newbie help required

[Psi2000a]

Hi everyone.

I would be grateful for any help. I want to record therapy cds that require a voice with background music and mabey the odd sound effect. I have used cool edit pro in the past and got "reasonable" results. It sounded ok until it was mixed down and a lot wors when burnt to cd.

I want to produce professional CDs to market. I am guessing they need to be "passable" quality rather than high quality music.

The question is what additional equipment should I buy if any. And why is the burnt mixdown so bad quality?

I want to achieve the best quality possible without buying any equipment thats not nessessary.

Any help would be warmly appreciated

Brian

[AGCurry]

Well, if it sounded okay before it was mixed down, then the problem must be in the mixing. Right?

Did you do the mixing? Was it mastered after it was mixed? If the CD sounds worse than the mix, then I'm guessing it was mastered. Mastering a bad mix often can make things worse, not better. The CD ought to sound JUST LIKE what was burned on it.

Voice over background music and sound effects requires putting each element in a space. The spoken voice is typically front and center, while the other elements are farther away and/or to the sides. That's what your mix needs to do for you.

[vacant]

what format did u mix it down to, If it is
mp3 then need to make a .wav file. you might
also want to consider getting an mbox its fairly
cheap and shoul suit ur needs.

[Kevin Deschwazi]

How do you get everything into CEP at the moment?

[Psi2000a]

It was a while ago.

I mixed them down to a wav then converted the wav to a music cd file burning it on to disc so it could be played on a cd player. It sounded ok as a wav played from the PC.

I didn't have each track spacially arranged with the vocal in the centre.

What is an Mbox?

Many thanks for your replies they appreciated.

Brian

[Zetajazz44]

I'm sure this has been discussed before on this forum, but I wanted to say it again. I bought the book, Recording Engineer's Handbook, by Bobby Owsinski , last night at Barnes & Nobel and I'll have to say it's pretty informative. I didn't care a lot for the interviews at the end of the book, but they can be informative as well...

Just wanted to state this for the newbies coming in... This is a very good place to start and will educate you on most of your questions about what type of mic to use for what type of instrument and give you tips on mic placement and how to determine mic placement.

Before anyone accuses me, I'm not affiliated with the sale, publishing..etc of this book... I just thought it might help entry level folks quite a bit and cut down on the number of "How to Mic what Instrument with What Mic" posts...
I'm sure there are others out there that are as good or maybe better...

Thanks!

Zetajazz44

[Psi2000a]

As very knowledgable member of other forums I understand that you don't want complete newbies asking the same questions.

If anyone can point me to any resources or books that specifically deal with voice overs and sound effects plus music then that would be helpful. I am looking for a professional sound as high as possible within a reasonable range of investment.

thanks again

Brian

[Rokket]

There isn't much difference in recording voice-overs or music. The same principles apply to both applications, so most of the books on recording and mixing like the afforementioned "Recording Engineer's Handbook" will help you. Also, the owner of this bbs, Dragon, has listed quite a few books on his site. You may want to go back and browse through it again...