Produce VOCALS like BLINK-182!

Summary

This video script details a tutorial series on recreating the song 'What's My Age Again' by Blink-182 using Ableton Live plugins, focusing on vocal production. It covers recording techniques for dry vocals, doubling for a fuller sound, and mixing strategies including EQ, compression, and effects like reverb and delay. The host also discusses adding character with backing vocals and automation for a polished, radio-ready sound, inviting viewers to follow along for the full music production journey.

Takeaways

• 🎤 The video is about reverse-engineering the song 'What's My Age Again' by Blink-182, focusing on replicating the vocal sound using Ableton Live plugins.
• 🔍 The script emphasizes the importance of starting with a dry vocal recording to have control over adding ambience and effects during mixing.
• 🔁 The technique of doubling vocals is highlighted as a key element in pop punk and pop music, where the main vocals are sung once and then repeated for a fuller sound.
• 🎛️ EQ is used to brighten up the vocals and remove muddiness, with the high-end frequencies being particularly important for a modern sound.
• 🗜️ Compression is essential for vocals to sound polished and radio-ready, with the script detailing the specific settings used for this song.
• 👄 A multiband dynamics plugin is used to control sibilance, which can become more pronounced after boosting high frequencies.
• 🔄 The use of a chorus effect is mentioned to widen the vocals and give them a fuller sound, especially in the choruses of the song.
• 🔉 The script discusses the subtle art of using doubles, where they are mixed low with the main vocals to strengthen them without being consciously heard.
• 📐 Additional EQ and compression are applied to the doubled vocals to match the tone and presence of the original track.
• 🔄 Automation is used to create dynamic changes in the mix, such as a reverb throw on specific words for added impact.
• 🎶 The video also covers the creation of backing vocals with a 'radio vibe,' using band-pass filtering and distortion to simulate the sound of old radio speakers.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video series the script describes?

The video series focuses on reverse-engineering the song 'What's My Age Again' by Blink-182 using only Ableton Live plugins, with individual videos dedicated to different aspects of the song such as drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, and vocals.

Why is it important to watch the previous videos before the one on vocals?

Watching the previous videos first will make it easier to understand the one on vocals, as it builds upon the concepts and techniques introduced in the earlier parts of the series.

What techniques are demonstrated in the video series on reverse-engineering the song?

The series demonstrates various techniques such as drum programming, bass line creation, guitar riff replication, keyboard melody construction, and vocal processing.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Reverse Engineering 'What's My Age Again' Vocals

The video script discusses the process of recreating the vocals for Blink-182's 'What's My Age Again' using only Ableton Live plugins. It emphasizes the importance of recording dry vocals to have control over ambience and effects during mixing. The script mentions that the original song features a lot of vocal doubling to enhance the chorus and strengthen the overall vocal presence. Basic vocal processing techniques like EQ adjustments, compression, and the use of multiband dynamics are covered, along with the idea of keeping the original vocal track as dry as possible to avoid room reflections and ensure a clean mix.

05:01

🔊 Vocal Processing Techniques and Effects

This paragraph delves deeper into the specifics of vocal processing for pop and pop-punk music. It explains the use of EQ to brighten vocals and remove muddiness, compression settings for a more controlled vocal delivery, and the importance of de-essing to manage sibilance. The script also touches on the use of additional EQ and dynamics processing to refine the vocal sound and prepare it for further effects like chorus and reverb. The concept of vocal doubling is expanded upon, with the goal of thickening and widening the sound, particularly for the chorus.

10:02

🎶 Advanced Vocal Mixing and Automation

The script continues with advanced techniques in vocal mixing, including the use of a glue compressor to unify the main and doubled vocals, and additional EQ to enhance presence. It discusses the application of effects like reverb and slap delay to add ambience without making the vocals sound overly 'wet'. The use of long delay on the chorus to create a sense of space is also highlighted. Automation is introduced as a way to dynamically adjust effects and create impact at specific moments in the song, such as emphasizing the word 'TV' with a reverb throw.

