Everyone is doing their own demos these days. I personally think this is one of the greatest things to happen to record making, the one problem I have is that often can barely understand or listen to the vocals recorded on many GarageBand or cheaply done demos. After the jump I will give you ten quick pointers that you may have missed that can help your vocals greatly, making it easier for all of us to listen to your demo.
1. Less Bass, Not More Treble - A general rule that everyone can follow for any voice of any type is that before you add any treble make sure that you have taken away all the bass that you don't need in the mix. When the vocal starts to sound to thin than you have gone too far. Only after you have gotten rid of all of the bass that you do not need should you even consider turning up the treble on your vocal.
2. If You Recorded With A Cheap Condenser, You Probably Don't Need To Add Treble - We have all heard demos with ear biting treble on the vocal. The fact is most cheap condenser mics are designed with a HUGE treble boost. Just like I advised above, get rid of all of the bass first and be extremely cautious adding any treble if you used a Condenser priced under $500, since most of them have a great amount of high end hype.
3. Turn The Reverb Decay Down - One of the biggest annoyances in demos that I get is a reverb that is so long it sounds like you recorded it in a cathedral. Most reverb programs have a decay knob, play with it a bit. Always go with shorter than longer when making a mix decision, we will all thank you for this later.
4. Turn The Reverb Down As Low As You Can Take It - I know in some indie rock circles everyone is falling in love with reverb but unless you are cranking up the verb as an aesthetic, err on the side of having it to loud rather than too loud.
5. Unless You Are Going For The T-Pain Sound Use Auto-Tune In Graphical Mode - I have news for you, it takes about an hour or two of reading or watching YouTubes to learn how to use AutoTune decently. If you want your vocals to not sound like every hip-hop song on the radio today, please switch to graphical mode and take one hour to learn how to use it.
6. Pop Filters Aren't Always Enough - Even when you buy some of the super expensive pop filters out there it does not mean that all your pop will be cured. Vocalists can still pop P's and kill our ears when we listen to your demo. If you turn down the bass on the vocal and have already applied a HPF to the vocal and you are still hearing a huge P, please punch it in.
7. Keep Your Mic Pre Gain Low - Unless you are going for a distorted gritty sound don't aim to get the waveform and level high. Keep it as low as possible and adjust it later with compression and fader volume. This will keep your vocal clear and from picking up lots of noise in your room.
8. Reverb Isn't The Only Effect - Try slapback delays, and quiet delays for giving your vocal some ambiance. As well reverb settings with really short decay times (150-350 ms) can do a great deal for keeping a vocal dry and up front without it sounding dry and cold.
9. If You Can't Hit The Notes Program A MIDI Track To Sing Along To - Keep in mind demos are often practice to get good at singing in the studio. If you are having trouble hitting notes, singing along to a keyboard playing their melody can do worlds of good for your pitch and intonation. It only takes a few minutes to play your melody in and have a great pitch reference.
10. When Tweaking The Mix Keep In Mind That You May Need To Tweak The Other Instruments To Make The Vocal Work - I probably spend most of my time mixing getting the other instruments out of the way of the vocal. Keep in mind the sound of the vocal is very much determined by what is eating it up in the mix. If you are having trouble with your vocal sound try EQing and changing levels on other instruments.
Showing posts with label about. Show all posts
Showing posts with label about. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Saturday, 12 November 2016
All About Mic Placement For Home Recording Acoustic Guitar
There are many types of microphones, but the most popular type for recording acoustic guitar is the cardioid condenser mic. Inexpensive models such as the Audio-Technica AT2020 or AT2021 start at under $100. If your budget allows, consider popular models like the Shure SM81 or Neumann KM 184. High-end mics can easily cost thousands of dollars. Cardioid mics are usually best for home recording, because they pick up sound primarily from the front and reject sound from the rear, reducing noise and limiting the effect of poor room acoustics. When choosing a mic, be sure it works with the rest of your gear. Condenser mics use XLR cables and require phantom power, which can be supplied by your preamp or computer interface. You can use dynamic mics, which don't require power, but condensers are usually preferred for recording guitar, because they're significantly more sensitive and accurate.
