Recording Vocals: Top 5 tips - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro

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

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

Again, you're the best !

Hi Warren, do you have any tips for recording glitch-free vocals when recording them in the box?

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.

Great sharing. Can't appreciate enough.

Best explanation yet glad your British leading the way

Nice nuggets of advice 👍

Wow

Love this video. Thanks!

Very helpful Warren

When I can't go ahead and record my new tracks I think I'm not doing something correct and just go sit down somewhere sad I understand what you mean.

Hi, guy I just cant understand the name of Sinatra audio engineer, to buy the book, could you write to me? Thanks a Ton.

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.

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

Amazing advices Warren, thank you ;-)

old video but such great advice thank you Warren

Looking very tan sir! Good video

Always solid stuff, thank you.

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

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!

When recording vocals should I go in dry or choose reverb vs delay (lets say i don't have a preference)?? If I go with reverb or delay when recording vocals which one should I use and why?

Can you recommend some headphones that are good for recording vocals?

Currently using the beyerdynamic dt150 and some sennheiser HD280pro, both sound pretty muddy when I drive them hard while tracking. Makes it pretty frustrating.

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

Please do a mic review of the following and let me and others know what mic takes the less EQ to equal close sound/frequency response to a U47 Vintage (Please Reply) ? The mics are: MXL 770, Audio Technica 2035, Rode NT 1, se 7V, se 2300

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.

how loud should the instrumental be in your headphones while recording vocals ?

as soon as i finish writing i always record it

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.

It simply used an EQ instead of buying more headphones. 😃

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

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 :)

Hi Warren,
Here's a mundane question, but one that we never seem to get right: For vocalists who want to use a lyric sheet, what's a good way to position it without distracting the singer or changing the quality of the vocal? I've tried stands, clips, above, below, right/left, but it never seems to be ideal. I try to get my vocalists to memorize the lyrics, but they often don't - and then you're in the business of trying to get them to sing the right words... not a good situation for the producer - singer rapport. Any ideas?

Cool british accent

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 ;)

What is a "good headphone"? Thanks for this video!!

Of course, it's important to ask them if there is enough "cowbell".

Thanks for this helpful vid. I'm using Logic Pro (and a condenser mic) in a home studio - should I record in mono or stereo for best vocal results?

thx you that was a good tips I love that cup of tea

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

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

Great tips. thx.

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

Lost me at headphones.

What can I say? SPOT ON!

A very high quality recording of a poor performance is...worthless. I have always tried really hard to make the performers comfortable in every way - especially with headphones. The cue mix can make all the difference. In fact I have often said the hardest thing about being an engineer are

1. cue mix and

2. threading the tape recorder :)


One question re: the pencil trick on the wind screen -- a #2 pencil OK??