Mutt Lange Extreme Vocal Editing

Here are 2 of the ways that Mutt had his crew edit vocals on the Dark Horse record by Nickelback.
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[@robbiedaug]

I did this to a vocal i did and i thought i was cheating as an 'engineer' but now i see Mutt does it. I was on the right path. It's much easier these days than back in the old days before software.

[@willsnyder8735]

I’ve literally been doing this for years, I had no idea the greats were doing it. The trick for me is, the amount of compression I desire brings up parts of the vocal that needs pulled back. It’s tricky, but yes… this is a very good useful tip. ❤

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Will!

[@phoenixmediaforge]

Totally agree. I thought this was normal level editing. Just shows how lazy the engineering community has become over the years.

[@believeititseasy3853]

so glad to have bob on the team for the new record! love how the vid ends "lets be great, not good" :)

[@GaveMeGrace1]

Wow! Great improvement. Thank you.

[@MackAxyzz]

...how did we survive for centuries without this stuff? 😎

[@jasoncabral8732]

The final product is clean. I think it does justice to the singer for sure.

[@wolfhard2420]

Again, big wow.

[@vl292]

This is what I've been doing secretly. Seems that I'm not the only one. Challenge here is know where and when to stop. It's easy to get carried away and overdo it. Great tip as always.

[@sinnersrisemusic]

As far as the engineering, producing, and the mix on Dark Horse, I genuinely think it's a masterpiece. There's a reason it was so successful and had so many singles. And this hardcore editing can clearly take a mix to the next level, much like automation in general. Thanks, Dr. Bob!

[@DavidDavis-FA-photog]

Thanks, I didn't know about the fade in on consonants. This should help a lot!.

[@tisbonus]

This is some of the most awesome and truthful advice about editing. It's gonna take some time, yes but the reward is worth the time. Fine production Dr Bob!

[@shaymcquaid]

You're a genius Doc! Rock on! /,,/,

[@philpower_]

Wow.

[@stevelucero9047]

I remember a Gearslutz thread where Mike Shipley (RIP Shipshape!) talks about Mutt employing this kind of editing once they had automated desk EQ...

[@ParadNorthProd]

And here I am as a singer, trying to get it this smooth, with just my mouth. I should just fix it later.

[@asawiggins]

When you said Dark Horse record, my ears perked up even more 😊

[@bobsquires4521]

So great to see this. I'd done just these tricks for years and it's nice to see you reinforcing the whole issue. Sibilance is a killer of each moment it rears it's potentially ugly head. So mount the horses and lettuce surge headlong into the romaine hearts of these damned ESSsssssssss's. Croutons or no croutons, Doctor Bob! It Don't Matter to Me! From the Beatles to David Gates, I don't know how those guys did so well in the 60's and 70's without these tools! Maybe the vinyl smoothed it all over? I'll have to listen again - yes, AGAIN and again and again.. | ; = ]

[@Owl-qh2rh]

Omg I've just spent the last two and a half days figuring this out and what you've just suggested is what I ended up doing! Seeing you do this so quickly has blown me away but also shown me I'm on the right track 🙏 even if I umm and ahh a bit much along the way lol but that's what I get for writing a song with a lot of words ending in s and the next one starting with w !!! 🙏 Thanks Doc I know I'm heading the right way and that's priceless very much appreciated, bless 🙏🕊️

[@cabuffal0]

Always fun to watch Dr's video. Thanks.

[@MrRadioMusic]

Great vid! I have been doing this on only big trouble spots, but this really illustrates why to do it across a whole vocal track. So much smoother!!!

[@richprincipe749]

This is next level stuff!! Thank you!!

[@KevenDeezel]

Dr. Bob is the best!

[@DThompson55]

That is insane! So much work and so worth it! Great tips! Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Dan.

[@davidhayman9330]

Thanks Bobby, this is such a good tip and demonstration and appreciate how you balanced the issue with your comment at the end re: when we want to keep those harsh sounds for effect...I think this makes a great introductory video to the issue of siblance and consonants and what a difference proper treatment makes...I've never really properly understood the issue till watching (and more importantly, hearing) this!

[@stevemueller4703]

I've done a form of this before but your video has helped me understand this way better! Thanks Doctor Bob!

[@michaeltablet8577]

Thanks for teaching us and thanks for making it fun!

[@KDWALKER1263]

Your videos rock! Great how too videos and great sense of humor !! 😂

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks KD!

[@Mr1978Dan]

Great video!

[@johnbhumphrey]

I've always used clip gain on every vocal line every time. It's the very first treatment my vocal tracks get. My vocal tracks don't have the life squashed out of them from over compressing.

[@phoenixmediaforge]

I always start with vocal thickening in RX.

[@baranumuttaskn9632]

Beautiful video!!! Like it.

[@robgracia509]

killer

[@dmsorensen]

I feel like this method sounds way more natural than a de-esser. Takes more time, but you can literally shape each S just the way you want it.

[@todd_douglas_music]

Dude, I've been approaching this all wrong. Thanks for doing a great job demonstrating that technique

[@BobbyHuff]

My pleasure Todd!

[@Taffafilms]

Thanks Dr Bob! Great technique! I do this in Reaper instead of cutting up the audio, I use the volume automation and add nodes, it works flawless.

