Keyboard Recording Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eaglerulez
  • Start date Start date
mjbphotos said:
It appears to be a playback system problem, nothing to do with the actual recording or recording levels, although why this would happen with both a Focusrite and an stand-alone recorder, I don't know.
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This guy beat me to it. None of the videos you posted sound like they're distorting to me. It seems like whatever you're listening back to the audio from has a really crappy soundcard or something and it's causing the audio to distort when you turn it up louder.
 
Bobbsy said:
Just a suggestion...

When posting samples to illustrate a level-related problem, it would be very useful to include 20 or 30 seconds of calibration tone at the beginning of the clip (probably just 1000 Hz at -18dBFS by your metering) and include a note about what level the cal tone is. Then, when you play your keyboards at your "normal" level, it becomes very easy to see exactly what your recorded levels are.

With all the variations going through Premiere and Youtube, it's not really possible to judge what the actual absolute level of your recording is--but with a calibration tone everyone can use to set up recording then playback, this becomes a piece of cake.

(FYI, this is exactly the reason for the tone at the beginning of radio recordings or over the colour bars on video. The person receiving the recording can set the playback so the tone is at -18dB (or whatever is agreed) then know the programme material will be playbed back at exactly the same level as the original producer put in.)
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That's a good point. I'm studying film in college right now and I know all about doing that. Will do so from now on.
 
MrWrenchey said:
This guy beat me to it. None of the videos you posted sound like they're distorting to me. It seems like whatever you're listening back to the audio from has a really crappy soundcard or something and it's causing the audio to distort when you turn it up louder.
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I see.

If it makes any difference I'm listening back to this using a Macbook Pro (without an external soundcard or anything) and I'm usually listening through Sony 7506 headphones (which from what I understand are decent for professional use).

So here's my next question. On my end recordings that average around -24db don't sound like they are distorting when I turn the volume up on my headphones to 100%. However to hear the recordings decently I do have to max out my volume. If I increase the gain so that the recording averages around -12db and doesn't clip or anything like that. Can I assume that even though it will sound distorted on my end at higher headphone volumes that it will sound okay for other people (assuming they too don't have a bad sound card/speaker setup)?
 
Eaglerulez said:
..So here's my next question. On my end recordings that average around -24db don't sound like they are distorting when I turn the volume up on my headphones to 100%. However to hear the recordings decently I do have to max out my volume. If I increase the gain so that the recording averages around -12db and doesn't clip or anything like that. Can I assume that even though it will sound distorted on my end at higher headphone volumes that it will sound okay for other people (assuming they too don't have a bad sound card/speaker setup)?
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Bounce your tracks out to standard 16bit wave, cd, usb thumb whatever and play them on some other systems.
 
ecc83 said:
Make and model of keyboard PUHLEEESE!

You say you have plenty of clean volume from the headphones output? Try feeding that to the interface. The output amps in the keys could be faulty.

Dave.
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don't be a dick, and an idiot. the tech is the same regardless of make and model PUUUUUHLEEEES ! !
 
davem12758 said:
don't be a dick, and an idiot. the tech is the same regardless of make and model PUUUUUHLEEEES ! !
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The name is Dave and not Richard and AFAIK there is no standard output level for keyboards and "we" are always asking for precise information.

More water with it perhaps? Bit late on parade to boot.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
The name is Dave and not Richard and AFAIK there is no standard output level for keyboards and "we" are always asking for precise information.

More water with it perhaps? Bit late on parade to boot.

Dave.
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Yee..yep

:D
 
Eaglerulez said:
If it makes any difference I'm listening back to this using a Macbook Pro...
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There's your problem. I plugged my iPod into the MacBook Pro this morning to recharge. I noticed distortion playing the iPod in iTunes through a K 240 MkII headset that isn't present when the phones are plugged directly into the iPod.
 
diggy_dude said:
There's your problem. I plugged my iPod into the MacBook Pro this morning to recharge. I noticed distortion playing the iPod in iTunes through a K 240 MkII headset that isn't present when the phones are plugged directly into the iPod.
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Verily: The K 240s are some 60% higher in impedance than the 32R or lower that is optimum for pods and they are also a little lower in sensitivity at 91dB/mW from the "norm" of 100dB/mW.

Nice cans tho' I bet? I loved my old K60's till they fell apart after about 20 years!

Dave.
 
I don't know the answer, but I will tell you this: Today's computer equipment has put into the hands of amateurs stuff most pros would kill for. The difference isn't intelligence or skill; it is experience. An engineer in NYC told me once, forget the meters, just listen to what you are recording. The playback should sound the same at unity gain. Playback levels are not the same as recording levels and there is a reason why people say -3db or -6 db. That is what they see. The recording chain is vital. The volume potentiometers on the instrument must be clean all the way up to full. I prefer to run them full because there is the least noise to off or full then in the middle. Now this is the key to every chain. The inputs of your chain must be as high as you can get it without clipping. (It should just tickle the yellow or the red if there is no yellow or the light if there is only one light). The idea is to get as big a signal without clipping going into the system and with the least noise. After that the volume on the faders is only for the sound you are hearing, not what is being recorded, unless you have no gain pots at the top of the channel. Now set the levels on your computer or other recording devices to just below clipping. Listen to it at different volume levels to see if what you are getting is clean. Do NOT touch the inputs levels now, only the track recording level. Now record. Then listen to it back. If you have a problem, Pull the speakers and put another pair inline. It might be the speakers. Good Luck
Rod Norman
 
Rod Norman said:
The volume potentiometers on the instrument must be clean all the way up to full. I prefer to run them full because there is the least noise to off or full then in the middle.
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I do this for guitars, but nor for keyboards. Some keyboards can get very dirty when full up, so I tend to leave them about halfway.

Rod Norman said:
The inputs of your chain must be as high as you can get it without clipping. (It should just tickle the yellow or the red if there is no yellow or the light if there is only one light). The idea is to get as big a signal without clipping going into the system and with the least noise.
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This is a sound idea when there is a significant amount of system noise (for example, when you are trying to reduce the presence of tape hiss, or if there is a background hum in the keyboard's audio signal). But when recording digitally at 24 bit, you don't need to get anywhere near the yellow. In that case, you can concentrate more on quality of sound rather than trying to maximise its level.
 
gecko zzed said:
I do this for guitars, but nor for keyboards. Some keyboards can get very dirty when full up, so I tend to leave them about halfway.

.
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...which totally makes sense if you think about it.

The guitar is a passive device (i.e. no power supply applied) and the pots there can only provide attenuation. Turn the pot all the way up and it's only allowing the full signal as generated through; turn it down and you're reducing the whole signal.

A keyboard, on the other hand, is an active device. When you turn up levels there, you're applying gain--and, even on the best circuitry, gain also means noise. On the good stuff, this noise is still at an acceptably low level. Cheaper stuff? The noise becomes audible.
 
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