hi again everyone. i have a question for all producers and engineers out there. im recording a singer songwriter right now who is a very powerful singer only when he goes to do vocal overdubs he just cant hit it right. something about headphones being involved or the fact that hes not playing guitar while singing make him lose his grounding. have any of you guys ever experienced this before? it stinks because i know he can do it because his singing while playing is out of this world but when it comes time to put the vocals to tape it just isnt there. its not a nervousness thing because he does the guitar parts spot on. its really just some kind of ..side of the brain problem or something. do any of you guys know any tricks to make him think hes just playing guitar and singing and not listening to everything on headphones? he says he just doesnt hear the sound right coming from headphones.

ok let me know! if you figure this out i'll send you a lasagna.

not really an answer as such, but you can get good results a) recording the singer singing while playing a guitar and b) without using headphones. i've tried both and been happy with the results.

if the singer plays a not-plugged in electric while singing, he gets the feel he's after and at worst you're going to get a little strumming/fretting/string noise on the track. might actually be interesting.

and recording vocals while monitoring on speakers can work too. use a mic with good rejection at the rear, face the speakers and record. again, you're going to get some of what's being monitored on the recording, but you can gate it out in non singing parts and whatever. if it gets the performance you need, it doesn't really matter ...

Yes I have experienced ths problem. playing the music back through floor monitors, although has some sort of bleed, makes it feel more like live.
Pretty much if this guy wants to make records he's going to have to learn to do it. It takes time and practice.

Chris

if the sound of the unplugged gtr is a drag, mute it by putting tape on the strings at the bridge

he can get his rhythmic jollies whilst singing--he'll be hearing the real gtr in his headphones (or over the monitors)

a lot of people are like this. personally, i think the best thing to do with them is to record their vocals live, as they do the gtr part, dealing as best you can with the bleed etc. most of the time, their gtr playing is different as well, often more integrated with the vocal.

A quick fix is to have him try using only one side of the headphones. This has worked for me many times. It lets the singer hear his voice naturally while still hearing the playback in his other ear. Try gaffing the unused headphone to minimize bleed into the vocal mic.

If you use monitors instead of headphones, you can flip the phase of one of the monitors. Make the monitors equidistant from eachother and the microphone's diaphragm. (making an equilateral triangle). You will be surprised at how well the signal from the speakers will cancel. Really.

If you decide to have him play along with an unplugged guitar, try using a fig-8 mic on his vocals and position it so the null side is "pointed" at the strings. This can greatly reduce bleed from the strummage. If you go this route, be cautious of exaggerated low-end boost from proximity effect. Also be careful with how much you compressing since that will also bring up the level of bleed.

Good Luck

I noticed my biggest improvement when I turned the music down. Way down, and keeping one of the headphones off the ear. I could get my cues for the song, but concentrate on what I wanted the singing to sound like.

Big, big change for the better.

= Justin