15:03

📡 Creating Radio-Style Vocals and Backing Vocals

The final paragraph focuses on creating backing vocals with a radio-style effect, achieved through extreme EQ settings that simulate the narrow frequency range of old telephones and radios. It describes the use of distortion to emulate the sound of old speakers and the automation of panning to create a dynamic stereo effect. The script also covers the challenges of recreating iconic high backing vocals from the song, suggesting layering multiple vocal tracks to achieve the desired group effect and厚度. The importance of sending these backing vocals to effects returns for added depth is noted, concluding the detailed exploration of vocal mixing for 'What's My Age Again'.

Keywords

💡Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering is the process of deconstructing a product or process to understand its function and construction. In the context of this video, it refers to the creator's goal of replicating the song 'What's My Age Again' by Blink-182 using only Ableton Live plugins. The script describes the process of breaking down the song's components, such as drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, and vocals, to recreate them.

💡Vocal Doubling

Vocal doubling is a recording technique where the singer records the same part multiple times to create a fuller, richer sound. The script mentions that the song features a double for the entire song, meaning the main vocals were recorded once and then repeated by the singer to add depth and power to the vocal track.

💡Pop Punk

Pop punk is a music genre that fuses elements of punk rock with pop melodies and hooks. The video's theme revolves around recreating a song from this genre, with the script discussing the specific vocal and production techniques commonly used in pop punk, such as doubling and brightening the vocals.

💡Vocal Mixing

Vocal mixing is the process of blending the various vocal tracks in a recording to create a balanced and polished sound. The script provides insights into the mixing techniques used in the song, such as EQ adjustments, compression, and automation to achieve a professional vocal sound.

💡EQ (Equalization)

Equalization is the process of adjusting the balance of frequency components in an audio signal. In the script, EQ is used to shape the tone of the vocals, removing muddiness from the low mids and boosting the high end to give the vocals brightness and presence.

💡Compression

Compression in audio refers to the reduction of the dynamic range of a sound, making the loud parts quieter and the quiet parts louder. The script describes using compression to control the dynamics of the vocals, ensuring they are consistent and radio-ready.

💡De-esser

A de-esser is a type of dynamic processor used to reduce sibilance (harsh 's' and 't' sounds) in vocals. The script mentions using a de-esser to control these unwanted frequencies after boosting the high end, which can emphasize sibilant sounds.

💡Chorus Effect

The chorus effect is an audio effect that creates a sense of spaciousness and depth by adding a series of slightly delayed and pitch-shifted copies of the original sound. The script describes using a chorus effect to widen the vocals and give them a fuller sound, especially during the choruses of the song.

💡Slap Delay

Slap delay is a short delay effect that can sound like a double or an echo, adding a sense of depth without making the sound overly 'wet' or reverberant. The script mentions using slap delay to add a touch of ambience to the vocals without overwhelming the dry sound of the song.

💡Effects Returns

Effects returns are auxiliary sends in a mixing console that allow a track to be sent to effects processors, such as reverbs or delays, without affecting the main signal path. The script discusses using effects returns to add reverb and delay to the vocals, enhancing the sense of space and depth in the mix.

💡Automation

Automation in audio production refers to the process of automatically adjusting parameters over time, such as volume, panning, or effects levels. The script mentions using automation to create specific effects, like a reverb throw on a particular word, to add drama and interest to the mix.

💡Backing Vocals

Backing vocals are additional vocal parts that support and complement the main vocals. The script describes the use of backing vocals in the song, which are layered and processed to create a group effect, adding texture and richness to the overall sound.

Highlights

The video series focuses on reverse-engineering 'What's My Age Again' by Blink-182 using only Ableton Live plugins.

Vocals in pop punk and pop music are often doubled to add strength and depth to the sound.

The main vocals were recorded dry to allow for control over ambience and effects during mixing.

Recording vocals in a dry room is essential for better control over the final sound mix.

High-end frequencies are boosted in vocals to match the modern, bright sound commonly found in pop music.

Compression is used to control vocal dynamics and achieve a polished sound for radio playback.

