Home Recording's Dirty Little Secret

[hairylarry]

Great thread and secret weapons

Hi all,

Thanks for a fun read. I usually hang over in the microphone forum.

Here's my mixing secret. When you've got your mix and you're ready to print turn up the snare a little bit.

Another trick to getting that snare pop right is to sweep your mid range eq between 1000 and 3000 with a little too much eq gain until it really cooks. Then turn down the eq gain to a more reasonable amount but not so you lose the cook.

My secret weapon mics for field recording are the Realistic 1070b omnis. Really great mics and cheap. A spaced pair of omnis is your best bet for making your recording sounding like what you hear. I used to use EV 635s and still do sometime but I usually grab the 1070s first.

Also if you are losing the bass parts on a vocal a compressor will give you bass boost smoother than eq.

And thanks for all your tips and the general discussion. Elvis and the Beatles are great but they both got started by the same guy that inspired me. Carl Perkins. I sang "Blue Suede Shoes" for show and tell in the first grade and I never looked back.

Hairy Larry

 

[Dougdlux]

Shoot First

My first band. As well as my FIRST recordings of all time. The last two (the first two were recorded by a Full Sail student that actually graduated, what a waste of money). Note: any comments are appreciated. Even being that far back someone may be able to point something out. Keep in mind I was 17 at the time playing drums and I was using a Behringer UB2442FX running into a Digi 001.... Pro Tools 6.4 rofl. I still using 6.4 and the 001 as well. But I have my other upgrades.


I was originally just wanting to record my band for shits and giggles and small demos for my band and friends bands. Ultimately leading me down a path that isn't easily strayed from. Recording is addictive. I, in no way, thought I was going to get a professional sounding recording. But all in all, I thought it came out very well for my first time and not knowing anything about engineering or production.

 

[dkelley]

I say commercial expectations, but I should clarify. I do this professionally, take it really seriously, and building my own little home studio was done to save money, not to do something that I can't do elsewhere.

So for me, it's (a) about convenience and saving money and doing what I want without others getting in my way and (b) about learning and experimenting with things I wouldn't otherwise have the time/money/access to.

cheers

 

[moresound]

Back in the early 60s late 70s I use to turn in all of my high school assignments that I could on cassette after mixing my narrative voice with backing music and clips if they could be found and never looked back.
But still trying to get it right while getting payed for it and learning something new every day.

 

[grimtraveller]

I never really thought realistically or practically about getting a 'professional sound' when I actually started multitrack recording back in '92. I loved creating songs in my head and in that head, I was writer, artist, instrumentalist, collaborator, band member, cover designer, backing vocalist.....and producer ! The story I was writing in my mind was more important than the quality of the sound.......until I heard the sound !! Back in 1980 when I got into Led Zeppelin, I noticed that Jimmy Page was always listed as producer of their LPs and that kind of appealed to me for some reason. In retrospect, I'd say that the engineers were alot more important than they were given credit for although the idea of being a 'sound engineer' appealed too.
Once I got together with friends and those songs left our heads and made it onto tape, I realized that there was this learning curve that was actually pretty steep when you live in a block of flats and have a full time job and could only do stuff in the evenings and at night. But I dug then and still dig now {even more so} the entire process. I was baffled initially as to why my recordings sounded so shitty, but then, you learn as you go along. I think my initial problems were more to do with song structures. If I turned a song on mid way through, I'd be lost as to where I was in the song ! That doesn't happen now. But it made mixing a headache. Also, when I started recording, there was no internet. I knew one or two people that recorded but they weren't interested in the technical side. Basically, I had to read between the lines of rare interviews {rare in that studio craft was rarely mentioned} and glean one or two things from hard to fathom manuals. So until fairly recently, it was very much trial and error. My errors made the process a trial !! Still enjoyed it though.
I've been recording for years and it's a hobby for me, rather like photography was. I took loads of neat 35mm B&Ws but many of my initial efforts were pretty shitty when it came to printing.
I enjoy my friends' participation {in fact, I'm kind of blessed to know an array of drummers, guitarists, woodwind and horn players, keyboardists, vocalists, percussionists and writers}. I learn in a kind of organic way from loads of sources and even though I'm not under any commercial constraint, I still seek to improve. I've been really encouraged by some of the songs folk on this site have posted.
I have to say, I'm not bothered by quality of recording. I have loads of albums from the 50s on {even one from 1929 !} and the fact is that some of them sound great, some of them sound duff. Some are mixed funny by todays standards - but I don't care. As long as they're not unlistenable {maybe 2 of them nearly fall into that category} I'm cool. Because for me, it's the song and only the song that matters. I either dig it or I don't. I suspect most people that listen to music are the same. But I am always experimenting and trying to get better mixes.

