How do you get that "pro studio" sound....at home?

SmalltownJoe

New member
Hi All

I'm new here and know I have a TON of reading to do! It seems everytime I listen to a youtube video the quality is amazing, they get tht "pro studio" sound. This gilr for example, I heard earlier and she says she records at home with simple gear: YouTube


And here's me: YouTube


I always have a "hollow" sound, like "not warm" if you know what I mean?


Is it really possible to get a great sound at home?
 
First off...she's done several albums, so I'm sure even if she really is doing it all at home by herself, she's got some experience with recording under her belt.

Second...you're sitting in a bare-walled room...and that's going to add to your "hollow" sound. You need a better room or do some acoustic treatment in that room. Looks like you're in the kitchen (?)...try moving out to the living room where there some carpet anc couches, it will help with "warming" up the tone of the room.

Third...you're recording with the the mic(s) positioned at a distance, and that too will make things sound thin, hollow.

You should try recording tracks individually....focus on the just the guitars, and then do the vocals so you can get closer to the mic.
 
Big + 1. Most of the time what we're fighting at home is the sound of our home.

Like Miro says, there's a lot you can do to minimise this without actually altering anything.
Microphone choice, mic distance, position within the room, choice of room.

Recording in a nice sounding room is a great thing that's probably gradually being forgotten but, where that's not a choice, the goal is to make the room have the minimum possible affect on your recording.

Some guys make up permanent/semipermanent/portable panels using 4" rockwool or other dense insulation.
I have a few that I keep here. I just bring them out when I'm tracking and put them away again after.

If you look into that road, though, you do need density. Sheets/lightweight foam etc isn't going to do the same job.

Like Miro says, maybe you have a less lively room in your home?
If you have a packed bookshelf or densely filled wardrobe or closet, set up facing it and try that. It may absorb or diffuse quite a lot.
 
Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies! I record in a room off the living room (I'm in Spain we don't use carpets or rugs of any kind really here), cheers for the idea about the walls! Treatment needed then!

As for the distance, this is what all the big guys on YouTube say, "back up!, we don't listen to the guitar with our ear next to it" (Graham, recording revolution), same with singing "don't get too close to the mic! it gets boomy/too deep/etc etc"..... so it's better to be closer then?? I'll definitely try that!!!

Recording seperatly isn't really an option for me, my videos go to my busking blog "The Online Busker" so I much prefer to record all together....

I'm happy wth the gear I use, now I'm going to change the way I use it!! Thanks!
 
Hi Guys
As for the distance, this is what all the big guys on YouTube say, "back up!, we don't listen to the guitar with our ear next to it" (Graham, recording revolution), same with singing "don't get too close to the mic! it gets boomy/too deep/etc etc"..... so it's better to be closer then?? I'll definitely try that!!!

There is no set answer...it depends on the source, the room, the mic and the tone you are trying to achieve.

You don't want to be on to of the mic, but as you move closer to a mic, the tone will get a little fatter/beefier/warmer...if you get right on it, it will get muddy/bassy due to the proximity effect.

So you need to experiment with the different mics and find the best position.
For acoustic, there are many mic positions you can use to get different tones.
Experiment.

For the bare rooms...well, at best, try hanging some blankets on a wall or two...something to take out that hallow, reverberant tone from the bare room.
 
Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies! I record in a room off the living room (I'm in Spain we don't use carpets or rugs of any kind really here), cheers for the idea about the walls! Treatment needed then!

As for the distance, this is what all the big guys on YouTube say, "back up!, we don't listen to the guitar with our ear next to it" (Graham, recording revolution), same with singing "don't get too close to the mic! it gets boomy/too deep/etc etc"..... so it's better to be closer then?? I'll definitely try that!!!

Recording seperatly isn't really an option for me, my videos go to my busking blog "The Online Busker" so I much prefer to record all together....

I'm happy wth the gear I use, now I'm going to change the way I use it!! Thanks!


It's a trade off, like most things.

