HOW TO…RECORD VOCALS

With the use of a good preamp and the right software, it’s possible to get incredible results when you record vocals at home. And even equipment such as the Line 6 Toneport (either the UX1 or UX2) commonly used for guitars, can be a great choice.

TonePort’s GearBox™ software comes with an amazing selection of vocal presets created by experts who know great vocal tone. Now you can easily go from in-your-face rock sounds, to intimate or lush vocal tones in seconds all without the studio engineer’s hourly rate!

Check out the studio notes below for  vocal recording examples. 

The setup shown above is simple, and will enable anyone to achieve great results.

For instance, try using a Rode NTK mic  plugged into the TonePort UX1 and pull up the “Choir” vocal preset in GearBox. This preset is ideal to record beautiful harmonies, like those in Beatles songs such as “Because”, from Abbey Road.  If you can sing in tune, the software will help you with the rest…

This preset has a perfect amount of long reverb and top end EQ. With almost no set up time or tweaking of the preset, you can just go for it – and without the help of a producer like George Martin!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Usually, a vocal signal chain can take a while to tweak the EQ, compressor settings, and reverb lengths. This wasn’t the case thanks to the carefully crafted vocal presets that are in GearBox. Because the tone is so complete on the front end, all you have to do  is to quickly check the volumes on each track so they match and bounce it out of the recording application. You don’t have to add any extra mastering EQ or compression on the track. It really could not be any easier to do!

Recording gear used:

• RODE NTK (other options: AKG C 2000 B, Samson C01)
• TonePort UX1 audio interface/ GearBox modeling software (other options: Lexicon Alpha, Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 )
• Apple G5 desktop running MOTU Digital Performer (other alternative: Steinberg WaveLab Essential ) 

Also recommended:

• BeyerDynamic DT100 Headphones (or Behringer HPS5000 )
• KRK V4 Series 2 Powered Monitors (or Edirol MA 7A-BK )