 

[grimtraveller]

However as far as capability to record instruments you wouldn't normally have access to, DAW's obviously win hands down. I just wish I had a better sounding Mellotron vst. Anybody know of one?

If you're still looking for a passable mellotron vst, try M-TRON by G media. I'm not going to tell you it's awesome, some of the sounds are real ropey. But it has some good stuff in there.

 

[Descalabro]

My first electric guitar recordings with no interface (but with an audio production software) and no amp (DI) sounded a lot better than what I had hoped for, which led me to think I could reach an actually good recording quality with just a bit more gear (the firewire interface for example), but it didn't get as good as I tought. For now I'm neither disapointed nor happy with my sound. Still working on it. (sorry for the bad English)

 

[opdev]

It's all about the song.

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska Album

Worse commercial quality record ever? One of my top 5 albums of all time.

 

[TAE]

It's all about the song.

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska Album

Worse commercial quality record ever? One of my top 5 albums of all time.

Great point!

Garbage in...Garbage out.

I totally believe I can get a superior recording in my garage to any studio that existed in 1970... Dillusional? probably but that's what I believe..and I had a chance to record in Wally Heider and Posha back in the day and the ol garbage in garbage out is first rule of getting a good recording.

You can polish a turd only to so much of a degree... then it just gets messy

 

[Seafroggys]

I definitely have more (possibly better) high end than anything that came out in the 60s.

 

[grimtraveller]

I definitely have more (possibly better) high end than anything that came out in the 60s.

I wondered for a couple of years whether that might be true. It seems that even the average DAW can do more, quicker than could be done back then, with greater quality. But some of Glen's observations have made me seriously reconsider that notion. Being Dr Untechy, I would never have known anyway !

 

[bassdweller]

Great point!

Garbage in...Garbage out.

I totally believe I can get a superior recording in my garage to any studio that existed in 1970... Dillusional? probably but that's what I believe..and I had a chance to record in Wally Heider and Posha back in the day and the ol garbage in garbage out is first rule of getting a good recording.

You can polish a turd only to so much of a degree... then it just gets messy

Wow; agree 100%. . .

I knew a guy who worked in a mastering studio who used to say to people "If your track sounds like crap when you bring it in, then it'll sound like crap with eq and compression when I'm done with it".

 

[FoulPhil]

I use to be so ignorant that I thought all you needed was a 4 track and any shitty microphones. And actually you can get some decent results LOL

I seriously thought I could record an Album just like the one you buy at the mall. I invested very little money when I first started compared to the amount of money I invest now.

This must have been 5 to 7 years ago. I even upgraded from the 4 track tape to a M-audio sound card with a small mixer running into my PC and I thought that was going to do it. With my 100 dollar Condenser mic that I thought was the best you can get at the time.

It was readily available equipment and I started with Cool Edit Pro. I actually recorded whole albums like that. I didn't even know you needed special monitors for mixing. Never used and EQ and I thought panning was just something you did for an effect on some songs LOL

Now I use pro tool hard ware and software and I've come a long way, but I'm still in the process of learning. Over 5 years of learning about recording, and I'm still not there... but at least I don't have to go to pay a recording studio to get my songs to sound how I want them to.

Good or Bad, I'll just do it all myself. It's a self rewarding hobby.

 

[BIGSHAQDADDY]

Lets have a show of hands....how many of you got interested in home recording thinking you'd be able to make home recordings that would sound similar to the recordings of your favorite commercial artists....and were sadly dissapointed after spending much money, time and effort in an attempt to do so? This is directed at the average home recordist of moderate means....not the guys who have decked out home studios.

Hey bub, you want to talk about comerical artists? Check out Louie Louie by the kingsmen, its not terrible and you can hear every instrument, but even by the standards of its time it was a shitty recording full of mistakes, and its also something most people with a DAW or even a 4 track can surpass on recording quality. THAT SONG IS IN A TON OF MOVIES AND HAS MADE MORE MONEY THAN ANY AMERICAN IDOL WHOZAWHATS EVER OK.

