How to Get That "in your face" Breathy Vocals?

[Shakabrah2]

Soooo popular with today's blonde teen queen divas. You know what I'm talking about. That "in your face" "breathy" "every diction movement" heard, every whisper right into your ear....

i.e. Ashley, Clarkson, Avril, Gwen, ....maybe a great mic, pre, and what kind of compression????

[Phil O'Keefe]

Here's a couple of MP3 links to songs off a jazz album I recently completed where we were going for that "up close and intimate" sound on the vocals:

http://www.philokeefe.com/broadcast/getitright.mp3

http://www.philokeefe.com/broadcast/donttellthesun.mp3

And for more info on Julie and some more audio clips, you can check out her site at www.julieday.org

Signal path? A Soundelux ELUX 251, at about 4 - 6" from her mouth (with a Stedman pop filter), running into a Vintech Dual 72 (Neve 1272 clone) preamp, with just a few dB's of compression from an Aphex comp. No EQ was used when tracking and minimal (or none) was used at mixdown, although I think I used a bit of Waves RenComp or RenVox on it when I mixed it.

But honestly, the majority of that sound was in the way that Julie sang it. She didn't "push" hard, and sang at soft to moderate levels. All I did was capture what she was doing and bring out the intimacy that was already there in her voice with the mic placement and some compression.

[Phil O'Keefe]

BTW, in case anyone's curious about what I look like (or what Julie looks like, which is more likely to be the case ;) ), here's a picture:

http://www.philokeefe.com/photos/phil_julie_and_tom.jpg

That's (from the left) me, Julie Day and producer / arranger / pianist Tom Consentino.

[AudioMaverick]

Hey... that shadow in your face makes you look like the bad guy on the 1999 Mummy movie!

To get that breathy sound, I used a LD condenser really close (4 or 5 inches) with a pop filter. The singer does the soft airy thing, and the breathy, sultry vocal track is born. Sounds cool on the right song.

[AudioMaverick]

Great tunes, too! I like them both. What microphone did you use on the sax, on "Don't Tell The Sun"?

[Phil O'Keefe]

Beyer M160. :cool: Love 'em!

[Shakabrah2]

No I do not mean a jazzy breathy vocal. Try this, go to:


http://www.radioalice.com/music/artists/annanal.asp

Under Video(s) "Breathe (2AM)
click WM 300k or WM 450k

This is what I'm talking about

[AudioMaverick]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe
Beyer M160. :cool: Love 'em!

I thought it might be a ribbon. I'm glad I got that $250 Nady. Now, I need a $500+ preamp to drive it!:rolleyes: There's no subsitute for the right tool fo rthe job, though. One day, I'll have a Real ribbon...:cool:

[Phil O'Keefe]

Originally posted by Shakabrah2
No I do not mean a jazzy breathy vocal. Try this, go to:


http://www.radioalice.com/music/artists/annanal.asp

Under Video(s) "Breathe (2AM)
click WM 300k or WM 450k

This is what I'm talking about

I listened to the clip you linked to. IMO, the style is really not all that important.... the technique used would remain the same - if you want breathy, get the source to sing a bit softer and breathier, close mic and use a suitable signal path... and a fairly "toppy" mic, a colored pre and some compression (which will also help bring out thre breathiness) are the tools I would normally reach for to get that sort of sound... but again, it has to start at the singer. :)

[Shakabrah2]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe


I listened to the clip you linked to. IMO, the style is really not all that important.... the technique used would remain the same - if you want breathy, get the source to sing a bit softer and breathier, close mic and use a suitable signal path... and a fairly "toppy" mic, a colored pre and some compression (which will also help bring out thre breathiness) are the tools I would normally reach for to get that sort of sound... but again, it has to start at the singer. :)

Phil, once again, thanks for your reply. I've noticed this technique used across the board of the pop/rock divas. Of course, the big boys have the big gear and us small fry PTLE users can only hope to get something as good sounding. Your right, it starts with the singer, then the high end gear. Thanks again.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Not a problem... :) Try a fairly bright mic, place it in close, and don't be afraid to compress it fairly hard - the more compression you use, the more of the lip smacks, breath noises and "intimacy" you're going to get... and don't cut out all the breath noises (breath inhalations just before the start of a line, etc.)... you can use fader moves to reduce them in volume a bit if they're too strong, but some of that adds significantly to the "realism" of the track, as well as to the breathiness effect too IMO.

