China Girl

  • Artist: David Bowie
  • Album: Let's Dance
  • Label: EMI
  • Year: 1983
  • Producer: Nile Rodgers, David Bowie
  • Engineer: Nile Rodgers, Bob Clearmountain
  • Studio: Power Stations (now Avatar, New York)

Notes:
Flange + Echo
When she says,

    "Shhhhhhhhh"

the vocal gets a decorative bit of flanging, plus echo. Whispers, like falsetto vocals, can be too weak to cut through a mix. If it's the lead vocal, it needs to sit above the rest of the multitrack arrangement, audible and inviting everyone to sing along -- to shhhhhhhh along. In Bob Clearmountain's ear-grabbing mix, these effects give it enough added strength and interest to succeed.


Sources

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