Canadian Musician September / October 2019 | Page 56

an LC filter and roll off a bunch of low end, run it through
Waves’ CLA effects, which is Chris Lord-Alge’s signature
plug-in, and then through a flanger and add a ton of re-
verb. It’s a bit unorthodox but sounds amazing – just as
long as you dial in a sensible amount to work with the
record.
Tracking is usually pretty straightforward, but the edit-
ing and mixing is where I tend to break a lot of the rules. I’d
suggest learning the rules first to know where and when
you can break them to still have it make sense.
At the Console:
KR Moore
(Snotty Nose Rez Kids, The Sorority)
Go-To Vocal Setup:
I like to work with the UAD Apollo. I love how the LA-2A and
1176 sound on there, and a lot of time I’m working with
those two plug-ins from the jump. They get me a nice,
clean sound going in.
I normally track through a Neumann TLM-103. I love
that mic. It’s really versatile and I’ve used it for a bunch of
different artists. I try to keep the sound clean going in, and
then do whatever we might want to do with it in post.
For monitoring, I may add some more compressors
from the UAD into my DAW. I’ll monitor through a vocal
buss I have set up and I’ll start with an EQ from PreSonus
StudioOne or FabFilter, then I’ll go into an API 560 to add a
bit on top for some colour and brilliance, and then prob-
ably run it through an SSL channel strip with a little more
on top, then some more compression. That levels out the
sound a bit more. Sometimes, I’ll go into another instance
of the LA-2A, but it’s not doing too much – just grabbing
the peaks – and then I’ll put that through a de-esser. As
soon as the artists hear themselves through the head-
phones, they feel like they’ve made it [laughs].
CM: Is there a particularly unique vocal track or session
you’ve worked on that really went outside the box in
terms of gear, set-up, or recording environment? Tell us a
bit about what you did and what you like about the result.
KRM: We did some really out-of-the-box stuff with Snotty
Nose Rez Kids on their last album, more to do with mixing
than tracking. I used a lot of different styles of effects. For
example, when it came to ad-libs, I would use an EQ with
56 C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
At the Console:
Olivia Quan
(Luca Fogale, Hey Ocean!)
Go-To Vocal Setup:
It starts with an AKG C12A and a Chandler TG2 preamp.
From there, I use a DBX 902 de-esser, the left side of an
Empirical Labs FATSO Jr. into an 1176 into the right side of
the FATSO Jr., and then into my DAW. For the most part,
this chain is quite simple; I just have to be mindful of gain
staging.
CM: Is there a particularly unique vocal track or session
you’ve worked on that really went outside the box in
terms of gear, set-up, or recording environment? Tell
us a bit about what you did and what you like about the
result.
OQ: Half of the battle when it comes to recording vocals
is creating a space that gives the singer the best possible
chance at a great take. Developing a rapport with the
artists I work with is crucial in order to find out how they’d
be most comfortable delivering their performances. Some
singers are most comfortable cross-legged on the floor,
standing on the couch with a handheld microphone, or in
the pitch black.
I’m also really big into tracking effects pedals in paral-
lel. I like to get a unique sound, close to how I think it’ll exist
in the finished track, and mix that into the singer’s head-
phones. Even if the effects get ditched later in the mixing
process, the performance remains captured. Allowing a
vocalist to get immersed in a song, rather than just having
them sing over top of a track, has always yielded really
amazing results for me.