Complete Noob To Recording

[Ginsingh]

Hows everyone doing? Great to find a site like this.

I've recently started rapping as I have a love for hip hop, I have Pro Tools LE 8 as well as the MBox Mini 2. I have an Audio Technica 2020 microphone which seems to work pretty well.

I have a problem though, it seems that i'm not using my microphone to its fullest potential since I have no sound proof booth or anything like that. When I record in my room and I turn up the input on the Mbox and I can already see theres a lot of noise in the room, I can see the input from the microphone slowly going up and down possibly because the sound coming from my laptop or something.

I can't really find the greatest place in my house to record where it'll be crystal clear. My basement isn't made yet and I was thinking about asking my dad to create a small room for a booth or something. How would the booth need to be made a proper soundproof recording booth?

Is it possible to create a booth without making an actual room? Some sort of boxed design?

Another question... If I do end up having a soundproof booth, how will I get proper quality recording if my laptop will be in the same room with the microphone and most likely pretty close to the microphone since I have to click around on the laptop to begin recording and use Pro Tools and all that?

Sorry if I already asked questions that have been asked or sound a little scattered and all over the place but I just have no knowledge about this stuff, I have the knowledge and love for rapping but I just dont know about the mechanics and all that.

[EDIT] Again I sorry for being a bother and asking all these questions, but how should my Mbox Mini 2 be set up when i'm recording vocals? I always set the headphone volume to whatever volume I feel is good for me to hear the beat. I set the Mixer to FULL, and I am not 100% sure as to how much i'm supposed to crank the Input for the microphone, but I guess it has something to do with the clarity and what kind of room im in right?

 

[Dr. Varney]

Bump!

Dr. V

 

[The Cancers]

OK.
First off, there's no reason to have the microphone close to the laptop. Leave yourself about a minute of blank leeway in your project where the mic will just be recording silence. Once you've got your mic set to the right level and you're ready to record, so all you'll have to do is press record and lay down a track, move the laptop as far from the mic as you can get it (preferably behind the mic, as that sort of mic will pick up the least noise from behind itself - look up "cardioid pickup pattern" for an explanation), press record, then walk over to the mic and put on your headphones.

Yeah, it's a little tedious, and makes punch-ins difficult, but the great thing about digital editing is that you can cut out all that empty space with a couple mouse clicks.

As far as a vocal booth goes, the ones you see in recording studios are a) designed from the ground up for isolation and b) as large as most home-recordists' entire recording space.
These two factors combine to make them do what you are wanting - isolate what's in the booth from everything outside it - but they do it without ending up creating a "boxy" sound. That second point is important in your case. The smaller the space you record your vocals in, the more it's gonna sound like you recorded in a box.
All that above is basically me saying, forget the idea of a separate room as a vocal booth. A really cheap method is gonna be to record in the largest quietest room you have access to (that basement will probably work nicely once it's finished). Make yourself a makeshift "booth" out of heavy blankets hung up all around you (with clothespins and wire, or some sort of pvc frames, whatever you can rig up). This will cut down on some of the high end room reflections, record just your voice, etc... It's free to try and you can see how it sounds to you.

There are lots of resources on room treatment out there, including some great links in the studio building and display forum.

For your question on where to set your levels, check out the metering and gain structure tutorial here:
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/

 

[Bristol Posse]

Also take a listen and see if that "Noise" you are seing on the meters is actually a problem.
even in a pro room there will be some ambient noise and the mic itself will generate a level of self noise that is impossible to get rid of

The question is, does the noise actually interfere with the sound of your vocals. If it's down below about -55 DB on your Meters in the computer probably not. Mute the track when there are no vocals present and you could try a noise gate to cut the noise below a certain threshold when the vocals are happening and you dont want to kill the ambience with a bunch of mutes. Expereiment with the gate see how it works out for you

There are also alternatives like reflection filters or building a small "Booth" around the mic instead of the whole room.
If it's really a problem you could even sell the 2020 and get a dynamic mic instead which will pick up much less room noise. SM58 and Beta 58 are pretty well known examples of such mics

 

[Ginsingh]

Thank you very much for the information so far! And thanks Dr. V for the bump.

So you're saying... In my basement I can hang some sheets to mimic a soundproof booth? Im guessing i'd have to hang 4 sheets in the shape of a square and I can just record within this area? What kind of material would the sheets have to be and how effective is this method? What is a good measurement for the length/width of the area? Sounds much easier than creating a whole booth and needing a seperate.

 

[The Cancers]

Not sheets. Heavy blankets. The thicker/denser they are, the better they're going to absorb sound.

Now, they aren't gonna do a pro job either way. However, this setup will cut down on some of the ambient noise from the rest of the house, along with cutting down on some of the room ambiance that ends up on your recording.
This is NOT anywhere near a professional isolation setup. There are products out there (reflection filters, room treatments, etc...) that can help make whatever space you're in sound better. But, since you're just starting out, I don't see any point in buying them when you can toss up a free rig and see how you like it. Experiment, record some tracks, see what you can do. As your experience level rises and your ears get better, you'll start to hear the little things that the expensive products out there can help you fix.

And take heed of Bristol's advice. If you don't understand exactly what he was talking about, try and look up the terms and figure it out, because those are steps that have helped me a whole lot when I couldn't get rid of the noisy room I was in.

 

[RAMI]

If I do end up having a soundproof booth, how will I get proper quality recording if my laptop will be in the same room with the microphone and most likely pretty close to the microphone

First of all, there's almost no such thing as a sound-proof room. And, even if there is, the room will only be as quiet as the loudest thing in it. So, bringing the laptop into the room, no matter how "sound proof" it is, will defeat the purpose, assuming the source of the noise actually is the laptop.

Like Cancers said, you have to move the mic away from the lap top and/or isolate it.

 

[Ginsingh]

Thank you for all the help so far, I highly appreciate it. I will definitely try the method using the thick blankets.

How can I use Pro Tools to measure whether my microphone input is at a correct setting for when I record my vocals? Are there certain measurements or tools in the program I can use to find a good setting? One which will have loud crisp vocals without static from too much input?

 

[dastrick]

When you record your vocals (or anything else) watch the input level in ProTools and make sure it doesn't clip (max out). If it clips, turn the gain down.

 

[drv.fast]

You should try getting a laptop that doesn't make any noise.

Its because the windows xp laptops are way too noisy,

i know how you feel

 

[gethypedmusic]

You have alot more to worry about than sound proofing tips if your getting noise from a laptop picked up in your mic. Blankets like they recommend.... and a less noisy laptop.

 

[BrentDomann]

You might also look into a noise gate or expander, preferably one with more than one knob. These work by allowing you to pick a volume level below which the unit will reduce gain, and some will allow you to also set the ratio by which that gain will be reduced. The noise will still be there behind your vocals, but when you're not rapping or singing it will reduce the noise on the recording. Great for those in-between-words moments when your headphone cable taps your mic stand or your neighbor turns his dryer on.

For an example of what your dry vocal track should be doing when the gate is working, google for the vocal take from Runnin' With the Devil by Van Halen. Someone posted just the vocal track once here (I think), but either way you can hear a gate working on Mr. Roth. If my memory serves me right, it's audibly reducing the bleed from his headphones.

And +1 to "give up on the booth". Just find a spot in the room where you think your voice sounds great, and mic yourself there. Use the room to your advantage.

 

[Ginsingh]

Is a noise gate an application/software or an actual piece of equipment?

I have still yet to try using the advice in this thread. Im going to try and hang up some thick blankets in the basement in the shape of a square and place my microphone between the sheets and try and leave the laptop outside the area nearby so I can go click to start recording then go back inside and start recording my vocals.

 

[kcearl]

a noise gate can be either hardware or software...I stuck a thread up i this forum about gating...it'll give you a general idea of how it all works

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=293959

welcome aboard