how to record crazy metal vocals without clipping?

[Chagos]

hi all,
not sure if this was a DP post or general recording, so i settled here first.

i have to record a heavy metal vocal project in the next couple months, and i was wondering how do i record the vocal without having it clip really bad, but still getting a decent level on the quiet parts?

the singer has so much loud-quiet-iron-maiden-loud-scream quiet going on its going to cause havoc if i just record with a mic completely straight.

do i add a compressor into the signal chain before the mic? i do not have a hardware comp, so it would have to be a plug in. or something else? if thats the option then how is it done in DP?
then, do you have to find a decent spot where its not coloring the vocal performance too much?

i'm not the best with signal chain so i would love to get this worked out before hand, and doing the vocal in small parts(loud part, soft part) is not really an option. the singer likes to do full verses and such.

i'm not used to recording vocalists. help!

oh, i'm using DP through my ultralite.

[HCMarkus]

A Hardware Compressor is really good to have with a dynamic vocalist, just don't overdo it, cause you're pretty much stuck with it. If you record at 24 bits (always! please!) you have oodles of headroom as long as you don't set your levels too high. Another option is to have two mics side by side, or use one of those stereo mics like the SP LSD2, each capsule recording the performance, but one trimmed for the soft parts and the second for the loud parts. I suppose you could split a single mic signal to two inputs, but haven't ever tried that... Anyone? Anyone? Farris?

[Chagos]

um, this would be one mic, and no hardware compressor . . . .

[James Steele]

um, this would be one mic, and no hardware compressor . . . .

Well that makes it difficult, huh?

As was said, be sure to record in 24 bit to get the most resolution. You can raise the gain the softer parts significantly if you record 24-bits depending of course on your how low your noise floor is, etc. I suppose you could have the vocalist make different takes and turn up the pre-amp and do a take of the quiet part with the pre-amp set for that. I mean, basically without a hardware compressor helping taming things on the front end and a singer whose dynamics are all over the place, you're in a tough spot. Maybe the singer could back away from the mic a bit and control some of it himself on the loud parts.

There just be no good answer given the limitations.

[Chagos]

well thanks for the help anyway.
i like the 2 takes-different volumes way.
he doesn't like singing in chunks, but i bet i can get at least 4 or 5 takes through which should give me enough fodder for a nice sounding track.

anyone know a good hardware compressor under $600? I could probably manage that. probably easier to buy than to route through DP from what i've heard.


p.s: i cant believe you get to play with sheehan mr. steele! how cool.

[HCMarkus]

Options and opinions on hardware compression abound. I like Aphex and its transparent compression. The 240 runs around $600 for two channels. Others may suggest you go with a compressor that colors your sound. This is a great approach if you have access to lots of hardware ('cause you don't always want the same coloration) but that doesn't sound like your situation.

In the box compression works fine once the track is recorded. You can insert several compressors/limiters in series in DP's mixer if massive dynamics prove challenging to control without undesirable artifacts.

[Phil O]

Compression may be the way to go, but for large variations the compressor will be working hard in the loud sections and not at all in the other sections. You are at the mercy of the compressor's settings and don't have control over each and every phrase. If this is the sound you're looking for, great - but if it's not, well...

For this situation I think you might want to consider careful use of automated faders. Record the track at whatever level necessary in order to prevent clipping and then get to work. If you familiarize yourself with all of the tools DP has to offer for editing automation data, I think you'll find that you can get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. Then if you want to manage peaks, you can do some gentler compression post fader.

Just thinking out lout here.

Phil

[Tritonemusic]

...

[Chagos]

thanks for the replies. i'll check them both out.

[resolectric]

I don't think digital recording into DP with a modern sound inteface (read, less than 10 years old) will result in any noise.
Unless you use a noisy condenser microphone or the leakage from the headphones is too high for the lower volume vocals.

If i didn't have access to an hardware comp and if my DAW didn't have Latency Compensation allowing me to record with a software Compressor in the Input channel, i would go for the best mic, the best closed back headphones available, careful adjustment of headphone monitoring level and careful adjustment of recording level.

Modern digital recording devices aren't noisy.

[James Steele]

I don't think digital recording into DP with a modern sound inteface (read, less than 10 years old) will result in any noise.
Unless you use a noisy condenser microphone or the leakage from the headphones is too high for the lower volume vocals.

If i didn't have access to an hardware comp and if my DAW didn't have Latency Compensation allowing me to record with a software Compressor in the Input channel, i would go for the best mic, the best closed back headphones available, careful adjustment of headphone monitoring level and careful adjustment of recording level.

Modern digital recording devices aren't noisy.

I was referring to the potential quality of mic/preamp as well as how quiet the room is in which the vocals are recorded. With 24-bit, you can crank up the lower level signals, but I didn't know how quiet the room is. Of course if you make sure to carefully edge-edit the silences probably no big deal.

[resolectric]

I was referring to the ...

I wasn't referring to your post, only to the original poster's question.

[James Steele]

I was referring to the ...

I wasn't referring to your post, only to the original poster's question.

I didn't realize that. He never mentioned "noise" so I thought you were referring to mine.

[resolectric]

I was referring to the ...

I wasn't referring to your post, only to the original poster's question.

I didn't realize that. He never mentioned "noise" so I thought you were referring to mine.

If it weren't for the eventuality of noise while recording why be concerned with the quiet parts? A compression after recording could always be applied.

I just replied to the original question, never intended to "correct" any of the other replies, not even yours.

Besides, after reading all the replies it seems that everyone provided correct and useful information, though sometimes the information given implies the use of more gear than what Chagos seems to have at hand.
So, it seemed to be appropriate to add my view, in that it seems to be possible to do what Chagos wants to do without major requirements, other than careful leveling.

[James Steele]

I only sought to explain in what manner "noise" could enter into this process. So far I think if he does record the quiet sections in 24-bit with decent equipment in a quiet room, he should be able to bring the quiet parts up loud enough... maybe using bite-gain, etc. and just edit out the silence. Any noise floor won't be heard while actually singing I would imagine. I track my own vocals all the time without compression on the way in and deal with everything after the fact, although my booth is rather quiet and I probably don't have such a great variation in dynamics as the example given here. I also try to "work the mic" as much as I can, being mindful not to get too close in quiet parts so as to avoid any proximity effect.