Really need some advise, 5 question about recording/mixing/Preamps

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Disasster

New member
Alright, i got some questions for ya

1. Whats the best for recording the final beats in ...mono or stereo (in ur opinion)
2. Whats the best for recording the main vocals in ...mono or stereo (in ur opinion)
3. Whats the best for recording the voice overs in ...mono or stereo (in ur opinion)
4. Do you guys pan your insterments (drums, snare ect.) when making your mix for your beats, and if so by how much (in ur opinion)
5. When i try to record my finish beat from the Motif ES6 keyboard to the computer, its alot quieter then i want and it wont go any louder, should i get a Preamp to make it louder......maybe something like this - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-DigiMAX-96-8Channel-Mic-Preamp?sku=184124, or is that just for mics?? Is there any other way i can make the volume louder?

If you take the time to answer these question, i would like to say thanks in advance.

Thank you
Joel
 
1-3: Depending on if you're going to add effects in post-tracking, some require stereo but it's not tough to duplicate a mono track to make it stereo, if the track is actualy stereo than it should stay that way.
4: It doesn't sound like you're recording drums from real drums but for acoustic drusm I like to center the kick, pan left to left, right to right, and snare about 20% - 30% left unless I want it to really stand out
5: Sounds like its at an instrument level, to boost it to line, yeah a preamp, if you don't need 8 channels, and it sounds like you dont, and want to throw down some money try: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Summit-Audio-2BA221-Tube-Mic-and-Line-Module?sku=188005

What are you recording into?


-jeffrey
 
Right now im recording into a PreSonus FireBox which connects to my computer and then i use Cubase. Theres only 1 Line input, 2outputs, and 2 mic.....

Right now i have my Motif ES6 connected to the Line input. Then when i record my song from my keyboard to Cubase its alright, but when i export the song, and play it on my normal speakers i have to turn the volume all the way up, and it still isn't that loud, how do i make it louder?

I dont use real drums or any of that, just sounds from the Motif....


Im thinking about getting a mixer, but i dont know forsure yet....
 
4. hell yeah i pan my instruments! generally, i keep drums in center. just sounds good to me. also, i love to softpan riff guitars and plucked instruments..and piano always centered.
 
Short answer: mono for almost everything. If you are adding effects that require stereo, the plug-in effects software will automatically convert it to stereo for you.

Drums should be in stereo. Piano should be in stereo. Acoustic guitar... maybe. Keyboard... maybe.

Since drum kit should be in stereo, that means they won't be panned to center, though the kick generally should be. The snare should probably be fairly close to the center... probably no more than 2-3 dB off, if I were guessing, but I've never really measured where it ends up in the mix.... The rest of it should be spread naturally. If you're not working with a live kit... I don't have any good advice for how to do that except to experiment....

Preamps just bring a mic up to line level. If your levels aren't hot enough, you'll need to bring the levels up until it's about to clip if you haven't already. Then throw in a compressor and/or limiter on various tracks (particularly drums). This basically allows you to cut the highest peaks down to a more reasonable level, thus bringing up the average volume.
 
Disasster said:
Alright, i got some questions for ya

1. Whats the best for recording the final beats in ...mono or stereo (in ur opinion)
2. Whats the best for recording the main vocals in ...mono or stereo (in ur opinion)
3. Whats the best for recording the voice overs in ...mono or stereo (in ur opinion)
4. Do you guys pan your insterments (drums, snare ect.) when making your mix for your beats, and if so by how much (in ur opinion)
5. When i try to record my finish beat from the Motif ES6 keyboard to the computer, its alot quieter then i want and it wont go any louder, should i get a Preamp to make it louder......maybe something like this - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-DigiMAX-96-8Channel-Mic-Preamp?sku=184124, or is that just for mics?? Is there any other way i can make the volume louder?

If you take the time to answer these question, i would like to say thanks in advance.

Thank you
Joel
Click to expand...


ill answer 4 for you, Yes i do Pan my instrements. My overheads of my drums, i pan the left one all the way left and the right all the way right. It makes you hear what the drummer is doing more in the track IMO. Not really sure on the other ones, cause i mostly record drums
 
Disasster said:
Right now im recording into a PreSonus FireBox which connects to my computer and then i use Cubase. Theres only 1 Line input, 2outputs, and 2 mic.....

Right now i have my Motif ES6 connected to the Line input. Then when i record my song from my keyboard to Cubase its alright, but when i export the song, and play it on my normal speakers i have to turn the volume all the way up, and it still isn't that loud, how do i make it louder?
Click to expand...
Your Firebox must be different than my Firebox because my Firebox has 6 inputs --- two mic, two line and two s/pidif --- and 8 outputs --- six analog and two s/pdif.

You are handicapping yourself by using Cubase LE as a glorified 2-track recorder. You get low levels because your version of Cubase LE has no facility to amplify the recorded signal to a usable level.

Download a freeware audio recording program called Audacity and use the 'amplify' algorithm under the 'effects'. It will solve your immediate problem by making your song louder.



.
 
Last edited:
ssscientist said:
You're Firebox must be different than my Firebox because my Firebox has 6 inputs --- two mic, two line and two s/pidif --- and 8 outputs --- six analog and two s/pdif.

You are handicapping yourself by using Cubase LE as a glorified 2-track recorder. You get low levels because your version of Cubase LE has no facility to amplify the recorded signal to a usable level.

Download a freeware audio recording program called Audacity and use the 'amplify' algorithm under the 'effects'. It will solve your immediate problem by making your song louder.



.
Click to expand...

So if i bought Cubase SX i would get the option of amplify it, becasue i was thinking of buying one pritty soon here...
 
I just started using Cubase LE and am also a newbie, but I'm trying to give back where I can.

If you can't make it any louder with the volume control on the track, they have a gain process, where you edit the individual tracks. Haven't used it much, so I can't say how it affects the sound of the track. But from what I know, it would be a linear increase in volume, adding equi-decibels (same amount) to all sound on your track.
 
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