Just saying for something to be a commerical recording it does not have to be slick produced and sound like it came out of a major studio.

 

[youncester]

I say commercial expectations, but I should clarify. I do this professionally, take it really seriously, and building my own little home studio was done to save money, not to do something that I can't do elsewhere.

So for me, it's (a) about convenience and saving money and doing what I want without others getting in my way and (b) about learning and experimenting with things I wouldn't otherwise have the time/money/access to.

cheers

Dude how do you do your remote sessions (in pro tools that is)? that would be sweet.. sit at the house and record for a studio... people is always asking me to record for them..

 

[agilblom]

It's an interesting question for me because after ten years of engineering my own music, I'm going into a pro-studio tomorrow for the first time just to give it a shot for the sake of seeing if I can get my home stuff to sound as good. If not, I'll just be honest with myself and be prepared to spend more money on doing more of my next CD in a real studio. For instance, I know I'm probably maxed out on microphone quality and instrument quality, but I could definitely use a few lessons, and no matter how much baffling I use on the walls and ceiling, the bedroom I'm using is still going to sound like a bedroom.

-Alex

 

[srmd22]

A/B test

Here is a relevant story:

Many years ago I recorded some tunes on an ADAT, with cheap mic's, an Alesis D4, great guitars and amps, and a sh$%y mixing board. It came out ok. My vox were mediocre, but good for me.

Took the VHS tape and the ADAT to a small professional studio, a the owner/engineer being a guy I had recorded a demo with in another band. This adat stuff was all played and sung by myself. He ran the tape through his gear and super nice 24 track mixer onto 2 inch tape. He fiddled with effects, redid some of the drums on his own D4, panned, compressed and EQ'd the vox, and I don't even know what else. Burned it onto a CD. I have played it for many friends musicians and non-musicians. Some of the tunes are pretty good, well played originally (if I may be so bold).

It did not sound terrible on the ADAT, but it was not a stand out. After it was remixed in the studio onto 2 inch, it sounded effin' great. It sounds like it was done from scratch in a commercial studio. When you listen you can hear the differences-- some of the playing is a bit loose, and some of tracks lack some of the pop and sparkle they would have had if recorded with better mic's and pre's, but most listeners don't comment on that, even musicians. So not exactly like from scratch, but really very close.

I am not sure about the point of this story-- clearly better results were achieved in the studio, even with the raw material from the home setting. However, I am not a good engineer, and with somewhat better equipment, and skills, I don't know that the difference would have been as great, if any. I now have better equipment (same lack of skills), and the tracks are coming out better, but they still don't approach what I achieved on those few songs in the small commercial studio.

I do it because it is fun though, and I am not worried that it is not perfect. I have no aspirations of getting famous or rich-- I just like to make music, and to me recording one's self in a home studio is just another way of jamming, but with a finished product that you can listen back to, or play for friends, which is just too much fun.

 

[Octava219]

This is my very first post!!! Yaaah....I decided to pop my cherry on this topic. I have a Tube-Pre Presonus preamp. It cost around 150.00 bucks. It's what I can afford. If I could afford one I would have a REAL all tube preamp that costs three grand. I have a Fostex DMT8vl siab that I got off ebay for 120.00. But the Wheatstone that I really wanted was about 20,000 more. My recording booth cost me about 200 bucks to put together. I wish I had one like Neil Young. I use Octava and Shure condensers. But not because I prefer them to Neumanns. I guess what I'm getting at is if we could afford the half million dollars or so it takes to have a professional sounding studio then this web site wouldn't exist anyway. A lot of the enjoyment of it is learning to get the best you can out of what you have. And if you do have a half million dollar studio and don't understand mic placement or phase cancellation then your recording is still gonna sound like shiz. So I just take what I got and learn as much as I can about the process and have a good time.

 

[recordist87]

I enjoy some old home demos of certain artists just because the song is awesome...a recording doesn't have to sound as good as ok computer to be good...basically if the music your recording isn't good then you're screwed...

 

[cecerre]

I thought I could sound like me. I never, up until this thread, ever considered once if I sounded like someone else or if the quality was 'commercial'. I always thought my recordings sounded like, well, me. I thought that was the important thing was to capture the music, bad or good, as the artist intended it, whether you agreed or not. I guess I'm not sure what makes something sound 'commercial'. Sure you need to have a good ear to produce a pleasing mix, but beyond that and the artist's talent, what is or makes this 'commercial' sound?