Quick Tip #1: Gain Staging Vocals

Today we discuss vocal recording and gain staging techniques for your covers, want more (professional) information on these topics? Check out the links below! As always, if you enjoyed please leave a like and let me know, I will make more videos like this!
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[@nikkifredericks3912]

okay this is cool I want more of these videos

[@harryhein3991]

the random line from eden xo surprised me so much and made my day

[@Nexus2UAll]

Great! Loved the simple no-frills explanation of Compression. Its good to get a solid grip on the main principles before diving in I think! Well done, perfect for me! 👍🙏💫

[@cableless1730]

I love your explanation... Very straightforward and easy to understand. Thanks!

[@victorsofcircumstancesonso1606]

Its insane how many videos ive gone through just to get to yours. and yours has been the most easily comprehensive. , and also your the only one ive come across that gave enough info twithought leaving a bit out that i can only get if i purchase your recording master class! Jesus. thank you bro, id love a video on compression! keep being you, PLEASE!!

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

Wow, thanks mate! Glad you like it. Having now worked in acoustics for almost 2 years, there’s probably a few things I would update in this video given the chance. If you would like to chat about any of this stuff, feel free to reach me on discord Kyle Hoefer#4394.

[@JoePAcalaughs]

I 2nd that lol

[@brutalvocalcovers]

Thank you. This was exactly what I needed.

[@YLA77]

Good video man. Finally I understand how a compressor works 😅

[@starrstar3966]

Badass video. Very well explained and detailed in the simplest way

[@avibajwa1815]

It just awsome way to understand. can you please make a separate series of mixing elements i mean way we need mixing elements like EQ, compression, delay, parallel compression, etc am sharing this cause I like it an i hope you'll think about my request🙏😊

[@veryspecial212]

Very informational. I’ve been making music for years just for fun, but I’ve been trying to take it seriously lately. So many little things like this that I never really gave thought to. Guess I have some work to do lol

[@ERICDIZZYASMR]

That -6db tip was super useful.

[@AS-fu3uv]

Thank you so much Kyle! I've been scouring the internet for months for a clear explanation like this. I'm a really dynamic singer and trying to ride the faders/input gain while I track myself doesn't really work lol

[@reasons4171]

thank you! more of these please!

[@StevenSoto]

THANKS

[@sergioaguilar6384]

This is actually amazing, thank you for this!

[@LurkingIntruder]

I'm so excited!

[@logicprofan1066]

Great channel! I subscribed.

[@johnschultz824]

excellent explanations - thank you !

[@Kodablumusic]

Jeremy Zucker! Good choice!

[@MrUnderdawg777]

Can't even explain how dope this video is and you are sir.. but if I get rich I'm finding you...✍🏾🙏

[@MrUnderdawg777]

Bro could you please do a video were you do this and maybe a few other tips in a mix you prepared for mastering thanks a bunch....✍🏾🙏🙏

[@savionmusic]

Is there anyone that got this technique down that I can call on Zoom and share my screen so I can find out where I went wrong in my mix. I have stacked vocals I've had to drop way down to balance with everything else, my fx sends are adding gain from somewhere I can't find, the Master Bus after thinking I've put everything at or near to 0-VU the master is still hot. I NEED HELP.

[@dahakizi8710]

this is cool I want more of these videos!! 👌

[@dalanthomas5121]

More videos like this would be awesome

[@DenisAshton]

Simple and very useful

[@illdaeagle]

Thank you for creating this video!

[@SYRUP_SURFER]

Good vid bro

[@HDDREAMER123]

Appreciate the detailed info

[@rheinbeamon838]

Thank you 🙏🏽, was very informative and to the point 🔥

[@shubhamlad2102]

Nice

[@Ndostudio]

life saver

[@troyedwards9288]

this is great 🎃

[@KrystalArvelo]

Thank you. This was SO helpful!

[@jasonchu4400]

that was really....you hit all the main points -16 is your level but vocals never above -6 this specific detail helps, a lot of engineers just say a bunch of shit beginners like me don't fuckin understand and they say it too quickly just do this do that....and WHOLA!!! your an engineer i hate that shit.

[@CATEYEZ9LIVESENTERTAINMENT]

Dope

[@samayyatri]

Really Really Really Grate Tutorial Friend.. So Much Thank You....

[@zacharytroyer5752]

Love your videos. Keep inspiring!

[@TiceGaming101]

Please make a video on compressor!!!! Please!!!!

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZqTYoeNoaiBg68

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

This may help too, it’s way newer kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnu5iZqOap55hbM

[@silverwater6420]

Great video mate. I'm not at the level to produce music with vocals (voice is shocking) but I still want to learn how to do all the other elements of producing music Got any advice for improving my voice- yours is so clean yet distinct :)

[@bboymac84]

Don’t want to do gain automation before compression??

[@jordanm3970]

Thanks for the video man!

[@GhettoBoxProductionz]

So helpful thank you so much!!!

[@kingdivinxchi5006]

would you add another compresser when mixing?

[@Prodby_duke]

King Divinxchi try Joey sturgis ‘Gain reduction’. That and make sure your room is treated. (Stay out the closet lol) Thank me later.

[@saintdavid3221]

I need help! Lol I am a rap artist who does a lot of shouting. When I get past a certain intensity the recording always clips even when the gain on my interface is all the way down. I’ve heard that switching to a dynamic mic like the Shure SM7B could help but I want to exhaust all other options before I invest. Can anyone help?

