music,click on your ears and environment noise is bass full... In case of vocal performance and emotions : Let the singer imagine an emotional situation bigger then the story/lyrics if he/she is stuck with studiofear, or in case of the story/lyrics: only tell a story you believe in, how can a listener believe you, if you don,t really connect with the story/lyrics, same with other instrumentalist: know the vibes and emotions of them and accommodate the emotions, we are all human though...Great tips Warren!!!

Great sharing. Can't appreciate enough.

Looking very tan sir! Good video

Now for me to work on my singing via a cup of tea(fav. drink), clean pop screen, nice phone mix, dynamic mic and of course rehearsals! :):)

thank you for the tip,s

This is a great video Warren, thanks

For those who might value their time: 1. Headphone Mix 1:20 2. Make the Artists Comfortable 4:40 3. Mic Choice 7:15 4. Mic Distance 11:05 5. Is The Singer Ready? 14:22

Hi you are an amazing guy

Agree. Performance is the key. That's no. 1 tip

Thank you very much for your experience! :) :) :)

I thought I was fully rehearsed when I totally changed to way I sang "Lonely Stars" last minute. Indeed it was especially difficult because I was still struggling with wanting to go back to the higher register. The point is I get the properly rehearsed thing. While I'm proud that I managed to pull it off pretty good for literally being the first time singing the song in a low register I could have done better had we had time for me to practice it a bit. (Being in overtime we didn't have time.) I've learned so much from you Warren and I haven't even taken full advantage of my PLAP membership. Thanks!

yah i love that rage and deftones dynamic mic sound, pops welcome , hear the spit

Thanks warren for the video! Greets Mikel

Always solid stuff, thank you.

Thank you for this incredible tips!! What headphone models can you recommend that have the smallest leakage?

Wonderful

Adele made her whole album "hello" tracking with the band i one whole take i heard from the producer in a video, did she use a dynamic mic i forgot, i smoke too much of those Ludwig's 😀, but can you tell if she used a dynamic or a condesor? Best wishes Tilen 😀

I was too motivated,and explosive in my latest cover song , that I pushed through the popfilter the strong wind of singing... I will try the pencil trick

Very helpful Warren