recording question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fyre
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Fyre

Fyre

New member
aight check this out....

i got this singer that i record on the regular and her range is crazy..... so i sit at the preamp and try to play compressor by ajusting the levels as she sings.... one of the problems is that she's not comfortable infront of the mic yet so she hasn't quite gotten how she needs to back up a lil bit when she gets high and everything like that.....

so i was thinking maybe I should try recording her with a dynamic mic as i have a few laying around.... would this be a good idea.... and i was also thinking to try and record through the condenser and dynamic at the same time maybe that would give a good sound and i could work with layering.....

i just need opinions on these two techniques
 
i'm thinking that the dynamic mic might be a bad idea especially if she has range like you say, because if she gets a little loud and that mic distorts before you (the human compressor) has a chance to lower the volume, the recording will be trashed. What i usually do in a situation like this is i'll have the person stand at a specific distance from the mic (say like 3 feet away, and don't be afraid to use your ruler), and i'll record them dry making sure the levels NEVER record hot (distort). By doing this i can still get a decent recording from the artist and have plenty of headroom to compress the vocal afterwards to get the desired loudness and balance. THIS ONLY MY SUGGESTION so you can try it and maybe take some tips from it to see if it works for you...
 
i think ill try that out then...... only problem with me is that i record in my dorm room with no treatment at all so i try to close mic to take away the effect of the room... but ill see how this works out tho... cause i have noticed that her voice could us more air anyway..... and if i have to in order to keep her from the mic ill just put the pop stopper out futher lol
 
lol, yeah give it a try. as far as the untreated room sound goes...it might not be that bad when recording a singer as opposed to a rap artist, the open air between her and the mic could sound good, aka, natural reverb. on top of that you could layer her vocals by having her stand close to the mic and singing across it instead of straight into it, this will add a little different flavor to the vocal track without distorting the mic simply because her voice is not going directly in.
 
if it's a small room the natural reverb will probably suck, but definitely try the dynamic route to cut down on some of the room noise. As far as the human compressor thing...lol if you have to adjust to avoid clipping your probably recording too hot. Back off the gain some and then use your software's compressor to smooth things out a little. Don't over compress though because it will kill her dynamic range. Maybe try starting off with 2:1 ratio at -10db, that's just a guess though, you will probably have to play around with the threshold to get it. Try to shoot for no more than 2-3db reduction.
 
clipping isn't my problem i mean it gets close at times but when i record i try to keep the levels between -6 and -3dB so when she goes high its starts getting up there.....
 
Fyre said:
clipping isn't my problem i mean it gets close at times but when i record i try to keep the levels between -6 and -3dB so when she goes high its starts getting up there.....
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You're still recording too hot.

Try recording around -18db and use the software compressor to massage the vocals as needed.
 
Change..you need to just post you tutorial..so they can view the tips and go from there..

then you wont be answering ever thread with the same info..something to think about..
 
Change of POETS said:
You're still recording too hot.

Try recording around -18db and use the software compressor to massage the vocals as needed.
Click to expand...

wow i must have read some wrong info somewhere lol...... thats goin to change my whole recording technique...... for me included thx
 
bknot1 said:
Change..you need to just post you tutorial..so they can view the tips and go from there..

then you wont be answering ever thread with the same info..something to think about..
Click to expand...

thats a hell of an idea...... id love to see that
 
bknot1 said:
Change..you need to just post you tutorial..so they can view the tips and go from there..

then you wont be answering ever thread with the same info..something to think about..
Click to expand...
I'd probably have to re-write most of it, as I wrote it two years ago, for Adobe Audition users. I've learned a ton since then, and a lot of it is probably erroneous now... That is, if I could even find it.
 
Hardware compression before the interface... This is the exact reason I don't like to use software compression. If you need to control the level BEFORE it hits the interface you are screwed.

So you get a harware compressor and play with it. Once you know what you are doing with it You will barely have to touch your tracks when mixing. Just don't over do it cause there is no turning back. So it demands a little more attention but I think the results are worth it. Beats riding the gain by a mile too... ;)
 
mrT said:
Hardware compression before the interface... This is the exact reason I don't like to use software compression. If you need to control the level BEFORE it hits the interface you are screwed.

So you get a harware compressor and play with it. Once you know what you are doing with it You will barely have to touch your tracks when mixing. Just don't over do it cause there is no turning back. So it demands a little more attention but I think the results are worth it. Beats riding the gain by a mile too... ;)
Click to expand...

Either that or just record at lower levels.
 
mrT said:
Hardware compression before the interface... This is the exact reason I don't like to use software compression. If you need to control the level BEFORE it hits the interface you are screwed.

So you get a harware compressor and play with it. Once you know what you are doing with it You will barely have to touch your tracks when mixing. Just don't over do it cause there is no turning back. So it demands a little more attention but I think the results are worth it. Beats riding the gain by a mile too... ;)
Click to expand...
Or you can record at the optimum level of -18db like recommended, and not have to compress before you're in the box.

If you compress a track with hardware, you can't "undo" it. I can track anyone at the proper level, and find the perfect compression settings in the box after the fact. That way I don't have to ask someone to retrack their take, because my compression setting was wrong...
 
yea im working on getting a hardware compressor now... but for the time being using a software compressor in real time will do me some good i think..... at least it will get me a little more prepared for the hardware
 
Change of POETS said:
Or you can record at the optimum level of -18db like recommended, and not have to compress before you're in the box.

If you compress a track with hardware, you can't "undo" it. I can track anyone at the proper level, and find the perfect compression settings in the box after the fact. That way I don't have to ask someone to retrack their take, because my compression setting was wrong...
Click to expand...

ok once u record at -18dB like recommended what should i compress upto?
 
Fyre said:
ok once u record at -18dB like recommended what should i compress upto?
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You compress the vocals as needed... There is no magic setting, fam.

If you think it's too low of a volume, turn your monitors up. :D
 
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