Multiband dynamics and de-essing are crucial for managing sibilance and maintaining vocal clarity.

An additional EQ and compression are applied to the doubled vocals to enhance their presence and blend.

The chorus plugin is used to widen and add depth to the vocals without making them the center of attention.

The secret to effective doubling is to keep the secondary vocals subtle, enhancing the main vocals without being overtly noticeable.

Chorus effect is added to all vocals for a slightly wider sound, simulating the phasiness heard in the original track.

Glue compressor is utilized to bind the main and double vocals together for a cohesive sound.

Effects like reverb and slap delay are used sparingly to maintain the dry nature of the song while adding a touch of ambience.

Long delay is applied during the chorus to create a sense of space and epicness without overdoing the wetness.

Automation is used to emphasize certain words or phrases, such as the 'TV' in the lyrics, by adjusting reverb intensity.

Background vocals (BVs) are processed with a telephone or radio effect using band-pass filtering and distortion to give them a unique presence.

Panning and reverb are used to create a sense of space and depth for the BVs, making them sound like a group rather than a single voice.

The iconic high backing vocals in the song are stacked and panned to create a fuller, more group-like sound.

The final touches on vocals include sending them to effects returns for additional reverb and delay to enhance the emotional impact.

Transcripts

singing like tom de long and mark opus

who never wanted that well maybe just

like tom dalon okay it's finally time to

get that vocal sound from what's my age

again let's do this

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

all right and if you don't know yet i'm

making a series about reverse

engineering what's my age again by blink

182 using only ableton live plugins so

i've done a video about drums i've done

a video about bass i've done a video

about guitars i've done a video about

the little keyboard in the background

and now it's time to do a video about

vocals make sure you watch those other

videos first though it's gonna be way

easier to understand this one after you

watch those ones so yeah vocals the one

that gets our self-esteem down cause you

just noticed how [ __ ] of a singer you

are

but we have to do it anyways if you want

to make music it's good to sing singing

is nice singing it's fun and you learn

to live with your voice at some point

right so let's do these vocals the main

thing you have to know about vocals is

that in pop punk and in pop music in

general vocals are usually doubled a lot

for this song i believe there was a

double for the entire song so the main

vocals were saying once and then mark

doubled the same vocals across the whole

song one more time and then there's an

extra little double for the chorus just

to make the chorus a little bit stronger

right so that's exactly what i did you

see here i have the main vocals here i

have the double for the whole track and

then i have the double for just the

choruses and i believe that gave me a

very close sound to what they got in

what's my age again with vocal mixing

for this one there's a couple little

tricks in there but i had to try and

keep it quite simple because it was a

simple song the vocals were quite dry

not many effects on them so i tried just

to simulate as much as i could the tone

of the eqs and try to get the same sound

but the vocals are quite simple actually

so let's go through them first step as

usual i grouped all my vocals like the

main vocals and the doubles into a group

and i processed them farther but let me

mute these so we can start from the very

beginning from the separate vocal tracks

first vocal track right here vox mark

right the main mark hopper's voice just

recorded it it's straight into my

interface no compressors no eqs nothing

just my mic going to my interface this

is before all the processing i took her

out

it was a friday night i don't work alone

to get the feeling right we started

making out and she took off my pants but

then i turned on the tv

again the most important thing about

recording vocals is you want to have the

control of adding ambience and effects

on it in the mix you don't want that to

be in the original vocals so you have to

try and keep your room as dry as

possible i don't have a perfect room i

have a bunch of reflections everywhere i

have windows but i put a rug down i put

some soft stuff around me i put some

soft stuff behind my posters i've done a

bunch of little things to make it a

little bit better because you have to

try and record your vocals as dry as you

can as dry as your budget and your

environment makes it possible right so

yeah the vocals in the song are pretty

dry even with all of the effects so

imagine if i i didn't have dry vocals

and to begin with it would have been

hell now let's hear the vocals with all

of the effects on

i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone to

get the feeling right we started making

out and she took off my pants but then i

turned on the tv

and that's about the time she walked

away from me

as you can see there's some crazy

automation going on in there but i'll

i'll show you all the tricks don't worry

about it so the first step for a pop

vocal for a pop punk vocal or a pop book

was to brighten it up you go listen to

the references like i did you see i have

the original song down here always as a

reference listen to the references when

you're mixing and you're always going to

be surprised how much you have to push

the high end of your vocals like i used

to mix my vocals so dark and nowadays i

just know that if i want to compete with

the other guys even though i don't

particularly like my voice to be too

bright i have to push the high end it's

just how things sound nowadays as you

can see here i start my vocal chain

boosting the highs a bunch on channel eq

and i take a little bit of the muddiness

out in the low mids right here that's it

first step push those eyes up you're

gonna need them

i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right

and after i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right see a lot of