[@vanevenezuela5781]

Why don’t you have more subscribers??? Thank you for this video. I just got this mic last week and it sounds amazing. One thing that’s happening with the mic is when I’m singing live (using my SM7B+Scarlett 2i2+DM1 Dynamite) it kinda peaks up but that only happens in my headphones. People on Zoom tell me it sounds good. Do you have an idea why this is happening? Or if there’s a way to avoid it? Sorry for the long message lol

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

Do you have “direct to monitor” switched on your Scarlett? Only thing I can think of that would make your hear something in your headphones that others wouldn’t. Good luck and thanks for the comment!

[@blackshoreline9844]

Compression has nothing to do with gain staging. Gain staging is finding the sweet spot between recording to soft and inevitably locking into the noise floor and pulling it up with your vocals or clipping.

[@sam-no5qb]

I need some help. I love all of these videos when the vocals are already recorded and the post processing info is great, but I am having some issues getting there. How do you set up the gain on the mic vs. the gain on the compressor? And do I want to use something like an 1176 if it has a lot of character or something like ableton's stock compressor? I want to know the steps to get to an equal leveling of a dynamic vocal take that doesnt sound compressed all to hell when it hits hard, and doesnt raise the high end so much it sounds weird? (aka the audio file looking consistent in peaks and valleys) How do you set all the faders so that when you need to raise how loud the vocal is, you're not just pushing that one fader up? Like when you adjust gain do you increase the audio file size, or the fader, or the gain on the compressor? What are you guy's tricks? I have a TLM 102, apollo twin, 1176 and la a2 Uad plugins.

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

sam Hey man, this videos actually quite old and I’ve made the upgrade to Apollo. Still learning everything, so take this with a grain of salt. I find this sweet spot of a maximum -16db to -12db gain before processing through my pre-amp gain knob (Manley VoxBox in my case). From that point on, you’ve already staged your gain so it’s purely a personal preference on your compressor, EQ, etc choice, depending on the tone of the vocal and the tone you’re looking for. My fav right now is to run through an 1176 followed by an LA-2A, slight reduction on both, 5 to 7db MAX. The parallel compression gives it a bit more natural sounding control.

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

sam Continued.... When I say “pre amp gain,” that also means the same as “mic gain” in this case. Because as I turn up the knob on my Apollo, it’s increasing the gain in my pre-amp. I should also mention I use Apollo’s console app only for Monitoring, not recording. This was I can hear what it will sound like when it’s finished, but I can add all my effects in my DAW, and they won’t be permanent on recording. So I have all my compressor plugins in Logic Pro, and can adjust them afterwards. The only “analogue” component in this instance is the pre-amp, which has some slight de-easing/EQ components built in. Once it’s recorded through that and sent to Logic, I can’t change any of that.

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

sam LASTLY... I use the fader after all is said and done, it’s just an easy way to adjust volume, when you know you’ve already set your compressors properly.

[@sam-no5qb]

@@KyleHoeferMusic thank you so much for answering! So you use the apollo and the pre amp for gain to 16-12, thats great, and when you put your compressors on, do you split the peak reduction and gain between them? (what specs are you using on those two? I love and use both, would be curious to know what you set them to) This could be a cool video maybe? I've watched so many videos and they only cover what happens after this point, but thank you so much for even just the reply man!

[@cashewedalmonds]

do you keep the vocal track volume itself at zero also? the fader?

[@guitarmusings7392]

Amazing content 👌👏

[@jaynqx]

U definitely deserve more views......

[@survivor1700]

Hell yeah, thanks bro

[@THETHINKINGMINDS]

Hi there, great tutorial, thanks for posting it. I'd like to ask you, how to gain stage after my song is recorded. Thanks a lot.

[@thesoundmajors9097]

Turn down the audio.

[@thesoundmajors9097]

Prefader. Not with the fader on the mixer. If your daw has clip gain, use that. If not, use a gain plugin on the first insert on the track.

[@alimuhammad8585]

This was freaking incredible such a great video and explained perfectly, just what I’ve been looking for, thank you so much!!!

[@tomgrol9493]

Great video )

[@shadowthedragonemperor6997]

Thx this really helped me

[@AlyDee01]

This is so freaking helpful, learning this on the fly has been hard but you’ve explained this the best!

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

Thank you! Glad it helped! :)

[@thinktwice4everr]

thank you so much man

[@singsimpleplaysimple4978]

So do I need to turn off compressor when recording and than active it?

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

I assume since you're asking this that you're using a software compressor within your DAW like I was, and not a physical hardware one. If that's true the short answer is *nope, it really doesn't matter* You can turn on and off the compressor as you like. I usually turn on my compressor so that I can hear my voice better when recording a vocal. However, be mindful that the more plugins you add to a track the more latency there will be, so try and keep the number of plugins that are turned on to a minimum while recording. Cheers.

[@singsimpleplaysimple4978]

@@KyleHoeferMusic Many many thanks bro!!!!! I am using Ableton Live 10 (Hardware::: Scarlett 3rd gen audio interface) for vocal recording for youtube cover songs but the sound is not coming as clean as them. Yesterday I found mismatch sampling and bit rate of Scarlett, my PC and Ableton software.Not sure my XLR cable could be one of the reason.

[@zeguitardude]

Send it on compression. This is sick

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

Name of the game! Thanks for watching :)

[@essentialknowledge1031]

Why is there a VU meter in the thumbnail and then you don't talk about it? Very misleading

[@KyleHoeferMusic]

Fair. I can see why you feel that way, I’ll try and remove it. Diving in to the peak-based full scale meters vs rms-based meters would be super confusing though..especially for a beginner. That image is supposed to represent the analog-looking metering through logics compression plugin, as shown in the video. I can assure you 100% of the people learning this stuff from KZbin videos are also mixing digitally, so the likelihood of coming across a true VU meter at this level is second to none.

[@abyssent]

im clipping help

[@zipteye5622]

good video but yo lip smack sounds way are too much lol