End To End
There are several other reasons why Harrell likes to work in a studio with the artist on the other side of the studio window. "Sometimes I have the artist next to me in the room, and we will work with headphones on. But I don't like working like that, because I prefer to hear things on the monitors, so I get the true sound. The other advantage is that the artist can see me through the glass, and they can see how I respond to their singing. I'm not just sitting there just pressing buttons, I am just as much into the performance as they are. They can see me moving and reacting, and they feed off that. It helps to encourage and inspire them.
Kuk counts Little Mix among the many big names he's worked with.
"When recording the vocals, I like to start at the beginning of the song, and keep plugging away until we get to the end of the record. That gives a natural feel. Every song has a natural ebb and a flow, with places where it opens up and peaks and dies down again, and if you do one section and then go back to do another section, it will sound pieced together. But if you start from the beginning of the song and go along with the emotional ride the way it's supposed to be, then the right emotions will be there at the right moments. If everything is going great, you should be able to cut the lead vocals in an hour and a half. If it takes a lot longer than that, it means that there are many other elements to record, like backing vocals and so on.
"For the most part I am comping the vocals as we go along. I'm recording in Playlists [in Pro Tools], but I'm listening closely the entire time for what the comp is going to be. That is part of my expertise. I know when the take has the right feeling. I know what the right performance is for each line. I know what I am listening for, when the performance has magic. While they are singing, it's not so much about taking physical notes, it's more about making mental notes, and being in tune with what I know is right. Once I know that I have the magic, and five or 10 options to swap different inflections, if needed, I move on. I don't want to bore the artist by asking them to do one part 50 times. That keeps the momentum going. The artist feels excited, and by the time we are done, they say: 'Man, I have never done a session where we got so much great information, and it did not take forever to do.'"
Keeping The Show On The Road
This all sounds very straightforward, but surely there occasionally are rocks on the road. What does he do when a session does not produce the result he's after? "Nothing crazy," insists Harrell. "If a singer in the booth has a rhythmic part to sing, or something that's kind of aggressive, and they're standing with their hands in their pockets, I will ask them to take their hands out of their pockets and say: 'To get a great performance you need to use your whole body!' If you stand stiff, your vocal will sound stagnant. You need to feel every note, every breath.
"I don't have artists jumping or running around, I just watch their body language in the booth, and encourage them to use their entire body. I let them know that this is their moment to shine. If it's a new artist, they need to convey superstardom right now, on this record, otherwise they may never be successful. It's not like years ago when you could put out three albums before you got people's attention. This is the age of social media, your first record is going around the world right away, and if people don't like it, you're dead in the water.
"Of course, it happens that an artist has an off-day. That is where my expertise comes in and my people skills come into play. I have done many records where you don't have any choice but to cut it the day the session is booked, and as the vocal producer I am the encourager: 'I hear what you are saying, but you're going to be fine. Let's try it. Let's just jump in for a few minutes, and see what we can cut.' They see that I am there for them, and they begin to forget whatever is bothering them, and begin to relax.
"Outside stuff should not stop them from doing what they're in the studio to do. We're there to create magic, so let's get on with it. It's the same thing with a star sportsman who has a game to play: even though he or she may not be feeling good, he still has to perform. Very occasionally things really are not happening, and this usually is for one or two reasons. The first is that the artist doesn't know the song as well as they need to. I always encourage the artist to make sure they know the song well enough before coming into the studio. And sometimes an artist really has a bad day, and it's not working. If I feel that we are doing more harm than creating something great, I'll speak with the artist first, and then I'll check with the A&R and label to see if there's time to shift it to another day."
Lane Management
There's a fashion to vocal sounds, which changes with time. Some of that is down to individual singers, but a lot also comes from the way (vocal) producers and mixers stylise the vocals. "I don't teach singers technical skills," elaborates Harrell, "like breath control or using the diaphragm. Instead I teach singers the production aspect of vocals. Justin Bieber is one example. He has a great natural ability to sing, but he turned into the vocalist he is now because he was able to incorporate the stylisations I taught him from when I first worked with him, when he was 14. As a vocal producer I might suggest to sing a line with more breathe, or more edge, depending on what that line calls for. It's a give and take of our talents to come together and create something magical."
