Singer-Songwriter Recording
Singer-songwriter sessions are about capturing the essence of the material: your voice and your instrument without layers of production obscuring the song. GoatHead Audio records singer-songwriters with the same attention to detail as full band sessions, scaled to the intimacy of solo performance.
How It Works
We set up at your location. For voice and acoustic guitar, we typically use two mics: one on the vocal and one on the instrument. Each goes to its own channel so we can mix them independently.
You play through your songs. Take as many passes as you need. We can also overdub. Lay down the guitar first, then sing over it, or vice versa. Whatever workflow suits the material.
Building Up
Many singer-songwriters start with voice and guitar, then add layers: harmonies, a second guitar part, maybe some percussion. We can track these as overdubs in the same session. The multitrack setup handles additional instruments without any workflow change.
The song starts simple and you build as much or as little as you want.
Getting the Vocal Right
For a singer-songwriter, the vocal is the song. We choose the mic to suit your voice and the room, usually the Shure SM7B for a close, controlled sound that rejects reflections, or a condenser when you want more air and detail. A pop filter and a consistent distance keep plosives and level even.
We set a comfortable headphone mix, because a singer who hears themselves clearly performs better, and we track several full passes so we can comp the strongest lines into one confident take. Doubles and harmonies go down as overdubs once the lead is right.
Voice and Guitar Together or Separate
There are two ways to track voice and guitar, and the song decides. Performing them together captures the natural push and pull of a live take, with a mic on each so they stay on separate channels; the tradeoff is some bleed that limits how far each can be processed on its own.
Tracking them separately, guitar first to a click or scratch vocal, then the vocal on top, gives total control in the mix at the cost of some spontaneity. We will recommend an approach based on the material and how you like to play.