You can back away from the mic for a more balanced and faithful capture of your instrument, but you'll take in a lot of the room ambience too,
or you can get close to the mic and maybe have a less natural capture of the instrument, but it'll be drier and less tainted by the room.

What you really want is a room in which either option sounds nice. That's what you don't have. ;)

Using acoustic panels or some kind of treatment, or using any advantages that your rooms have, should let you find a middle ground.
 
As for the distance, this is what all the big guys on YouTube say, "back up!, we don't listen to the guitar with our ear next to it" (Graham, recording revolution), same with singing "don't get too close to the mic! it gets boomy/too deep/etc etc"..... so it's better to be closer then?? I'll definitely try that!!!

The big guys are right in the sense that (a) a room contributes significantly to the sound of an instrument, and many instruments do not sound very pleasant when close-miked, and (b) many microphones have a proximity effect which accentuates the bass when you are up close. However, because the room contributes significantly, you have to have a room that will work in your favour, not against. That is why studios invest so much in studio design.

However, you can get excellent results in an domestic room. Others above have given a range of useful suggestions. Heavy, bulky furniture and stuff to break up bare walls (e.g. rugs) will help reduce unwanted audio artefacts such as echoes and nodes.[/QUOTE]
 
Recording seperatly isn't really an option for me, my videos go to my busking blog "The Online Busker" so I much prefer to record all together....

I'm happy wth the gear I use, now I'm going to change the way I use it!! Thanks!


I kinda thought that might be the case. Though what threw me was that you showed yourself playing two guitar parts...so I thought maybe you were multi-tracking.

So...try this....set up one microphone positioned for your vocals, and the other microphone positioned for the guitar.
Yes....it can feel somewhat awkward at first trying to sing, play and maintain position for the two mics, but with a little practice it's not that hard.
Start by finding a good position for one thing...guitar or vocal...and then once you have that postion/tone to your liking, dial the other mic position in.
It might take a bunch of test passes...but once you get them both dialed in, remember the recipe, and stick to it.

By using two mics, once for each purpose, you will have a better "mix" of both guitar and vocals.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I have a lt to work on now! You've done a good job of welcoming the new guy to the forum, well apart from that one sarcastic pendejo, but I guess there's one or two on every forum
 
As for the distance, this is what all the big guys on YouTube say, "back up!, we don't listen to the guitar with our ear next to it" (Graham, recording revolution), same with singing "don't get too close to the mic! it gets boomy/too deep/etc etc"..... so it's better to be closer then?? I'll definitely try that!!!

Recording seperatly isn't really an option for me, my videos go to my busking blog "The Online Busker" so I much prefer to record all together....

One other thought on this...the track you posted by Elle Carpenter is clearly recorded with lots of separate tracks and lots of close miking. I suspect it also has some MIDI instruments. Remember it's incredibly rare that the sound for music videos is recorded while they shoot the video. It's almost always miming.

The "back up for a more natural sound" only works when you're in a space that naturally sounds nice. This doesn't have to be a studio--some of the best guitar I've recorded was in the concrete and brick staircase of the four story building where we had our studios. No guarantee it would work in a different stairwell--but never be afraid to experiment.

A second weird thought...since you mention busking, have you tried recording outside? Practically guaranteed to have no hollow room noise--and if you get background sounds like birds singing and leaves rustling, it will suddenly fit in rather than distract.
 
I think next time I record something, I'm going to one of the treated rehearsal rooms we have in the city, couple hours for €20, and see how I do there..

