The Vocals

The heart and soul of any song

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Artist Vocals

If you will be performing the vocals on your own recording then there are a few things to remember. First get a good night's sleep before you come in, it makes a world of difference to your voice. Bring two copies of the lyrics, one for you and one for me, it helps me to follow where we are in the song and spot any lyrical mistakes you might regret later.

I will give you as much help and guidance to get the best performance from you, I won't stress you out, hassle you when you get it wrong (which you almost certainly will at times) and I'll give you a pile of tips to make sure you get the very best out of the song you are singing.

We will probably do at least 5-10 takes of the first section of the song. This isn't to tire you out, but to get you into the feel of the music, so that you can feel comfortable in the room and so that I can give suggestions after each take to adjust certain emphasis on lines, notes, breathing points, power of singing etc.

Once we have cracked the first part of the song the rest usually falls into place a little easier, since by that time we have discovered the best approach for the song.

Once it is all recorded then I will trawl through the best takes to select the best parts of each take, edit these up (it is completely seamless, and you can't hear the joins no matter how tight I do them) and then apply a little magic.

OK, it's not magic, it's just applying some subtle effects to get the best out of your voice, and possibly do some vocal tweaking using the incredible Melodyne software, which can subtley or radically change your vocal performance (always for the best,if used well).

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Session Vocals

If you don't sing then I can recommend a session vocalist appropriate to your project. Typical cost for the actual vocalist attending and performing all vocals on your song is £100. There is of course still my fee for the actual time spent recording the vocals, and this can make this part seem an expensive process, but remember, the session vocalist will do a stunning job every time, and will usually be able to exceed your expectations of what would be possible. One of the reasons to avoid saving money and just 'bringing a friend who can sing'.

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Backing Vocals

Now this is a difficult job, but possibly one of the most fun parts of any recording session. I absolutely love adding all the detail parts that really make the track some to life, but this can be an extremely time consuming job. On occasion backing vocals can take longer than the lead vocals, but I generally am able to work out a strong arrangement as we progess without it taking too long.

If you are looking for a massive choir type of backing vocal then this can be achieved with a relatively small number of people, but it helps to know in advance in case we need to recruit some extra help!

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