Stereo recording with two mics is a popular way to record acoustic guitar, but you might begin by experimenting with a single microphone. A mono recording often works well when mixed with other instruments, but even if you're recording solo guitar, it's useful to learn how to use one mic before moving on to stereo. A good initial location is the spot where the guitar neck joins the body, about a foot away from the guitar. One way to fine-tune the placement is to listen to headphones while you move the mic around, but headphones can be misleading. You'll probably get a more realistic idea of the sound by recording a short example, and listening back through your speakers.
You can make substantial changes to the way your guitar sounds on the recording simply by moving the mic small distances. You can also try entirely different mic locations—other good starting spots are behind or below the bridge and centered in front of the guitar, but raised above the soundhole. (Directly in front of the soundhole almost never works.)
The distance between the mic and the guitar also has an effect on the sound. In an ideal acoustic environment, you might get a great sound with the mics as much as three feet away.
But in home recording, you often have to place the mics much closer to eliminate undesirable effects of the room. Cardioid mics have a characteristic known as proximity effect” that creates a deeper, bassier sound as you move the mic closer to a sound source. The effect generally begins at about 16 inches. As you move closer, the sound will be more direct and have more bass. Experiment to see what distance works best in your room and with your guitar. You can also experiment with the angle of the mic. For example, turning a mic in toward the soundhole should produce more bass, while turning it away will produce less.
If the guitar is to be featured prominently in your final mix, you may want to record in stereo, using two mics. One common setup, known as X/Y, uses two mics placed so that the capsules are as close together as possible, and angled at 90 degrees. For X/Y miking you can try the same locations we discussed for mono. There are mic holders designed specifically for X/Y that allow you to place both mics on one stand, which allows for easier positioning.
You can achieve a more spacious sound with a technique known as spaced pairs.” There are many variations to this approach, but a common starting point is to place one mic where the neck joins the body and a second mic near the lower bout behind the bridge (see photo). There are many other common mic patterns, but few hard-and-fast rules, so don't be afraid to experiment
Stereo recording with two mics is a popular way to record acoustic guitar, but you might begin by experimenting with a single microphone. A mono recording often works well when mixed with other instruments, but even if you're recording solo guitar, it's useful to learn how to use one mic before moving on to stereo. A good initial location is the spot where the guitar neck joins the body, about a foot away from the guitar. One way to fine-tune the placement is to listen to headphones while you move the mic around, but headphones can be misleading. You'll probably get a more realistic idea of the sound by recording a short example, and listening back through your speakers.
You can make substantial changes to the way your guitar sounds on the recording simply by moving the mic small distances. You can also try entirely different mic locations—other good starting spots are behind or below the bridge and centered in front of the guitar, but raised above the soundhole. (Directly in front of the soundhole almost never works.)
The distance between the mic and the guitar also has an effect on the sound. In an ideal acoustic environment, you might get a great sound with the mics as much as three feet away.
But in home recording, you often have to place the mics much closer to eliminate undesirable effects of the room. Cardioid mics have a characteristic known as proximity effect” that creates a deeper, bassier sound as you move the mic closer to a sound source. The effect generally begins at about 16 inches. As you move closer, the sound will be more direct and have more bass. Experiment to see what distance works best in your room and with your guitar. You can also experiment with the angle of the mic. For example, turning a mic in toward the soundhole should produce more bass, while turning it away will produce less.
If the guitar is to be featured prominently in your final mix, you may want to record in stereo, using two mics. One common setup, known as X/Y, uses two mics placed so that the capsules are as close together as possible, and angled at 90 degrees. For X/Y miking you can try the same locations we discussed for mono. There are mic holders designed specifically for X/Y that allow you to place both mics on one stand, which allows for easier positioning.
You can achieve a more spacious sound with a technique known as spaced pairs.” There are many variations to this approach, but a common starting point is to place one mic where the neck joins the body and a second mic near the lower bout behind the bridge (see photo). There are many other common mic patterns, but few hard-and-fast rules, so don't be afraid to experiment
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