This is an official music video, my question is how do these vocals (especially the female vox) sound so damn clean?
My usual chain includes (in order):

de-essing
compression/EQ
de essing again
EQ lift on high end

But they must be doing something extra to give it that silky sound if that makes sense.

If possible, also include what monitors you listen to the mix on for reference sake.
Any input would be appreciated

 

https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct98/articles/20tips.html

http://ledgernote.com/columns/studio-recording/recording-vocals-at-home-clean-clear/

Hope this will throw a bit of light on what you want to achieve.Cheers

 

tà tranquilo, tà favoravel

 

Thanks! I'll look into it.

 

LipSync ??!!

 

Sounds like a really minimal amount of processing to me. Slight EQ to eliminate boxiness from the dry vocal, high pass, there doesn't even seem to be much reverb there.

 

def. lipsyncing but nontheless that seems like a lot of de-essing,
you could try this:

fast compressor (I pref waves cla76)
attenuate-eq
la-2a compressor and play with the r37 knob
complementary eq

Use a plop filter with a decent distance from the mic, if still persist turn the mic 45 degrees when close mic-ing
en make sure no close walls are reflecting the sound. standard foam from a construction market does not help that much on concrete and needs additional isolation.

 

hehe it's the official music video, I was wondering how good the live mix must've been, i'm sure it didn't sound as good.

Looks like a good chain, i'll assume the 'r37' knob is that knob with the HIFREQ-[FLAT] knob correct? Thanks Kwiss.
In terms of distance from the wall, where do you recommend to place the microphone in a room? Right now I have a blanket covering a corner, behind the blanket is a DIY Bass Trap.

I guess I still have to train my ears more, that EQ'ing sounds to good to be true haha.

I don't understand, but MC Bin Laden is cool!!

 

Last edited: May 23, 2016

Sounds very compressed to me. This is more my idea of a "clean" female vocal. It has dynamics. It has texture and captures nuance and subtlety. And then, of course, there is technique and performance.

 

Ah how i love when perceptions clash here on forum :D

 

rhythmatist, you certainly bring out good points on all the ideas you mention about what can make a clean female vocal, or any vocal that is to be recorded, and including and in general, spanning all genres. I am including a link of a fantastic Mix magazine article that talks specifically about this idea of what makes a "clean" vocal. It is a very revealing look at a few people who can choose anything as tools to capture highly artistic takes from singers who have great working relationships with the microphones put front of them, as well as entire vocal chains that are there to bear witness and act as conduits, messengers of their sometimes devine and soul revealing, heart-felt art.
http://www.mixonline.com/news/facilities/recording-vocals/371958

 

Magic ...

 

No hablo español, inglés solemente, pero mi esposa es puertorriqueña. ¿Alguien sabe los micrófonos específicos? Sólo tengo mics Shure, que seguro que no es como lo que tienen... También, definitivamente tienen reverb en la voz y el sonido tan por adelantado es de compresores super rápidos en el microsegundo (sic) gama. ¿Funciona el 1176 en Español? ¿Se puede hacer que el sonido en tiempo real? Idk.

Great, now I'm having flashbacks to a happier time listening to this spanish stuff...

I think ppl here are missing the "debreather" like Waves has. I was amazed how it just freakin ended them...and screw treating your workspace/room, I use a heavy winter blanket over my head. Until I overheat, it has amazing acoustic effect, well for vox, guitar recording was a problem but, I will persist.

 

Last edited: May 23, 2016

How do these vocals sound so CLEAN??
I think it has a lot to do with the whole instrumentation of the song & how the instruments are played.
Notice how much room the voice has! Because the sounds of the instruments are short, possibly gated...
To me however it doesn't sound especially crisp...I've heard lots of pieces with crispier vocals.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

@Nimbuss
My recommendation is that you put yourself closer to a wall that is dampened with a blanket and face the other side of the room.
Get a few feet away from the wall if you can do so without putting the microphone in the middle of the room,
and make sure the wall you’ve chosen is furthest away from your window(s).

 

Something beautiful I found in a lot of songs and friends asking me about how to make a vocal as clean as "some song"... is that appart from the regular cleaning (be it, eq, comp and de-essing... as minimal and transparent as posible) that they are calling clean is not really cleanliness... most often they are refering to the shimmer the reverb is giving behind... a well eq'd reverb that just lay on the and pass as it was natural can give you an amazing sense of cleanliness... perhaps you could check that out

 

My of my tuts somewhere, the guy said, "unreverb'd" sound is unnatural to the ear. Reverb is normal for the natural sound environment that we experience in "nature." There's lots of times reverb is applied with short decays/feedback, so it's not so obvious it's a reverb but to the listener it sounds more natural.

 

Ahaa I hear you loud and clear, that's a beautiful song, reminds me of some good coffee and a croissant, in terms of the mix, yeah I think you're right, if one was to play the two on the radio I rate your choice would show more life and as you say nuance. I think i've been listening to to many modern records hehe.

haha ohh I haven't seen one of those inserts in a whiiile, good point I should try find it and mess around with it. I'm mixing in Reaper for the first time and I'm enjoying the foreign ground, i'm doing less processing and I think that's my key to a better mix.

Wow I thought the same thing, the percussion in this type of music is always done so damn well. I love it.

That is a sexy idea, I remember Mr Pensado showing an example of how he bandpasses his verbs and boosts wherever he feels but I could never fully utilize the idea, i'll do some research.

Nice, so many different perspective there, i'll definitely bookmark that one!

Thanks for the input everyone, so much info on the net, but having some real perspective is a beautiful thing

 

Well, the only thing that sounds "clear" are the vocals, that's why they stand out so much. All the rest of the instruments are very warm sounding so the vocals have a lot of space to pop.

 

if you want a "good" sounding vocal, use dynamic compression and "upward compression." it brings out life and dimension. whether a live performance or professional mix, every professional uses it, and if you learn to use them correctly, you get warmth, clarity, and an upfront mix without that over-compressed sound. obviously what you are using in your chain is fine, but add/replace some basic compression with what i mentioned and you will realize a new dimension to your mix...consider using a saturator, specifically modulated delay (and i mean use a calculator to determine the timing based on tempo) to widen the sound, a doubler, and a short-tailed reverb, to taste. remember, a little bit of each of these, when combined, goes a long way in a mix. sometimes a mix can call for all of them, and sometimes just some of these. ears make all the difference. new york compress some of that shit, too. my monitors are dynaudio bm6a with sennheiser hd600 headphones.