brightness coming in there then next

steps the obvious thing compressor you

need to compress vocals to make them

sound like they sound in the radio you

gotta compress your vocals and you don't

have to be super super sensitive with it

you can actually compress them quite a

bit for this song i had a reference

again so that's why it's always good to

have a reference there are some very

hyper compressed songs nowadays this

one's quite mellow actually the vocals

are quite dry and the compression is

quite mellow so if you look down here

the compression is six to one the attack

is a little bit fast and the release is

a little bit fast because it's a fast

song and i wanted to control my kind of

not the best vocalist right so i wanted

it to control my attacks a little bit so

i made the attack a little bit faster

and let's see the before and after i

took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right

i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right as you can see

here i'm getting around three dbs of

gang reduction which is was alright for

this song sometimes i get more sometimes

i get 10 dbs of reduction with some

vocals for this song 3dbs were doing

just fine then i got a multiband

dynamics here with this preset here so

let me just show you where i got it so

if you go here to the audio effect

multi-band dynamics right remember to

click the little arrow to see the

presets you got a preset here for split

band de-esser the essence is very

important because you boosted a lot of

high-end and with the high-end it's

going to come out the the the sounds you

know the slips and the truth and the

stuff that you don't want the sound's

gonna come true like crazy so you gotta

put some ds here and i even put two

because ableton doesn't have like a

really good dessert plugging it only has

the compressors that also work as a

de-esser because a dslr is just a

compressor with a band frequency

selection but still there are some new

de-essers nowadays they are really good

and they really make a difference and to

get that sound that i'm used to nowadays

with the modern dss i just had to use

two ds presets enabled one from

multiband and one from the normal

compressor right here did i mess around

with them too much just trying to touch

the asses i took her out

it was a friday night i can really hear

him that sucker you see without i took

her out i took her out it's kind of

annoying if i turn it on i took her out

it gets that a little bit more

controlled which is nice because i'm not

very good at controlling my asses man

seriously i'm not and lastly another eq

just to do a little bit of a cleanup and

boost uh these vocals a little bit

closer to my reference focus so as you

can see i'm taking more of the muds i'm

cutting all of the low end you don't

need all of this low end for your vocals

and pop music at all really especially

in this song because this song is

already quite busy you don't need low

end for your vocals in this song and

boosting a little bit more of the high

mids and highs here just a little bit

more to give it that presence you see

let's hear it before i took her out

it was a friday night and after i took

her out it was a friday night this eq is

just really a touch just a little touch

then i have the doubles the doubles i

kept everything quite simple i just

mainly copied the beginning of my chain

from my other vocals and i added a

chorus plugging because the chorus is

gonna widen my vocals just a little bit

and it's gonna take it out of the center

and give that space to the main vocals

but it's also gonna add to the main

vocals and make it a little thicker and

go to the sides a little bit which is

quite nice so this is without the

doubles i took her out

it was a friday night and now with i

took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right you see they're

mixed quite low with the main vocals i'm

gonna turn them up so you guys can hear

