Recording Female Vocals for a Dance production

[Kompulsor]

Everyone,

I'm an amateur producer specializing in Dance/Euro music. After 2 yrs of using samples, I'm ready to go to the next level and produce my first Female-Vocal track.

Trouble is, I've never worked in a studio before, don't know a lot about equipment, never worked with a vocalist, and am clueless even on how to FIND a female vocalist.

What I've been able to research thus far (I live in the US):

1) "DanceBooking" http://www.dancebooking.com/?pid=srchartist&pcat=2 (NYC Manhattan) offers a list of female singers in various genres (click the upper-right selection box). Every girl has pics & a bio, is a pro (they even got Fragma & Iio there).

Worth a shot? Maybe, cos I haven't found much else, AND the normal local girls are all talk and are all flaky.

2) Studios - plan is to rent for a couple hrs:
2a) http://www.realrecording.com/
2b) http://www.thecuttingroom.com/main.html
2c) Right next to where I live: http://www.bandsindc.com/wfp/index2.htm

But the problem is I have no idea how to work in a studio, I just want to record 4 clean lines of fem. vocals and then go home

Now that the background/plan is laid out, I await your guidance and experience on how to begin

Thanks

[Stupid American Pig]

well, some things to make yer life easier that I can think of:
1 )it may be easier if the studio can accomodate projects in the host you use. I find it more of a pain to work with .wav files.
2 )let the engineer handle the hands on stuff with the studios equipment and signal path.
3 )I would use as little efx as possible to record the signal, and apply later after you have them fit into the track.
4 )try to be as specific as possible with yer singer, and get lots of alternate takes even if you dont think you need them...

Thats all I can think of really. just be prepared for the session with a pretty good idea of what you want, and dont be afraid to tell anyone there that you dont like what they are doing...

[bMachine]

Well, you don`t have to work in studio, in facto you don`t have to know anything - except what you want to record.
You hire a studio with engineer and he`ll do all the work for you, he knows how to use all gear.. you just have to know how (and what:-) your singer must sing and to ask a recording engineer to make "this or that" type of sound.
It`ll help if you bring some CD`s with recording of vocal sound you want to achieve...

I had a lot of similar customers and all went happy... (well, almost all:-)

[Kompulsor]

Well, you don`t have to work in studio, in facto you don`t have to know anything - except what you want to record.

So, I don't have to even come to the studio at all? Would be great if I could find a "package deal", LOL, a singer + an engineer + ... , but have found nothing like that yet.

Perhaps I can get in touch with you? Send you a file outlining what I want, the lyrics, and details, and then wait for you to send me the result (WAV), and then I wire the money to your bank account?

[tee boy]

Kompulsor

Iv heard a few of your tracks now mate, and I can tell you that you should have no problems recording at home. For this type of music, the benefits of pro studio / engineer would be negaligable.

A budget condensor and preamp should be fine. Create some kind of booth from bedding and stuff. Use a po shield. Have her monitor a head phone mix, with a swidge of verb.

You should be fine honestly. Half the trance vocals are recorded this way. Oceanlab recorded Satelitte in the control room with monitors on (you should hear the spill)!

[Kompulsor]

thanks tee boy, by the way how did you get my tracks?

[tee boy]

I listened to a couple last year, I think i had them off you site to be honest! Kinda Signum'y type euro trance?

[Kompulsor]

Very commercial Euro, that's my style (Signum is a bit more progressive).

Thanks for the simple but honest (and helpful) advice, now it looks like I just need a social network with a lot of friends, because like I said the "normal" girls (non-singers) are flaky and may have no experience at all.

[tee boy]

I think you've just hit the nail on the head mate. Get the right singer, and coax out a great performance. Thats really where the great vocals come from. Trust me, if you use a Trakmaster and an NT1 then nobody is going to know.

Also, take my advice and record LOADS of takes. More than you think you're going to need. That way you have plenty of material with which to construct a top notch comp.

[VitaminD]

1) "DanceBooking" http://www.dancebooking.com/?pid=srchartist&pcat=2 (NYC Manhattan) offers a list of female singers in various genres (click the upper-right selection box). Every girl has pics & a bio, is a pro (they even got Fragma & Iio there).

DanceBooking.com is a complete One-Stop for all your dance music talent needs. We specialize in bringing all types of dance music artist to your venue, club, or concert.

[Kompulsor]

Thanks for the tips, now my question is, should I make the track slower, to make it easier for her to sing?

Right now it's 138 BPM and there's lots of words on each line. Is this usually a problem? Do I slow down the monitor break section to 135, then speed it back up?

Also: Before I meet with her, should I prepare my monitor section in every possible tonality? (i.e. when she hears it she might say "that's too high for me")

[soulata]

Right now it's 138 BPM and there's lots of words on each line. Is this usually a problem? Do I slow down the monitor break section to 135, then speed it back up?

no, don't. change the text if there's too much words. you don't want to stretch or squeeze vocals (except if you're looking for that sound), and the difference from 138 to 135 won't help much anyway.

Also: Before I meet with her, should I prepare my monitor section in every possible tonality? (i.e. when she hears it she might say "that's too high for me")

That might be a good idea (but keep it at three tonalities maximum). Don't make the melody go over more than 2 octaves max.

btw. what do you mean with "monitor section"?

k

(good luck)

[Kompulsor]

btw. what do you mean with "monitor section"?

k

(good luck)

Thanks a lot. What I mean by "monitor section" is the section where the vocals should go (but aren't there yet -- so just background pads). This is usually in the break.