Advice on recording 'whispery' vocals

[Ring]

I'm a self producing musician and I'm after a vocal style that is somewhat my bloody valentine-ish in terms of being whispery and ethereal - here's a reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chaYm2TqfHM

Thing is, recording whispering vocals is bloody hard because they don't make a lot of noise and unfortunately due to being a poor ass I don't have a condenser mic (and I figure this is the easiest/most obvious solution). Even then the sonic quality I'm after remains elusive as I've attempted it with a decent condensor before. I was wondering if there were any other tips or tricks for when one is limited to an sm57/58? My good friend recommended layering about 5 takes and drenching it in reverb but this has very mixed results, - mostly due to timing inconsistencies which become fairly inevitable. I'm more looking down the path of EQ magic but thought I'd run it by some folks that actually know what they're doing.

Thanks

[JWL]

Most of it is just getting the right performance, imho. You have to cultivate a good voice tonality when singing softly, and you have to get the "airiness" in the performance.

Generally being in close proximity to the microphone helps a lot, but then you have to be extra careful about plosives and sibilance.

Sometimes multiband compression can help quite a bit, bringing out the whispery ranges but keeping things from getting too sibilant.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

you oughta be able to do it with a 58. get right up on the mic when you sing. roll off a lot of low end. by a lot i mean almost all of it. you'll probably want a bunch of compression.

if you put reverb on it, probably roll off a bunch of low end on that too. maybe high end as well.

what mbv did on loveless was like 10 tracks of vocals. they'd pick the best one and make that the lead, then roll a bunch of high end off the others so they're a little easier to tuck in behind the lead.

if you do a bunch of tracks (and you should!) the timing stuff is most likely gonna be consonants (s's and t's, etc) at the end of words/phrases. if you're on a computer, it's easy enough to go in and remove all those consonants from all but one or two tracks, so you don't get crazy stuttering at the end of every line. this is tedious work, but it's not hard and it'll pay off.

fwiw, not really whispered, but sung quietly....the second chorus of the second song here is like 36 tracks of vocals:

http://rohdelikat.bandcamp.com/album/deaf-dear

if you compress all your vocal tracks as a group (a good idea), make sure the release is on the slow side, otherwise the compressor will be trying to react to every syllable. which seems like a cool sound the first time you hear it. but the second time you hear it, it sounds like an improperly set compressor.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

ALSO: even though you're gonna be right up on the mic, try and record the vocals in as quiet a space as possible. i.e. away from traffic noise, hard drive noise, etc.

all that extraneous noise adds up with multiple tracks and compression, so you really want to minimize it as much as possible. unless you are actually trying to drive your mastering engineer crazy.

[Ring]

Glad I asked, some ripper tips I'll try out when it isn't 2 in the morning.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

but that's the best time!

[ubertar]

if you do a bunch of tracks (and you should!) the timing stuff is most likely gonna be consonants (s's and t's, etc) at the end of words/phrases. if you're on a computer, it's easy enough to go in and remove all those consonants from all but one or two tracks, so you don't get crazy stuttering at the end of every line. this is tedious work, but it's not hard and it'll pay off.

A far less tedious (though a bit tricky at first) method is to leave off the likely-to-be-problematic consonants at the end of words and phrases in the backing vocals during the performance. I read or saw in a documentary somewhere that's how the great backing vocalists do it, even live. It works! Whatever's left over you can do on the computer.

[Gregg Juke]

Great advice in this thread. Only two things I was going to add, and ubertar beat me to one of them-- leaving the consonants off after the "lead" vocal is in place is _HUGE_ in it's importance re: tightness. While it is not the way people are usually taught to sing, I've even exported the practice to working with live choirs and it's fantastic. It just takes a little getting used to.

Another big one from a production standpoint though, to add a lot of character and "whisperyness" to a lead vocal? Do a completely separate "whisper track." This works great on lead vox, as well as thick harmonies, backgrounds, and gang vocals. After the lead take is done, which in your case would also be pretty quiet and breathy to begin with (and on a dynamic mike to boot, which is why you'll probably need to compress the heck out of it), add a track where you do nothing but whisper the lyrics along with your initial lead; monotone, no note intonation, just whisper. Match the phrasing as closely as humanly possible (like a real double, only you're whispering, not singing). Add to taste in the mix, possibly with more compression. !Voila! Instant breathy lead vocal with lots of lip-smacking character. Obviously, this would be a lot better on a nice condenser, but you will do ok with what you've got if you can't beg/borrow/steal.

When it's done on big 80's-style production back-up vox, it really is huge (think of "Pyromania"-era Def Leppard; as far as I know, it's a Mutt Lange thing).

GJ

PS-- Dad-gum, for 10 tracks or more, that MBV lead is pretty buried in the mix and nearly incomprehensible on my little computer speakers. I suppose that was an aesthetic decision, but not my cup of tea.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

When it's done on big 80's-style production back-up vox, it really is huge (think of "Pyromania"-era Def Leppard; as far as I know, it's a Mutt Lange thing).

when we were recording that track i mentioned in my post, i said "let's get all def leppard on this...."

[Ring]

That consonants tip is genius, never would have thunk it. I'll be sure to hit you guys up for tips when I'm recording some death metal vocals soon.

but that's the best time!

Aye, except I have housemates and no one must hear me tracking! It's kind of like going to take a piss and there is one urinal free in the middle with 2 dudes either side. In your head you can convince yourself you don't care and be like 'whatever man' but that stream just doesn't flow! Even if it does it'll never be the same as when you're all alone at home whizzing with the door open and a crumpet in your hand.

[vvv]

... and a crumpet in your hand.

Doesn't she or he object?

[Ring]

... and a crumpet in your hand.

Doesn't she or he object?

So long as they're getting eaten, the details don't matter.

[vvv]