it but they're they're not meant to be

consciously heard you know they're meant

to be there to strengthen your main

vocals but you don't want the listener

to know oh he's saying it twice they

must be hidden the secret of doubles is

to hide them

a little bit but i'm gonna turn them up

so you guys can listen to what they're

doing i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right we started

making out and she took off my pants you

see they're wider more facey and they

just add to the main vocals just copy

these presets here to another track just

change the chorus plugin to ensembl mode

just to make it a little bit different

from the other double here to make it

add something different and that way the

course is a little bit stronger than the

rest of the track this is just a doubles

that's about the time she walked away

from me nobody likes you when you're 23

this is just the main vocals without

that double that's about the time she

walked away from me

nobody likes you when you're 23 now

everybody together that's about the time

she walked away from me

nobody likes you when you're 23

and i see more amused by t you see it

really adds a lot to your main vocals it

thickens them up and it makes them

larger than life it's awesome i love

doubles because they hide a lot of my

they hide a lot of my bad sides as a

vocalist i love a good double i even

leave them higher when it's my own songs

when i'm not trying to copy anyone i

like to leave my doubles quite high i

really do then more processing i group

them all you see i grouped all of my

main vocals into my main vocal track

here did more processing i thought i

heard more phasiness and and chorusing

in the original track so i added more

chorus to all of the vocals now so all

of the vocals are kind of wider and

chorusing this is without the chorus i

took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right and now with i

took her out

it was a friday night i don't work alone

you see the mix is at 12 so it's just a

touch of course just a touch then glue

compressor to glue all of these doubles

and the main vocals together and

compress everything a little bit more as

well i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right now here i'm

being more aggressive with a 5db gain

reduction for sure i'm really trying to

squash those vocals up to the level of a

mainstream release from nowadays so yeah

squashing a little bit more squashing

your vocals in different stages of your

mix is also a great idea so you don't

just completely kill one solo compressor

right you have multiple compressors

doing a little bit of work next step

more eq because i thought when i

listened to the original track it had

even more presence than mine so more

presents added here around 1k i took her

out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right

i took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling right and another

de-esser because i boosted high

frequencies again i compressed it again

the assets were bothering me so another

yes and that's it that's the main vocals

the vocals are being sent to three

effects returns the vox verb just a

bigger reverb you see down here a bigger

normal reverb just to give a bit of

ambience to the choruses and all that

stuff it's also being sent to a slap

delay now a slap delay it's almost like

a double but it's not because basically

the delay is so short that it's almost

just doubling your track just delaying

your main track a little bit and leaving

it under your ming vocal so i'm going to

show you how it sounds just a slap i

took her out

it was a friday night i work alone

to get the feeling it keeps your vocals

dry a slap delay it keeps it dry but

still gives it a bit of an ambience it

places your vocals in the real world but

it doesn't make them wet wet like reverb

does right it just gives them a little

bit of a touch of ambience there this is

just a reverb

[Music]

