Recording

Recording: ‘Seven Shades’ vocals and percussion

By ronanfitzgPosted on
Time to Read:-words

The set up for vocals and percussion for Seven Shades were the exact same. So splitting them into two posts seems a bit unnecessary.

Seven Shades vocals and percussion: rig run down

Obviously, that’s a significantly more concise rig run down than we had for recording guitars!

Additionally, you can take a closer look at this gear on Pinterest – we have a dedicated board for it.

Seven Shades vocals and percussion: recording

While the setup for vocals and percussion were the exact same – although, I did use a pop shield for recording vocals – they were completed over two sessions, one for each of them.

So, I’ll run over said setup, then I’ll chat a bit about how it went down.

Setup

  • Secondly, I did admin; in this case, that meant…
    • Firstly, bouncing down the drums, bass, and guitars, and creating a new project in BandLab for vocals
    • Secondly, when vocals were done, bouncing down the drums, bass, guitars, and vocals, and creating a new project in BandLab for percussion

At this point in preparation, I normally explain about getting a level. Obviously, vocals and percussion are very different, so I just took a level before recording each session.

Vocals

As a result of previous successful session in my bathroom, I instinctively set up there.

Now, there’s nothing too tricky in the lead vocal: I just lashed out three takes and take what I needed from them. No problemo.

However, I had a wild idea in my head for the quieter little pre-chorus bit.

I wanted a choir.

Whistle for the choir

Certainly, having an actual choir in my bathroom wasn’t really an option. So, I took a look at some of BandLab’s built-in MIDI/synth stuff. Because I knew it wouldn’t be too high in the mix, I thought it might sound at least tolerable.

In fact, I thought it sounded alright, but when I tapped a note, it was too slow to build up to the full volume of the note, and I couldn’t make the changes I needed quickly enough with it. Maybe there’s a way to change that, but I couldn’t see it.

So, multitracking and layering my vocals, across a range of pitches and harmonies it was.

However, as noted in my review of BandLab, with too many tracks, it can get sluggish and skippy. BandLab has a max of 12 tracks, so with the bounced track, plus three lead vocals, I was already on four.

Once I started adding on more choral layers, it crashed a couple of times when I tried to save it.

light audio recording electric guitars bandlab snap
This cross-eyed jerk again…

So, I promptly exported each vocal track I recorded – lead and choral – and split them into two projects; one for lead, and one for layering up that choir.

Let’s not pretend higher octave are my natural range. They were a bit ropey, but I knew in the final mix, with a pinch of reverb, and a tasteful level, and it’d be grand!

And that was all I had time to do in terms of recording that day.

Percussion

Next, I set up my rig in the exact same way to record percussion.

The missus was in bed, and I thought I might get my percussion done. I opted to do it in the kitchen, because it’s the furthest away from the bedroom. So, I taped up a blanket in the doorway of the kitchen – we don’t have an actual door there – hoping it would be enough to dampen the sound from the kitchen, carrying through the living room, and into the closed bedroom door.

light audio recording kitchen blanket
I tried.

My hopes were shattered when I received a text telling me to stop.

What can you do?

So, the next occasion I had the apartment to myself, I set up, recorded percussion, and packed my rig away in under ten minutes.

And that, my dear friends, is light audio recording at it’s very best. That’s what it’s about! That’s how you do it!

In terms of the percussion I was recording, I opted to keep it simple with some shaker on the verses, tambourine on the choruses, and both on pre-choruses.

Seven Shades vocals and percussion: conclusion

And that concludes tracking Seven Shades vocals and percussion, and indeed, tracking Seven Shades in its entirety!

Pros
Cons
Choir: I recorded a choir by myself in my bathroom; obviously there are worse things you can do by yourself in your bathroom The kitchen: although it didn’t work, it’s important to learn such things
Natural bathroom reverb: still sounds good to me, and saves putting even more pressure on BandLab with its plugin Latency: still can’t listen to what I’m recording through my headphones in real time, which sucks

Finally, here’s how each of them sounds, as tracked, without any effects or post production – just some editing to tidy up the stems, and some panning.

You can see the wave forms in the embedded players below, so you can just use your mouse/finger to skip to them.

Firstly, lead vocals.

Secondly, the choir backing vocals. And yes: I absolutely promise that is all just me!

Lastly, here’s the percussion.

seven shades vocals

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Meanwhile, over on Pinterest, you can find dedicated boards with pictures and links for the gear used in each session – essentially a buyer’s guide.

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And finally, feel free to shoot me a coffee!