Cheers
Joe
 
To comment on the Elle video. That was recorded at a professional (or at least semi-pro) studio.
The dude has a portfolio:
"d organization studios" at DuckDuckGo

So this means that she's working with rooms that sound good, a reasonable mic locker, multi-tracking and VSTs as needed, and an experienced producer and engineer. Those are all things you're going to need to get a professional sound. (Obviously, you don't need to use a separate studio or other people to get those, but you'll have to be aware of and work on all those aspects)
 
To comment on the Elle video. That was recorded at a professional (or at least semi-pro) studio.
The dude has a portfolio:
"d organization studios" at DuckDuckGo

So this means that she's working with rooms that sound good, a reasonable mic locker, multi-tracking and VSTs as needed, and an experienced producer and engineer. Those are all things you're going to need to get a professional sound. (Obviously, you don't need to use a separate studio or other people to get those, but you'll have to be aware of and work on all those aspects)

Right...and I think sometimes that is misrepresented on places like Youtube or the interwebs (either accidentally or intentionally)...so then you have some newb sitting in some closet, or his bedroom with just your typical closet/room furnishing, and wondering why things don't sound as good.
 
Right...and I think sometimes that is misrepresented on places like Youtube or the interwebs (either accidentally or intentionally)...so then you have some newb sitting in some closet, or his bedroom with just your typical closet/room furnishing, and wondering why things don't sound as good.

Yeah I guess that's right dude, I suppose it's not the best to even think about getting results like that at home. "Competing" with others on YouTube is crazy really, I mean, there's those others, what are they called..."Boyce Avenue" or something, they sound like they have lots of expensive gear and engineers behind them, whereas I have a couple cheap mics and a laptop ha!

Oh well, I'll keep playing anyway
 
I'd guess that is a condenser microphone. Those things pick up a lot of crap, if you let it. Crap is sound bouncing off of untreated walls and other surfaces and coming back to muff up your nice clean studio sound. Maybe setup a little temporary mic booth, like somebody already mentioned. If you can't find a closet with a lot of clothes in it, maybe rig up an area where you can hang blankets around you, making sure there are no open areas to let the room sound filter in. Thick blankets all around and even on top, that will stop any of the room from coming in. Then it's just you, the guitar and that condenser mic.

That screen on the mic is so you can get closer to it, with your vocals. Don't get too close, but there is a distance that will sound great. Experiment. If you have to do both guitar and vocal at the same time, see if you can get another mic on the guitar. Same blankets, same recording booth effect, and you might get a sweet spot for that sound, too. The thing is, no background noise for that condenser to pick up, leaving just your voice and your guitar in a clean recording.

You are limited with your setup, if you must track both guitar and vocal at the same time. Ideally, that's rarely done. There's bleed from vocal in the guitar track and bleed from guitar in the vocal. So, you can't adjust either track after being recorded, without affecting the other. That puts more pressure on you to get it perfect the first time, limiting you even more.

Experiment and experiment. Move the mic up, move the mic down, closer to you or closer to the guitar. When you are limited in your situation, that's just hurdle to overcome. Deal with the room, first, then experiment with mic placement, next. One thing at a time, and you will eventually come up with a situation that doesn't sound too bad.
 
One thing that didn't get mentioned about the first video is how competent and tasteful the accompanying instruments are. When people play very well, recording always works better and is far easier. And the arrangement is very accomplished as well. When drummers play with an ear towards the correct balances between snare, hat, kick, etc, it practically mixes itself. The more you record, while trying to do it as well as you can and making honest self-appraisal about it without beating yourself up, the better you get at it.
 
great comparison and good examples of a "pro" HR and a "common" HR.

first I noticed was the "pro" was almost mono.
first I noticed on the OP, REM tune, was the swashing delay/chorus spread. It didnt sound horrible at all, but its not the level as the "pro" one. More stereo-ish and not really the same gear.

video theatre mtv mini-shows for all songs maybe?...as if recording music wasnt hard enough with a Do It All Yourself...geez.
I wonder if you played your REM tune with some video footage of REM and whatever playing wouldnt create more "pro" vibe too.

personally I didnt think the "pro" video/recording was that super impressive. its not in the super polished level of Adele or McCartney imo..... but its better than anything Ive done (which isnt sayin much).....

but how to make yours better seems to start with the room suggestions above, maybe get some compression going to get some more leveling done, check the mono mix that will magnify the frequency blurs, which is an old tried and true trick.... maybe get some hot young chic in your video! lol
 
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