it's really low in the mix like this

song is dry this reverb just comes just

to give a bit of wetness in the chorus

but what really gives the chorus a boost

of wetness is this long delay right here

and again this is just the delay

plugging with this preset here dotted

eighth note this is the basic basic

basic delay that you hear in choruses

the dotted eighth notes it just works

you get this preset here in ableton live

in the delay section here delay c and

then little arrow again clean delay

dotted eighth note is the first one add

that to your choruses before you really

go deep into learning delays you can

just add this and send a little bit of

your vocals there during the courses and

you will make it sound like a chorus so

this is without any of these sends

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

but it's quite a dry song so the effects

returns are mixed quite quite quietly

there's a couple of places that i did

some automation i'm going to show you

here i do a reverb throw on this word tv

the vocals quite dry before this and

make it out and she took off my pants

but then i turned on the tv

all i did was automate the long reverb

sand at this point so if i show you here

there's this big big big thing here

going up this is my reverb throw just to

make the tv world a little bit more epic

just the tv word i think that happens in

the original song i cannot be sure again

but i think he does and i tried to copy

it a little bit there you go now this

song is not just main vocals right

because mark does some bv's and there's

a couple cool tricks in marksbv's they

come towards the end and the cool trick

about the mark bvs is that they have

kind of a radio vibe it's very common

for when you have a very busy vocal mix

if you want to have some ad-libs in

there or some different sprinkles of

vocals in there to make them radio

sounding that way they occupy a very

narrow band of frequencies and they

don't interfere so much with the main

vocals so this is what happens here if

you listen to this vocal just let me

solo it what's my age again what's my

age again you see they're quite thin and

radio sounding and distorted what i did

here is i did the same processing as all

of my vocals right here you see this is

the same chain that i have in my doubles

in my main vocals but then in the end i

added pedal to distort it and eq8 and

this is a band pass like a very extreme

band pass this is called like the

telephone voice or the radio voice

because these old telephones and old

radios they didn't cover the full range

of frequencies they had a very narrow

range of frequencies especially with the

little speakers they needed to make the

voice clear and not really care about

all of the rest so this is how you make

it kind of simulates that radio sound or

phone sound in ableton and you put a

little bit of distortion because those

crappy old speakers used to distort a

lot that's how you get the little radio

sound what's my age again what's my age

again and you probably heard it but i'm

using utility here to automate the

panning you can also use utility to

automate the penny which is cool which

is awesome yeah so the first phrase

comes out of the left so it's pulled all

the way to the left here and the other

face it's pulled all the way to the

right so that's what happens what's my

age again what's my age again and if you

listen to this in the mix you can really

hear it's just a detail but it makes all

of the difference

[Music]

[Applause]

it's really cool and it's the same basic

idea with these other vocals here

because in the very last chorus a new

vocal line comes in and it kind of

doubles with the little keyboard that i

talked about in the other video they

have this little backing vocal that adds

more harmonic content and adds more

melancholy into the song and it's really

cool it's my favorite favorite vocal of

the song because it's so sad and they

used a little radio trick but instead of

just doing a band pass on this one i

thought that it still sounded like it

had a lot of high end in there so i

didn't cut the highs just cut the lows

and lower them a little bit here so it's

a less extreme radio sound it doesn't

have the distortion for example but this

eq here this very extreme eq here and

this very extreme boost on the highs

here helps really it's separate from the

main vocals it gives it a different vibe

and it also has a lot more reverb

because it has to sound more epic it's a

very emotional very emotional emotional

vocals you're going to hear it now let's

first hear it solo'd

[Music]

please with me please sounds kind of

horrible on its own but when you put it

in the mix it's awesome

[Music]

there you go really cool i love those

vocals and lastly tom the long that the

launch himself does some backing vocals

in the song the most iconic backing

vocals in pop punk history and i tried

to do them and i'm not gonna lie it was

hard these backing vocals are really

high for me they're not meant for my

voice my voice is lower my voice is much

closer to mark's voice and this was hard

but i managed to kind of scream them out

they don't sound good but in there in

the mix it's all right okay

so i stacked them i stacked them because

i felt that they sounded more like a

crew of people than just tom on its own

and i also knew they were coming out of

both sides so i have one vocal coming

out a little bit from the right another

vocal coming out from the center another

vocal coming out a little bit from the

left and another vocal coming out of the

center so four stacks of vocals makes

everything a little bit thicker a little

bit more groupy i would say and it's

really cool this is how they sound

soloed please don't judge me i was doing

my best okay

vocals quite wet this one using the same

same returns from the other tracks but

the group of these vocals is just being

sent strongly to the delay and to the

reverb and all that stuff

[Music]

[Applause]

you see they're not as wide as the

guitars but they're a little bit wider

than the main vocal and that's what i

was trying to get and that's it for

vocals i can't believe we did it one

more time we've reached the end of

another important step of our journey

towards reverse engineering the song the

next step is gonna be automation and

mastering it's a pretty cool pretty cool

episode so make sure you watch it

subscribe so you get it and and you know

what press the little bell button as

well i never asked for that but press

the little bell button so you know when

you're going to be able to finish the

song with me thank you so much for

watching please press all the buttons

out there that helped me in this world

and i see you all next time

bye

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

with me