You may not have a $1,500 pre, and a $5,000 mic, but I bet you can get pretty darned close to what you want if the singer does her part and you're crafty with the tools you have on hand. :)

[EngineGuitarist]

chaining compressors also works well. Like if you have the first compressor set to a higher ratio and a higher threshold to catch peaks and then another right behind it with a lower ratio and a lower threshold.

[where02190]

Another good technique to get that soft in your fase, breathy sound is to add a whisper track underneath, and compress it fairly hard during mixdown.

A Rode NTK I find does a fantastic job on getting the airy sounding vocaly. A used AKG 414 can be had for around $500, which is fantastic for this.

[Flaat]

I'm pretty sure they had recorded extra breath-sounds aswell on the Anna Nalick video.

I'll have to try that whisper-technique once, thanks where! :)

[daklander]

No one has posted the obvious, at least I didn't see it.
The first thing you need to get "That "in your face" "breathy" "every diction movement" heard, every whisper right into your ear...." is to have a vocalist that can do it, and and secondly, an engineer that can capture it.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Originally posted by daklander
No one has posted the obvious, at least I didn't see it.
The first thing you need to get "That "in your face" "breathy" "every diction movement" heard, every whisper right into your ear...." is to have a vocalist that can do it, and and secondly, an engineer that can capture it.

I think maybe you did miss it Dak:

But honestly, the majority of that sound was in the way that Julie sang it. She didn't "push" hard, and sang at soft to moderate levels. All I did was capture what she was doing and bring out the intimacy that was already there in her voice with the mic placement and some compression. ;) :D

[darcity]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe
BTW, in case anyone's curious about what I look like (or what Julie looks like, which is more likely to be the case ;) ), here's a picture:

http://www.philokeefe.com/photos/phil_julie_and_tom.jpg

That's (from the left) me, Julie Day and producer / arranger / pianist Tom Consentino.

I know that this is off topic Phil, but do you get mistaken for Bruce Willis? ;)

[Phil O'Keefe]

I really don't look that much like him, but yes, I've heard that one before. The other one I hear on occasion is Ed Harris. ;)

http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/04/45/12m.jpg

[Brittanylips]

Compression Compression Compression

-Peace, love, and Brihhhhhhhtanyhhhhhlihhhhps

[jackpine]

Another way is to hit it with, say, a Waves C4 and limit the shit out of it.

[Gutter Pup]

Hi !

Phil, gottaa question re: the picture.

What kind of sound absorbers are you folks standing in front of ?

I see a frame, and what looks to me to be Aurolex type 2",
2'x4' wedge panels (?) . . . what is behind the Aurolex ?

Also, can't quite tell what the green wall is composed of ?

Thanx,

Gutter Pup

[Phil O'Keefe]

Good eye 'Pup. :)

Yes, that's 2" Auralex. It's sitting on top of a membrane bass trap. You can't see it in the picture (or in person really), but those traps are actually inset into the wall, with only a portion extending "into" the room. And part of what extends into the room is hard to see, because it's painted green, and blends into the wall in that photo - look just behind the frames and you can slightly make it out. The traps have semi-rigid fiberglass (Owens-Corning 703) inside of them, and use a membrane for low frequency absorption. You can't see it in that photo, but their are similar traps on the ceiling, although those lack the external Auralex (they use compressed / semi-rigid fiberglass instead) and they are covered with fabric.

The main "shell" of the studio (external walls) is concrete and rebar filled cinderblock... that was a big consideration when we decided to buy this property. The interior walls are done with a classic "room within a room" approach. There are also cinderblock walls that seperate the control room from the main tracking room, as well as the office / lounge and iso booths. We can blast away, any time, day or night, and not disturb anyone. :) The green walls are sheetrock, with generous amounts of drywall mud used for texture - all hand applied by moi.

I've been very happy with the building overall. I wish the ceilings were higher (they're 8' :( ) and I might expand it later, but it really suits my needs very well. :)

[mikeSF]

phil, great sounding ensemble recordings and the vocalist really sounds great! thanks for posting those.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thank you Mike. :o I'll pass that along to everyone.

[Shakabrah2]

Thanks! I limited the cr*p and boasted the gain outta of the vocal and.....bingo!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Cool - compression is your friend. ;) At least sometimes. :D

Glad to hear it worked out well for you. :cool: