goldencd said:
and not to be on my own nuts. but my vox sound better on a KSM32 then most cats on U87.
Well, ya see ... that's very important. Matching the microphone to the voice has very little to do with how expensive or nice the mic is. The ksm-32 is a very capable mic. I've always been a big fan of them, because on certain voices, they just work. And if that's what does the best job of translating your voice, then that's what you should go with.
If you know what your doing and have mic/breath control then we can get passed the don't screw up the vocals thing.
That's not really what I meant, but it is a big part of it, obviously. What I'm saying is that, as an engineer, there are things I know to look out for when tracking vocals that I wouldn't necessarily be cognizant of if I were tracking myself.
Things like mic positioning; does the mic sound better positioned just under your lip and pointing slightly down so as to pick up more chest resonance? Or does it sound better pointed slightly upwards so as to pick up more of the "face?" And as silly as it sounds, your voice can and will sound drastically different depending on where it's pointed. You have the advantage of having them professionally tracked in the past, so you might just go by memory as to how it was positioned then.
Then there are things like off-axis stuff; is the singer locked in to the mic, or does his head wander once in a while? I know when the singer moves his head or (gasp!) looks at his lyric sheet, and I'll just stop the tracking right there and make him/her punch in if I see any of that crap.
All it takes is once.
Also, when doing doubles, I can instantly hear when one of the doubles is off and isn't meshing with the first track ... and again I'll stop him/her when I hear this happening. Having someone else there besides you to hear and take note of this stuff is extemely valuable, and will greatly contribute the quality of your finished product.
These may seem like little things, but in my opinion, they are what makes "the difference."
Lets pretend for a second that I am not a novice at my job, which is rhyming and recording...
You're not a novice at rhyming ... I don't doubt that. But it's okay to admit that you're a novice at recording.
I am looking for advice about that one step up..that one thing that might make vox sound a little better. When I record in studios I don't ask what they are running ish through.
There is no "one step." What they're doing at these studios is likely threefold: 1) They're doing the "menial" and less glamorous tasks of de-essing and de-popping. and 2) They're adding that last bit of polish through EQ, and maybe a touch of reverb. 3) They're most likely doing a generous amount of compression so as to make the track more powerful, articulate and up-front. With rap vocals in particular, this is probably the second most important step after tracking technique. You want color? You ain't ready for the kind of color you get from good compression, and you can't handle it once you get it. Your monitors probably ain't good enough to translate it, and your ears ain't experienced enough to refine it.
Keep in mind that this isn't stuff for you to even worry about anyway. If you're sending your tracks off to be mixed by someone else ...
let them worry about the de-essing, de-popping, compression, EQ, etc. That's their job, and unless you're willing to give up rapping and study audio engineering full-time, you will not be able to do as good of a job as they can. If it's true that they've worked with JayZ and all those other guys ... then their tools will school yours, and so will their skills.
Now all this stuff I just got done talking about? Won't even hold a candle to the importance of your tracking room design.
This thread will give you an idea of what the single most critical thing is that separates your home brew tracks from those at the professional studios in which you've tracked. Mike Morgan pretty much nails it with this quote: "Once you realize how daunting of a task this is, and how little you really understand about the subject, you might just want to go ahead and pay the big-buck studios to record your little demo."
I get a kick out of that. When it comes to accoustics ... you probably don't know half of what you think you know.
And what you do know probably isn't enough.
Good luck Gold.
