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What’s your go-to vocal chain? It’s a question we get asked often here at Vintage King. It’s also a question that we’ve had the privilege of asking some of today's biggest engineers, producers, and musicians.
In this edition of Advice From The Pros, we're asking folks what their go-to vocal chain is. Continue reading to learn what mics, preamps, and effects pros like Ken Caillat, Marcella Araica, and Joey Raia are tracking with.
I just have my Manley Reference mic going into my Universal Audio LA-610 preamp and an LA-2A, and then I use Waves R Compressor and a little SSL EQ and FabFilter Pro-Q 3. But recently, I've been turning the R Compressor off and just trying to make it sound super good through the LA-2A.
It's a Neumann 269 going into a CAPI Heider 312, which often goes into an 1176 AE Blue Stripe and then into a Magic Death Eye compressor going into the Crane Song HEDD Quantum.
I've always been fascinated working with singers and I feel like most people sound good on this chain, but I've also been shocked at how many people sound better on an SM58 than they do on a fancy mic.
Sometimes people think, “Yeah that mic's only $100, let's use the $10,000 ones”. You’ve really got to listen and also, it’s about way more factors than how good the mic is. Sometimes it intimidates people to stand and sing when they’re used to just using a hand-held mic. So if you can't get the performance, then the mic is wrong, you know.
Well, it all depends – I can make any mic sound really good. With that pop filter trick, I could make an SM57 sound better than U 47 FET – it just depends on what you're looking for.
I usually use a tube mic for vocals, but I might blend it with a dynamic. For Colbie Caillat, we used a CMV-563, which is an old Neumann tube mic and it's beautiful; I think John Shanks uses it too.
I want an early 60s Neumann U47 -> Neve 1073 -> CL1B -> perhaps a GML EQ before it hits tape just to smooth it out a bit.
For the mic, I would use either the Sony C-800G or the Telefunken U47. My go-to preamp would be the Neve 1081 or the API 512c, just based on the tone of the singer. If they have a warmer voice I’ll probably use the 512c.
From time to time, I’ll also use the Avalon VT-737 because it’s in all of my rooms. But no matter what, I’m always using the Tube-Tech CL 1B compressor on all of my vocals.
I think that an SM7B or a Beyerdynamic M 88 could work on everybody. One of those two dynamics can usually sort anybody out. Maybe a Neumann U 67, but not always.
Preamp-wise I guess I would go to the BAE 1084s. They seem to work on most singers. Then I would use a fast-attack compressor like the Retro 176. Lastly, I would probably use an Inward Connections TSL4 on the back of the chain. All that put together seems like a solid basic chain.
An original vintage U 67 mic to 1084 and an LA-2A if I needed it. I think you can literally do everything with that and get results that will blow people's minds.
I’m a huge fan of the Neve 1073 mic pre, going directly into either the Telefunken ELA M 251E or the Telefunken 47 or a C12. Those are truly three of my favorite microphones of all time. I think the Sony C-800G is also a contender. That would give you four great mics.
Another mic that I use a lot is the Manley Reference Cardioid. I would probably say I use that 90 percent on a pop vocal sound. It just has that sound and clarity that I’m looking for
Depending on the style of music, if it’s modern, if it’s pop, I might change the preamp to the 1084 BAE which is based on the Neve EQ, so I can do some slight texture changes, depending on the singer.
It’s not so much the mic but the singer, and I’ll have a Tube-Tech CL 1B compressor without question in that chain.
For voice, I use a FET 47 into a BAE 1084 and then either a 76A or an LA-2A compressor based on how hard you want the song to sound.
I start off with the Kirchhoff-EQ for some basic shaping and correction.
Lately, I've been using a plug-in called VOLA by Sonic Anomaly that adjusts the vocal signal level to even things out before it hits the processing—so it almost does clip gain for you, in a way. It works surprisingly well and sometimes I’ll just use that aspect of it, but it also has a compressor and saturation built into it.
Sometimes I like doing an SSL channel strip—Purafied Audio makes a great VU Compressor and EQ, which I guess you’d call an emulation of an SSL-style EQ and both of those are in my go-to vocal chain.
After that, if I feel like it needs something else, vibe-wise, I'll go searching for some harmonic or tape stuff. A plug-in like the MixWave CA-70S is great on vocals and I’ve been using it on a lot of the mixes I’ve done recently.
I think my vocal signal chain is the most typical one, but I think it's that way for a reason. It's a U 47 with a 1073 and an LA-2A. I mean, that's it. If you can't get a good vocal sound with that, again, the problem is the source.
When EQ’ing a vocal, I like to hit commit and rock, plus just a little bit of compression.
Since we do a lot of vocals at the studio, using the U 47 through a Neve 1066, with either the 1176 or the 2254 on it for level control, is probably the closest thing we have to a go-to signal chain. Sometimes I’ll add an LA-2A or a Pultec, and I often track through the bus outputs.
Neve 1073 into LA-2A is a go-to signal chain I use for a lot of vocal recordings. It really depends from session to session, however. I’d say besides a few other go-to combinations of signal processing, it varies all the time.
It's different every time, but again, it just depends on what you're talking about. If you're talking about vocals, I'm very much an “API 512 to LA-2A'' kind of person. Sometimes I'll throw an API 560 EQ on there. The GML 8200, actually, is my favorite EQ to put on vocals. So, yeah, for a vocal it would be a 512 to GML to LA-2A.
Different singers are going to emote differently, so you have to know what that singer sounds like in the room and what they want to sound like coming out of the speakers. Is it going to be a dry record or a wet record? My approach to those things is going to vary.
Those are sort of two of my favorite chains though: the Shure SM 7 into a Neve 1073 and UA 1176, maybe followed by a Tube-Tech CL 1B. For a big sound, I would use a big condenser mic, like the Mojave MA-1000. That mic is incredible, I've used it a lot with some nice, smooth tube channels.
There might be better-sounding vocal mics, but to me, the Neumann 67 is the best for when I'm having to blend a vocal into a mix. It sounds great every time and there are a few singers where I need to try something else.
I mean, 80% of the time I'm using the U67 and I have specific ones that I like, specific 67s that work well for certain singers. And then I always start with a Neve 1073 preamp, a Tube-Tech CL 1B and then I'll usually use a Pultec EQ, and that’s my vocal chain starting point.
For vocals, I’ll start with a Neve 1073 preamp, followed by either the Retro 176 or the Inward Connections Brute. If it’s a really soft airy vocal, I'll try to get the cleanest, quietest chain that I can and maybe go to an API 512c or the Spectra preamp and take the tube compressor out of the circuit to get a little less noise.
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