[@brianshaddock5483]

I've been snipping them out entirely, but this makes more sense. I'm not a singer, so the demos have a lot of unnecessary breathing.

[@davebops2478]

Great video, Doc. I've had to do similar before - but as I'm the vocalist I'm prepared to take the time when it's needed...

[@BobbyHuff]

Great Dave!

[@DanielGuillaud]

yes it is one of the best things to do. control the gain before compression, personally I use the pen tool directly on the track. this avoids crossfade. Merci docteur !

[@bw2937]

This reminds me of Serban Ghenea as well

[@genephillips4809]

Yeah... one song in particular off Dark Horse was Gotta Be Somebody, where it sounded like Chad was struggling to breath😂 The volume of his inhales were just as loud as the singing.

[@BobbyHuff]

Ill have to listen to that one. Cool song!

[@kellypeterson2625]

Great tips. I have been wondering how to deal with that for a long time. Thanks. I wonder how they dealt with that in the tape era?

[@DarrellSt.Blaine]

I have a Cubase macro set up for exactly this. I use the range tool to select the target consonant (or sibilance) then I hit Shift+D and the macro splits the audio at the range boundaries and lowers the volume of the new segment by 6db. If I want more than 6db of reduction I just hit Shift+D multiple times. Makes this kind of editing super fast.

[@subterraneanpimpernel9455]

great trick. digital editing and automation are the greatest trick in the DAW recording method. as a former reel to reel tape opp I now enjoy this process so much and it is one of my favourite parts of a mix now. I believe Eric valentine can spend a whole day and more doing this on tracks. on a side note Dr Bob do you think a stethoscope could be turned into a PZM? lol. mucho respect.

[@nulodgerecords4861]

Great Video- as always!!! I’ve trying this as well and have two questions: does it matter if you edit each clip as have shown, verses automating the fader? And second, is it better to do this editing before or after tuning (Melodyne) ? Thanks again Dr B.!

[@JaviBello]

Interesting! Thanks BOOOOOOOOOOB!

[@BobbyHuff]

JAAAAAAV. Thanks man!

[@davemis40]

The irony is that despite the amount of effort Def Leppards vocals are very hard to decipher what Joe is singing

[@watsonstudios]

Yep! I do this already. And I thought "I must be crazy" spending all that time on editing but I refuse to put out a less than perfect edit. I just can't. At first I tried the "pencil" clip gain tool (in Cubase) but that took way too long. It's easier to chop everything up and fade the consonants.

[@paulnagel8161]

That's like CRISPR for music production. Amazing.

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahaha! Thanks Paul.

[@kayantobu]

Could you work on Mutt’s production for Britney’s “Don’t let me be the last to know” track?

[@ulfsvensson9710]

Big differece!

[@bigdogthehedgehog5906]

Anybody ever wanna cover how Chris Pitman created the sub-bass sounds for the album Chinese Democracy?

[@TimE_5150]

Great tip as usual Bob, and yes RIP Mr. Fred White!

[@guillermodelnoche]

Do you cut out the sections where there are no vocals in between the phrases and ease each phrase in and out with a gentle fade or is that overkill? I absolutely love your videos! Thank you!

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes I cut out section where there is no singing. The fade in depends on how hard the consonant is. The harder the consonant that harder or longer the fade.

[@rnbsteenstar]

What are your thoughts on the new sibilance.

[@franlarsen80]

Any chance you could post the 20 second clips of just the vocal, before and after, for some experimentation?

[@jonwanrocks]

oh dang i didnt know this was a mutt lange trick, i just assumed it was my ocd running wild when i did this.

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahaha!

[@iamjarrettdean9358]

2 questions: is this pro tools and where are you located? Do you produce for just anyone? Thx

[@steveliethen5943]

Melodyne would be another option for this sort of editing.../s~

[@mikep6967]

You beat me to it. V5 does this in about 2 clicks.

[@revuutube]

I honestly don't hear much of a difference or really bad sibilance in the first place is this really worth it? Especially once in the rest of the mix?

[@rhoadnaroahs]

So, was this done on tape back in the day?

[@BobbyHuff]

No... only in DAWS

[@unclemick-synths]

Back in the day it would be down to the finger on that fader to catch the really bothersome ones. One time the singing was so lumpy I used a MIDI sequencer (Atari running Cubase synced to tape) to play a Yamaha DX into the side chain of a compressor. If the singer hadn't left town we'd have brought him back for another try.

[@subterraneanpimpernel9455]

not to this extreme. gating and side chain compression could get close but not as clinical.

[@collinjamesguitar]

They could do it with the SSL G consoles and the automation they had when they came out. They could automate EQ, etc so they would go through and automate like he’s doing here but with the actual console. Painstaking but listen to the Shania albums “Come On Over” and “Up!” And you’ll hear why. It’s truly an audio marvel.

[@flanger001]

Bud this is a good video and good tip but the amount you hard swallow directly into the mic makes this ROUGH

[@bobbaumeister5243]

Awesome Dr. Bob! Wish you a HNY! Here is an instrumental from Henry. What do you mean about this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGO4ZXmLd9pmrac

[@jimmcdougall9973]

Great video as always. But dang, autotune! Can nobody sing these days? The killer of music….