Dom Morley - Recording & Mixing Vocals

Dom Morley is a Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer who has worked with Amy Winehouse, Adele, Sting, Mark Ronson and many more big names. In this episode, he goes into detail with SOS's Sam Inglis about the art and craft of recording and mixing vocals.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:39 - Tracking vocals02:49 - Favourite mics and preamps05:43 - EQ and compression07:30 - The artist headphone mix08:50 - Recording in the control room10:00 - Leaving the vocals until last11:02 - Guiding and coaching the vocal performance13:19 - Vocals recorded remotely15:18 - Submitting vocal tracks for mixing16:45 - Sending a comped version17:24 - Full takes then working through sections19:02 - Track mixing order21:29 - Not using vocal presets23:25 - Using analogue and digital24:18 - Analogue EQ and compression25:38 - Setting up compression27:00 - Automating dynamics30:35 - Drawing in the automation31:36 - Processor plugin order33:05 - Vocal tuning35:21 - Choosing a reverb or delay38:44 - Synchronising delays to song tempo39:26 - Treating BVs as an instrument41:15 - The Mix ConsultancyDom Morley BiogDom Morley is a Grammy Award-winning producer, mixer and engineer, who has worked with Amy Winehouse (Back To Black), Mark Ronson (Version, Record Collection), Richard Ashcroft (These People, Keys To The World), Nick Cave (Grinderman), Sting (Live at Durham Cathedral), The Police (pre-production for their world tour), Adele, Morrissey, JP Cooper, Estelle, Live8 (DVD), Rag'n'Bone Man, The Staves, Rumer, Keane, Birdy, Lemon Jelly, Jeff Beck, Sting, I Am Kloot, The Verve and Underworld amongst others.Dom is involved in sound design, providing all the sounds for the 'Dirty Modular' Kontakt instrument (Samplephonics), Stranger Synths, Modular Synthwave and the Roland CR-78 Synth Explorer (Loopmasters).He is also the founder of The Mix Consultancy (an online service offering feedback and advice on your mix) and tutors MA students in Music Production at Leeds College of Music.https://www.dommorley.com/https://www.themixconsultancy.com/Sam Inglis BiogEditor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts Get a print or digital subscription to Sound On Sound magazine.