If she was moving around, the phase effect will be changing, as you observed. This will be difficult to correct, but it's probably possible if you spend enough time on it. It will be tough to do this, because you'll have to time-stretch the tracks at the points where the change happens. And if she moved around enough, there could be dozens of these points. Eventually it may become a losing battle. (This is as difficult as fixing a drum track where the drummer drifts in and out of time!)

The obvious suggestion is to just record more takes, with greater care toward engineering. If you were charging for your time, she'd go broke. Call this what it originally was: a simple documentation take. The fact that it was a great vocal was an accident; accept it and continue performing. Next time, plan from the start to make it a keeper.

If she's a good vocalist, she'll get another great take. It may not happen for a while (or for several sessions), but it'll happen again.

Consider this: if she has poor mike technique, you'll never be able to make decent progress on a "keeper" recording: she'll move around and you'll hear it in the track. Have her use this as a lesson in the importance of careful mike technique. This skill is almost as important as her ability to sing and play. With this philosophy, you've both learned quite a bit from the recording.

rick,

Good advices.

My motto is: If you did it once you can do it again.

I find it helps to say this confidently whether you believe it or not. The (false) confidence tends to rub off on the performers.

Say it as if its a rule that everyone in music already knows.

JM

I'll give it my best effort to salvage the recording. I think it's possible. There are only a few places where the phase changes, and I think it's a result of good mic technique, as she was likely moving a way from the mic in the louder sections. She's a pro, though when she plays guitar things sometimes get weird. I think in all likelyhood she could do it again just as nicely, but she really loves this version, so making it work would really save a lot of grief.

I have learned the same valuable lesson twice in the past month. Never treat any recording as anything less than record quality. I should have been paying better attention because you just never know when the magic's gonna happen.

The other thing that happened was that we got a song that we wrote and recorded placed on Suzanne Vega's 9/11 Vigil album, a relief project. I had submitted a demo, made in 1/2 hours time, which was accepted, and subsequently recorded a final version for the CD from scratch. When we got a copy of the release we discovered that the scratch version had been used instead of the final!! I almost had a stroke. The mistake will be fixed, but a few thousand CDs with the demo version are out there.

Never again (famous last words). From now on, everything I record is a potential record.

Dan

I was thinking about getting one of those things you put your head into for x-rays of your teeth. It clamps your head into place so you can't move, resting your chin on a plastic mold.

Then setting up the mic in front of that so vocalist can't move an inch. Then wiring a low voltage electrical circut to them, giving them a mild shock everytime they start to sing to loud.

This should reduce any potential phase problems.

Sounds sensible.