Ladies and gentlemen we have a clipper....

bigwillz24

New member
So I'm recording this rapper and i set the levels to get to good feed into Cubase.

Problem is he has no mic technique at all. and every couple words or so he will go into the red...

Things i've tried:

Riding the gain: Impossible cause he clipss every couple of words.

Turning down the mic: No he sounds like hes standing 50 feet away from the mic. no good.

Throwing a compresser on the insert panel while recording him. Great idea I think if I knew how to properly set the compresser...

Any ideas on how to tame the clipper?
 
Beat him with a stick?

Really there isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do if he clips that much and backing off the gain sounds bad... See if you can beat it into his head that he has GOT to stay more even on his level, even if he has to practice it on his own for a while.
 
sile2001 said:
Beat him with a stick?

Really there isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do if he clips that much and backing off the gain sounds bad... See if you can beat it into his head that he has GOT to stay more even on his level, even if he has to practice it on his own for a while.


LOL.... Don't know about that...

I mean the guy is 3 times my size...

He could be a wrestler if he decides to give up on music.

I'd have to do it in a more open space than what I got that way I can clock him upside the head as hard as I can and if he doesn't fall over I have room to run :D
 
Do you have a hardware compressor? If you do, insert it between the preamp and the converters. Try setting it at 4/1 -10 threshold, medium attack and release.

If it's still bad, take the output of the first channel on the compressor and connect it to the input of the other channel on the compressor. Set the second channel to 10/1, -1 threshold with fast attack and release settings.
 
If you don't have a hardware compressor, your screwed. By the time any software can do anything to it, you have already clipped the converters.
 
Sile2001
Im working in a aprtment bedroom using the closet as a makeshift booth.

Fairview
Nope don't have a hardware compresser might put it on my X-mas list.
 
So that homie is bringing the hotness eh? :)

Set a hardware compressor at a 20:1 or greater ratio somewhere around -3db. Zero makeup gain. If he gets thru that, lower the threshold to -6db.
 
Take the hard option. All professionals need to learn their craft - if he wants to be a rapper then he's going to need to learn how to get his words down onto a recording medium using the available technology.

No point having no mic technique - he just needs to learn it - as much for live applications as for studio - try all the compression suggestions but ultimately you'll be doing him a favour.

Good luck.
 
I'm with Armstice. If he wants to be a rapper, and have a decent sounding album, he has to learn how to do it properly. I've recorded a few rap albums lately, and I'm starting to find it really annoying that they think they all know everything they need to know, and that they don't need to practice. But rapping is just like any instrument. You need to practice it in order to get the best sound.

At least warn them. That way if they're not happy with the sound of the recording you've covered your butt. You told them it would happen.
 
willz. an old studio technique in this situation is to use two mics.
one (any garbage mic you dont care about) for him to hand hold.
then the good mic on a stand shielded from the client by a pop screen.
record the goodmic. sometimes this can work well.
other than that i'm out of ideas.
 
manning1 said:
willz. an old studio technique in this situation is to use two mics.
one (any garbage mic you dont care about) for him to hand hold.
then the good mic on a stand shielded from the client by a pop screen.
record the goodmic. sometimes this can work well.
other than that i'm out of ideas.

Sounds like a cool idea if a hardware comp. isn't available. I'll have to remember that. You could just say the mic he's not holding is for "ambience" while it's actually recording.
 
warble said:
Sounds like a cool idea if a hardware comp. isn't available. I'll have to remember that. You could just say the mic he's not holding is for "ambience" while it's actually recording.

Just make sure you DON'T tell him that the one he's holding isn't really plugged in :D
 
Just keep the gain really low so he doesn't clip, and add big-ass compression in the software. Then normalize. Your noise floor won't make anyone happy but at least you got a somewhat even signal with some volume. It's really workaround though...and not a very good one.
 
sile2001 said:
Just make sure you DON'T tell him that the one he's holding isn't really plugged in :D

LOL. Yeah, prob. not a good idea. I'd guess that he'd get more into it if he was kinda in "performance" mode and doing what he'd do on stage.
 
I have to say I like Manning's idea. Tell him that the way he swallows the mic makes him look like he's giving a blowjob. He'll piss and moan, but he'll back off- a little. You can tell him the unplugged mic is one of those new fangled wireless jobs... Then compress the shit out of him. How to use it? Set the threshold fairly high and the ratio up way high, 10:1 should do it. Use a fast attack and a fast release.-Richie
 
the problem ive seen is people seem to do better vocals when they are comfortable. ive tried taking the "comfort garbage mic " away and the performance seems to worsen as particularly clients who are used to
the emotion of stage work like to "handle the mic".
so with respect i still think the solution is the comfort mic approach.
your client will be more relaxed this way and probably give a better result.
 
manning1 said:
the problem ive seen is people seem to do better vocals when they are comfortable. ive tried taking the "comfort garbage mic " away and the performance seems to worsen as particularly clients who are used to
the emotion of stage work like to "handle the mic".
so with respect i still think the solution is the comfort mic approach.
your client will be more relaxed this way and probably give a better result.

Yeh, a vocalist needs to be comfortable to give a great performance. if he's used to singing in a live situation it's a bit unrealistic to expect him to change his style a lot in the studio, especialy if he's inexperienced in studio work.

No point avoiding clipping and getting just a mediocre performance recorded is there?

I'd say compression and maybe a limiter is the answer as others have suggested.
 
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