monitoring scratch vocals without cans

[dfuruta]

I like to track bands in one room, without headphones. I'm wondering if you have any advice about setting up monitoring for scratch vocals in this situation. Would one set up a PA? If so, what happens with the bleed if the vocals need to be overdubbed?

Thanks for any tips!

[thethingwiththestuff]

sure, a well placed floor wedge in a decently-sized space can totally work for full-band tracking.

do you have any experience with live sound? all the same concepts will come into play... use as little monitoring as necessary, eq out ringing frequencies, and keep the monitor behind the singer's (cardioid) mic and away from all other instrument mics.

[W DeMarco]

Do you mean for you, the engineer, to monitor or the singer to monitor. If its the latter you might be able to get away with some earplugs so the singer hears more in their head.

[Adam Friend]

If you use a PA wedge so all the band can hear the vocals, there's going to be bleed into the drum mics

So if you want to do it this way the vocal take just has to be the keeper .. no scratch

If you want it just to be a scratch headphones are the only way to go.

[ballpein]

Assuming you're recording electric instruments, and assuming the the room's big enough, a little monitoring shouldn't be too much trouble. Just try to keep it out of the drum mics as much as possible... and as long as the singer is more or less in tune, whatever does end up in your drum mics will make for some nice reverb.

[dfuruta]

Related question: if you're doing this, where do you find the balance between good vocal sound and good rejection? I've found that vocals sound best if the singer isn't eating the mic, but it's difficult to get sufficient rejection otherwise when surrounded by loud electric instruments. Is it a matter of sacrificing some vocal tone for a more energetic performance?

[ballpein]

If it's a scratch vocal, forget about getting good sound and just do whatever the singer feels best about, and creates the right feel in the room.