The vocals in 1979 are one of the most distinctive aspects of the track, and the recording process used on them, as well as the vocals on the rest of the album that features it will be influential in choosing how I record vocals on this EP.

In terms of capturing the vocals, Flood, one of the producers of 1979 along with Alan Moulder, discovered that “Corgan was a much better singer pitch-wise when he didn’t use headphones, so he switched Corgan up to a Shure SM58 and had him sing in front of open speakers” (emusician.com)

An SM58 is a highly accessible microphone that is regularly used for performing vocals live however isn’t as orthodox in a studio. They are popular microphones for live performance due to their ruggedness and ability to cut plosives from the sound, delivering a clean tone. However in a studio environment, most producers will prefer to use a condenser mic, with a pop-shield to remove plosives. This is because condenser microphones are more adept at capturing nuance and a range of differing tones from the human voice than a dynamic mic.

I will consider using an SM58 when recording vocals, particularly during group vocal sections or in tracks with an aggressive singing style.

As you can hear in the ‘vocals only’ video at the bottom of this entry, there are certain sections in 1979, mainly in choruses where there are two (more in places) backing vocal takes panned hard left and right to create space. This is a common technique for the mixing of backing vocals and allows the lead vocals to remain dominant. The central lead vocals in the track are without any noticeable form of distortion but they are compressed. I will use these techniques when recording and mixing vocals on the EP.

http://www.emusician.com/gear/1332/signal-to-noise-the-sonic-diary-of-the-smashing-pumpkins/40242

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbDKRbVrz-c