These days vocals are stylised to be exceptionally bright, and perfectly in tune. How does Harrell react to the style changes over time? "What keeps a producer relevant is his ability to stay current, to be able to recognise what's going on, and adapt to that. I have to know what's going on, and how to do it. I am able to do EDM, pop, R&B, jazz, country, I can do whatever, and use the required techniques in each genre. I look at the different genres as lanes, and each lane involves a craft. If there's a lane I don't want to do, I don't do it. But you have to evolve. It's not just with music, it's with everything. You have to evolve with the times.
"My biggest thing is balance of life. After a session I go home to my family. I am really happy that success didn't happen for me until later in life, because I know the value of balance in life. I spent my teens and early adult years living in studios and grinding. Then, when I wrote one of the biggest songs of the decade, 'Umbrella', we were not grinding to make that happen. It just happened. That served as a great model for me, the idea that things can happen without you needing to give up your life for it. Instead it's all about the mindset, and the heart set, and being able to connect with people. If you let that be at the forefront, everything else will come together."
Don't Call It A McJob!
Among his many formative influences, Kuk Harrell highlights the time he spent working for McDonald's, where he eventually became store manager. "I learnt tons of people skills there, and I was responsible for something that is renowned around the world. When young people are reluctant to work at a place like McDonald's, I tell them that they are short-changing themselves, because they can learn to interact with people, and also learn the value of systems. The success of McDonald's is all based on systems. They do the same thing for every item that they have around the world. Working there taught me how to become the entrepreneur that I am today."
Engineering & Editing
"I engineer my own sessions because, for me, having an engineer is an unnecessary extra step," says Kuk Harrell. "If I have to tell someone what to do, it slows things down. When I am at the controls, I can control the pace of a session immediately, and adjust that to where the artist is at. My preferred signal chain to record vocals with is the Sony C800 going into a Neve 1081 mic pre and then the Tube-Tech Cl-1B [compressor]. The C800 is great because vocals are very bright and in-your-face today, and it has a very high-level output, which I like. It has that bright pop tone, which you can dull down somewhat, but it just is really transparent. If the C800 is a little too bright for a particular vocalist, I'll use the Telefunken ELA M251, which also has a high-level output. I use the Cl-1B to add colour. From there I go straight into Pro Tools, if possible at a higher resolution, because it is where we are right now. I can hear the difference.
"In the box I also keep it really simple. I hate seeing sessions with hundreds of plug-ins. But if the record is a success, who can judge that? But I know that for me, one of the keys is simplicity. So I always do the same thing. I have Antares Auto-Tune if the artist likes it, and then the Waves Renaissance six-band EQ, rolling off some low end, adding a bit of mid-range, dropping some high mids, and adding some high end, to give it more sparkle, and the Renaissance Compressor. Then I'll add a Renaissance Reverb medium hall reverb, and Digirack Mod Delay a quarter note/half note ping-pong delay. That is for monitoring, to give it space in the headphones, and for me to make it sound like a record. The artist is hearing exactly what I'm hearing in the room, so they feel like they are in the record.
"After the vocal session I go in and edit. I start with timing. It's all based on feel, and being knowledgeable about the genre you're dealing with. Some things need to be right on the beat, whereas with R&B it needs to be kind of behind the beat. After that I tune. The final version may have Melodyne, if it needs it. For me, Melodyne sounds more natural than Auto-Tune. It's not as jerky and you can dial in the bends and stretch things and make things pitch-perfect, if that is what the record calls for. I've done many records with Auto-Tune, but the way I do it, it does not have that Auto–Tune sound. I like the vocals to have a natural vibe. But some records are all about the Auto-Tune vibe, so then you do make it show.
"My work after the vocal session can happen in a day, or a couple of days. It depends on how fast the record needs to be turned around. I do all the stuff like vocal reverbs and delays while cutting the vocal, and after timing and tuning I do a rough mix, and that then goes to the mixer. The mix engineer will take all the info I send, including the plug-ins, and will build on that. I do a final mix now and again — it depends on the artist. When I send the session to the mix engineer, the vocal sound is what it is supposed to be, and also because of my reputation, they don't change it, but just enhance it. They add their magic and expertise."