23 Recording Studio Terms That a Singer Should Know

…and some advice for a good vocal performance

In the studio:

Be sure never to touch the mic or mic stand in the recording studio. Let the engineer handle it. Just tell them what you need. When the engineer adjusts the mic stand for you in the vocal booth, make sure the mic is as low as your chin so you sing down to it. This helps to prevent lifting the chin and possibly straining.

If you have the opportunity to practice with headphones take advantage of it.  HINT: I find that hearing myself in the headphones and in the room at the same time ensures better pitch.  I put both headphones on and then move one of them back slightly, about halfway off my ear.

You may want to pump the volume of the music into your head to “get into it” more however, be careful when doing this because it can really mess up your pitch.

1. Backgrounds (BGVs) – background vocals
2. Call and response – part of a song where a line is sung and there is an answer line
3. Comp (comp track) – includes all the best takes from all the lead vocal parts recorded and wrapped into one final compilation track that is ready to be mixed by the engineer
4. Control room – where the engineer sits; where all the buttons and sliders are; where the lava lamp is
5. Demos – a compilation of songs used to demonstrate a person’s talent or songs or both
6. Engineer – person who records and mixes all the music; the tech person; often the producer as well
7. Filter/ Pop Screen – the mesh screen in front of the mic that you are singing into; it helps to dampen harsh or noisy consonants, such as ‘P’, ‘B’, and ‘S’
8. Harmony – complementary vocal part that is not in unison with the melody
9. Headphone amp – small box in the vocal booth used to adjust overall headphone volume
10. Headphones (cans) – how you hear the recorded music AND your voice in the vocal booth
11. Hot – voice is too loud and the engineer may have to make adjustments; you may have to step back a little from the mic as well
12. Levels – Volume levels get checked by the engineer to make sure everything has a good balance and that nothing is too hot. (see Headphone amp).
13. Melody – a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying; the “main part” in a song
14. Music stand – place to rest lyrics and sheet music
15. Producer – often also the engineer; specifically, the producer decides what instruments get played where and how and puts everything together; a producer works hand in hand with the artist and the engineer.
16. Punch (Punch In/ Out) – when you want to keep a recording on a track, but want to redo something on that same track, you will “punch” that part i.e. “Let’s punch in on the first line in the second chorus.”
17. Roughs – comped tracks without mixing
18. Scratch track – (vocal) recording that is only for reference
19. Stack – recording the exact same vocal part on a second track to match the first track
20. Take – a take is a recording on a track i.e.: That was a good take. Save that!
21. Track (noun) – A (digital) signal that represents a single channel of audio. Usually one track contains a performance of one musical instrument. By the time a singer is finished recording vocals for one song they could easily have ten tracks of just their voice. A breakdown of what 10 vocal tracks might look like: lead vocal 3 times (3 tracks), pick one lead and stack the choruses (1 track), 2 different background vocal parts, stacked (4 tracks), vocal comp (1 track) = 10. Tracking (verb) – the act of recording
22. Unison – more than one person singing the same vocal part at the same time
23. Vocal booth – isolation area where the vocals are recorded