Looking for more depth to recordings!

[David McCrea]

Hey all, just new to the forums so sorry if someone has already answered the question below. I'll try to keep it short and snappy.

I very recently purchased a Tascam US-122L and Behringer C-1 Microphone and I have to say I'm very impressed with the quality of the device. The only issue or grievance lies in the output volume of the recordings after all the recording is finished in Adobe Audition. How do I get my recordings to have more substance, more volume and depth. I have tried reading about compression and all that jazz, but I'm to be quite honest pretty overwhelmed by the amount of information. I would really appreciate if someone could give instructions on how to achieve that fuller and louder sound!

Thanks in advance,
David McCrea.

 

[Dogbreath]

Ahhh...I understand your info overload.
And the answers are in several more chapters.

The tracking stage ...mic placement, level setting etc makes a big impact on how it's gonna sound as a finished product.

From my experience, I've found tracking at lower levels lends itself to more punch, clarity and depth to my stuff. If you've got meters, check them to see they don't go over, say -10 or -12 peak while your recording the goodz. (I'll track as low as -15 to -18) I know it seems backwards when you're trying to get a louder mix but the loudness comes later. What the lower tracking does, is leave some room later for dynamics and EQ.

I'll usually do my first mixdown from all of my tracks with everything sounding just like I want it (or at least have the ability to do). On my 2 trk mixdown, I'll generally sprinkle a little top end EQ and cut a smidge of bottom and strap a limiter across both tracks and boost it up. (volume)
Then I'll make another mixdown of that. The 3rd mixdown I'll burn to cd. These CD's are stuff that I pass around or post online. If they're going to a real mastering engineer, they get no extra EQ or compression, limiting etc...The ME has alot better speakers, room and better trained ears.

This is a pretty short answer to what is basically just going to take you some time (experience) to get the hang of.
And a side note...the reason I do extra sprinklings of EQ is due to my room and my speakers. You may or may not need to do that. Experiment around.

The recording obsession can seem pretty big when you try to take it all in at once so...make sure you have some fun with it. If you find yourself frustrated...take a break. Your ears, your head...When you're having fun, it'll show up in the performance you record. And the performance is what we're trying to capture, right?

Just more stuff to noodle around in your head....

 

[Dogbreath]

http://www.massivemastering.com/html/before_mixdown.html

This is from John's site and as I was reading thru it, I thought it might add to the volumes you're already tryin to digest.



oh yeah...and welcome aboard man.

 

[Dogbreath]

and this one from John's Articles section...

http://www.massivemastering.com/massivemastering/blog/html/blog_files/My_Mixes_Are_Too_Quiet.html

and here's the menu I got it from...

http://www.massivemastering.com/massivemastering/blog/html/blog_files/category-articles.html




not that I'm tryin for information overload here.....


Bwahahaha........

 

[Jim Lad]

Just cruising by and saw this one so I couldn't pass it up.
The advice is all good and should be followed but your problem may well be your microphone.
I have the Behringer C1. It's bright, affordable and requires a lot of gain.
It has its uses and is a very nice mic. but probably a little too thin to accomplish what you want. For a few dollars more you could pick up an AKG Perception 100 or maybe someone here could point you to an affordable alternative.
Good luck with it.
Cheers!
Jim

 

[Bobby Darko]

I'm sorry guys, but I don't think this is going the right way. If you wanna learn and understand recording and the thousands of aspects it comes with, you gotta read, read and read. Then do it, think, and read some more. You can't make a good sounding album if you don't put some effort into it. You gotta have talent to, just like musicians....good luck! (btw compression is not -the only- answer, getting another mic is not the answer)

 

[SonicAlbert]

Far better than reading is assisting a recording engineer that knows what they are doing.

That said, two books I would *highly* recommend are "The Recording Engineer's Handbook", and "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook", both by Bobby Owsinski.

These books are well worth the money. You simply won't get the same level of comprehensive help from putzing around on message boards.

 

[David McCrea]

Hey everybody.

Thanks for all the comments so far. I DO understand that there is sooo much I don't know about recording and that it does take talent, just as playing an instrument. As for the reading, that I'm doing plenty =]

About the microphone, I find that the C-1 does not suit my vocals. My voice sounds very trebely and thin when recorded, but yet it suits my acoustic guitar perfectly. Lovely tone through it. Another question: is it a good idea to be "normalizing" my music to try and add more depth?

Thanks in advance,
David McCrea.

 

[Massive Master]

Normalizing anything is generally "bad form" for the most part. It certainly won't add anything positive.

Space and depth... Nothing creates a sense of space and depth better than space and depth. This is where the rubber meets the road with a lot of recordists -- A room with good acoustics, acoustics that actually fit what you're trying to create - will be your best friend. A different or poorly treated room will be more than happy to put a coating of fog and/or mud all over an otherwise perfectly decent sound.

 

[SonicAlbert]

Normalizing just changes the volume level, and is really best to leave that alone for what you are talking about.

Massive Master is absolutely correct in everything he said in his post. You should probably get a mic that suits your voice better. Then, you should try recording in all the different rooms in your home. In each room try multiple setups to see if you can get a better sound by moving the mic around.

But please, check out those books I mentioned. They are very well written and can be understood by anyone who has an interest in audio recording.

 

[iqi616]

About the microphone, I find that the C-1 does not suit my vocals. My voice sounds very trebely and thin when recorded, but yet it suits my acoustic guitar perfectly.

It's the right microphone for your guitar but the wrong one for your voice. See if you can audition some at your local emporium. The way to do that is to set up the candidate mics and record them. You might need to take your own recording device if the shop won't help you. You won't be able to tell if it's the best mic without recording and listening back. Many shops are lazy and will only give you a set of headphones and feed the mic through a mixer. You will not make the right selection that way. Schedule with them to do this at their least busy time - e.g. opening time on a Tuesday.

 

[Jim Lad]

There are websites which preview microphones as well but the chances of you having quality monitor speakers are probably quite slim.
My local music shop has every microphone, recorded by the same salesman, using basically the same phrase with each to allow the customer instant comparison.
This method prevents several potential customers from mishandling the item before it is sold and offers the opportunity to hear each through several good quality systems.
It works well and he has added some of my microphones (And others') to see how it compares to what's on the shelf.
That's about the only way you get to test drive a $1.500 microphone and I can't say I blame them.

 

[David McCrea]

Gonna throw one more question into the mix here!

With my Tascam US-122L is it possible to use a preamp, or would this affect the preamp already in the device?

Ta,
David.