Vocal procedure?? Pro tools

I am recording vocals for a friend tonight... was looking for some diffrent ways to go about this...

for example.. do you record the whole song in one pass?
do you record a verse at a time?

just wondering how ya'll go about recording rap vocals in regaurds to procedure?

thanks!! I know its a wierd question

oh yeah... what about add libs...

Sometimes I will put each verse on a track and then pan one
hard left and the other one hard right, with the adlibs on a
separate track and the hooks on a separate track.........! But since I have gotten a lil' better with editing in protools, I will record the
whole song with all three vocals on one track and then
go back and record all three vocals on another track, and
If they are off as far as volume, I adjust the gain so they sound
tight with each other............!

You can record a line at a time,2 lines at a time,6,8,whatever.

Sometimes it just depends on the Bpm and the emcee.Let's say there's a part of the rhyme that's really intricate....well,to make sure you record it clear and without having to do 20 takes,do that part line by line.It's just really whatever you have to do to make it comfortable and convenient,without having to do alot of takes.Then once you have the verses and hook go back and do the adlibs and punches,which can usually be done on a track.(Ablibs-track/Punches-track)

the way i do it is i put all the verses on one track and the hook on its own track and sometimes if the mc can not finish one verse at once we just punch in from we think is best. bus the vocals to an aux and put the plug-ins on the auxs. there are alot of different ways people do it and that what makes pro tools so good cuz there is really no right way so to say but i would like the see how everybody else rec vocals.

I suggest at least trying to get it all in one go. Personally I think that's the only logical first step as if your vocalist nails it - you're done. Also, why break his rythm if he's on? Even if they miss a note or two you can go in and punch a fix. If you have to, break it into bits....If they nail it - get 'em to do it again and double the tracks....get as much material as you can...have the artist sing on an empty stomach....no beer and easy on the smoke.... collect in advance

fader-pro wrote:...have the artist sing on an empty stomach....no beer and easy on the smoke...

Any reason why an empty stomach? Better diaphragm control?

You ain't wanna stop the vocals too much or break the rhythm and vocal sound. It won't sound natural and if it breaks too much, most of the time you can tell that it wasn't recorded in one take and it will sound different every time a new rhyme starts or new take starts. I think it sounds better if you do it all in one take, but like someone already said, it depends on the emcee and the track. I'd say at least do 4 bars at a time that way it sounds decent and usually there will be some build or transition every 4 bars and will be harder to pick up.

Thanks for the advice... I recorded the first verse 3 times each on a seperate track and let him listen to the first one while he put down the others.

same think for the hook and second verse... 3 times each on seperate tracks.

I ended up with nine vocal track.... he stayed on beat pretty good and I recorded them dry. now that I have 3 takes for each part of the song. I guess I will figure out which one sounds best for each part..

thanks ya'll... I like all the advice and I will try diffrent style in the future till I get settled with a style I like... thank God for computer Editing.. I can't see how people did this with Tape!!!!!!!!!!!!

dont forget that recording several takes gives you a lot of material to work with so you can comp the best parts from each take into one great vocal part being careful to make sure that the energy and flow is consistent

i just want to add my .02, for the hook (unless it's different each time) only has to be recorded once. then when time comes for the 2nd hook to be laid down, just copy the first hook and paste it where the 2nd hook starts. and have the hook on its own track. (not with the verse)

also if you think about it, unless the artist is doing his own hook straight through, he/she is stopping anyway between verses. so the way that i would record the vocals is verse by verse on the same track. and unless there is going to be harmonizing on the verse, if you want to double it up, just copy that verse and paste it on a new track. the thing about engineering and recording vocals, you want it to be as easy on the artist as possible.

M.ic P.ro C.rusher wrote:

fader-pro wrote:...have the artist sing on an empty stomach....no beer and easy on the smoke...

Any reason why an empty stomach? Better diaphragm control?

A full stomach, either from food or carbonated beverages, presses against the lungs and diaphram causing the voice to sound "smaller". I figured this out on the road as a singer. I would have a beer or two between sets and when the inevitable belch came (usually right in the middle of a song) I could hear a big difference in my voice - so much in fact, that I quit drinking beer between sets....the same applies to weed but for a different reason...I just couldn't belt out the high notes stoned - my lung capicity just wasn't the same after smoking.....this, by the way, is a major bummer but sometimes you gotta sacrifice for the sake of art...I resolved both issues by quitting singing