VOCAL PRODUCTION IN POP MUSIC Simeon Puukari Bachelor’s thesis November 2018 Degree Programme in Media & Arts Music Production ABSTRACT Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu Tampere University of Applied Sciences Degree Programme in Media and Arts Music Production PUUKARI, SIMEON: Vocal Production in Pop Music Bachelor's thesis 50 pages, appendices 24 pages November 2018 The purpose of this thesis is to provide an overview of vocal production methods that are commonly used in pop music. It is written as a guide for people who want to learn about vocal production in general or improve their skills as vocal producers. The thesis looks into the matters of vocal production that stay the same regardless of the musical genre and aspires to address the distinctive features of vocal production in pop music. The majority of the data was collected by interviewing professionals in the industry, but also books and Internet sources were used to gather information about the subject. The thesis contains a media part of three songs where these methods have been put into practice, and a report that goes through the productions of these three work samples step by step. Key words: vocal production, artist, producer, recording, editing, processing. 3 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 6 2 EXPERT INTERVIEWS ............................................................................................. 7 2.1 Patric Sarin ........................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Jukka Immonen .................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Eetu Kalavainen ................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Johannes Naukkarinen ......................................................................................... 7 3 PRE-PRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Preparations .......................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Microphone and its positioning ........................................................................... 9 3.3 Creating a safe place .......................................................................................... 11 3.3.1 Spreading positivity ................................................................................ 12 3.3.2 Overcoming problems ............................................................................. 13 3.3.3 How to stand out as a vocal producer ..................................................... 14 3.3.4 Comfortable studio facilities ................................................................... 15 4 RECORDING ............................................................................................................ 16 4.1 Headphone mix .................................................................................................. 16 4.2 Recording the lead track .................................................................................... 17 4.3 Backing vocals ................................................................................................... 18 4.4 Vocal recording in a song writing session ......................................................... 21 5 POST-PRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 22 5.1 Editing ................................................................................................................ 22 5.1.1 Comping .................................................................................................. 22 5.1.2 Vocal tuning and timing .......................................................................... 24 5.2 Processing .......................................................................................................... 28 5.2.1 Compression ............................................................................................ 28 5.2.2 EQ and multiband compression .............................................................. 29 5.3 Mixing ................................................................................................................ 32 5.3.1 Role of a vocal producer in mixing ......................................................... 32 5.3.2 Placing the vocals to the stereo field ....................................................... 32 5.3.3 Reverbs and delays .................................................................................. 33 5.3.4 Automation .............................................................................................. 34 6 WORK SAMPLES .................................................................................................... 36 6.1 Tapio Lempivaara – Hauras maa ....................................................................... 36 6.1.1 Background of the song .......................................................................... 36 6.1.2 Recording lead vocals ............................................................................. 36 6.1.3 Lead vocal editing ................................................................................... 37 4 6.1.4 Vocal arrangement .................................................................................. 37 6.1.5 Editing backing vocals ............................................................................ 40 6.1.6 Processing the lead track ......................................................................... 40 6.1.7 Processing the backing vocals ................................................................. 41 6.2 Skywalk – Close my eyes Feat. Martyn Ell ....................................................... 42 6.2.1 Background of the song .......................................................................... 42 6.2.2 Vocal arrangement .................................................................................. 42 6.3 Terri - Muurame ................................................................................................. 44 6.3.1 Background of the song .......................................................................... 44 6.3.2 Vocal recording and arrangement ........................................................... 44 7 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 47 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 48 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 51 Appendix 1. Interview with Patric Sarin ................................................................... 51 Appendix 1. Interview with Jukka Immonen ............................................................ 60 Appendix 3. Interview with Eetu Kalavainen ........................................................... 69 Appendix 4. Interview with Johannes Naukkarinen .................................................. 71 Appendix 5. Work samples ....................................................................................... 74 5 GLOSSARY 3D Three-dimensional A&R Artist and repertoire DAW Digital audio workstation EQ Equalizer Hz Hertz kHz Kilohertz Bus track Audio tracks can be routed to a bus track where they can be processed as a group. Dry signal Audio without reverb and delay. Depending on the context, dry signal can also mean unprocessed audio. Instrumental track Audio track of a song that does not include vocals. Low mids Lower middle frequencies Mids Middle frequencies Multitracks Separate individual tracks of an audio production. Proximity effect Increment of low frequencies when the sound source is close to a cardioid microphone. 6 1 INTRODUCTION The role of the vocals in pop music is so critical that it makes the matter of vocal pro- duction extremely essential in order to accomplish songs that are appropriate according to the guidelines of pop music. Vocals are so important because they usually contain the most of the melodic information of pop songs and the melody is the core aspect of pop music (Express 2015). Vocal production comprehends several elements that together create the concept of vo- cal production. Vocal production can be divided into three main sections: pre produc- tion, recording and post production and each of these sections contain several stages that will be gone through and explained in detail in this thesis. Special and memorable vocals are the essence of vocal production and the producers have a big role on getting the best out of the artists. For this reason the psychological side of vocal production is covered in the thesis at least as comprehensively as the technical side of matter. This thesis explores the different elements of vocal production from the angle of a pro- ducer and tries to offer practical guidance for people who want to improve their skills in vocal production. There are producers who are specialised in vocals and therefore often asked to do the vocal productions instead of the producers who are in charge of the in- strumental track. In the pop scene of the United States the vocal producers get even copyright splits for their input because their vocal arrangements are so significant that they are seen as a part of the compositions. However