Why Are Some Vocals Clearer On Songs Than Others?

[White Soul Black Heart]

Hey again. Just a naive question here as I know nothing really of recording/production practice.

 

But as it says in the title, Why can the vocals in one song be clearer, often much clearer, than the vocals in another?

 

I predominantly listen to music from the late 70's/80's and I see (or hear) it all of the time. And it doesn't really vary from song, just artist to artist. I know some songs just seem to have more noise on them but it doesn't seem to make a difference if it's a high quality file or not either.

 

Can anyone clue me in as to why this is? Is it the nature of how they were recorded, the mic, the singer's ability?

Edited December 26, 2013 by White Soul Black Heart

[rdean101]

With the almost endless number of configurations between different mics, pre amps, eq's, compressers, mixing desks, recording desks, tape machines and singers, its no wonder all songs dont sound the same! Im not being a smartass, there are just so many variables and different tastes that it would be more weird if they did all sound the same (although that could be said of modern dance music!).

[MikeRobinson]

You also might be hearing the effect of good mastering, as well as the skills of a good mixer.

 

 

When you hear any professional record, at least three groups of people (or at least, roles) had a big part in what you hear.  (And you can "Google" all of these topics endlessly . . .)

• The recording engineer selected the right microphones, put them in the right place, adjusted all the switches and knobs just right ... to get   a "clean, pristine, isolated" recording of each part.
• The mixer took all those parts and blended them into an initial, balanced recording.
• As a final step in creating a record (or a CD or what-have-you), a mastering engineer took all the tapes that would make up the album, balanced them with one another, and did whatever other tweaking was necessary to make the compilation sound great "in vinyl."  (Or:  "in your iPod, on YouTube or SoundCloud, on a CD," etc.)

 

 

Furthermore, some older recordings that you hear today have been remastered, in an effort to remove defects or limitations of the original recording technologies, and to make them sound more appealing on the equipment of today.

 

Ansel Adams, a famous photographer, once commented that "a picture is captured in the camera, but it's made in the darkroom."  To a very big extent, that's true of musical recordings, too.  During every one of the steps that I listed, things can be done to manipulate the sound.  If the engineer did a great job, it sounds ... "natural."  Nothing that was done – and a lot might have been done – draws attention to itself.  (As Michael Douglas' character said to a roomful of hopeful chorus-dancers in the movie version of "A Chorus Line":  "Don't draw my eye!")

Edited January 21, 2014 by MikeRobinson

[MikeRobinson]

Something else that's worth looking into is this Wikipedia article:  List of Musical Works Released in a Stem Format.  Although this is mostly the subject of the "Recording Studio" forums here, it's still very relevant to "musical production."

 

Briefly, a "stem track" is an isolated recording – an input to the subsequent mixing process, more-or-less "naked" at this point.  The idea, among other things, is that you can listen to the finished, published recording, and to "what went into it."  Both the finished, painted, polished automobile that came out of the assembly-plant, and a close-up look at the nuts and bolts that went into that same plant.  All legally provided by the owners for educational purposes.  And, "educational" it is.

 

When you want to produce "professional-sounding stuff," you have to glom what the total process actually is ... "what are all the steps from 'here' to 'there,'" plus the fact that there are multiple steps being taken whether you can hear them or not.

Edited January 21, 2014 by MikeRobinson

[dnafe]

To the OP

 

There are several reasons but these are the two biggies in my opinion

 

1) volume of the vocals in the mix

2) how many competing frequencies there are in the center area of a mix

Edited February 6, 2014 by dnafe