GordonJones
New member
Hi Folks. I'm Gordon. New to the group. Bought a Tascam DP 32SD. On the learning curve. How do I record both a vocal track and a guitar track at the same time..? Thx!
Recording vocals and guitar at the same time
- Thread starter GordonJones
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TalismanRich
Well-known member
There are a couple of things that you can do to record both. The first is proper placement. Learn about polar patterns. You can use the directionality of a microphone to minimize the bleed between a voice and a guitar. If you aren't familiar with mic patterns, etc. I would recommend downloading this thread by Harvey Gerst from years ago. It's available from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine: Harvey Gerst's Mic Chat
A small diaphragm mic on the guitar pointed slightly downward will reject some of the voice. A cardioid or super cardioid pointed upwards towards your mouth will help separate it from the guitar. It will never be completely separate, and really that's not necessary. Just record to two tracks on the DP32SD and you will be able to balance the sound.
While I have done it that way, I usually just record the guitar track first, then add the vocal later. That's a simple matter with the DP32SD. It is designed for multitracking and overdubbing. For me, it has the advantage of not having to be perfect for the entire song. When I hit that record button, my stress level jumps and the flubs come fast and furious. I have to concentrate on relaxing and just let things flow. Once I get the guitar part down, it gets easier for me to do vocal. I like to do songs with harmony vocals, so I can add additional vocals. Plus, if you only have one mic, that's the way to go.
Anyway, welcome to HR. Have fun and post some of your work when you get things going.
A small diaphragm mic on the guitar pointed slightly downward will reject some of the voice. A cardioid or super cardioid pointed upwards towards your mouth will help separate it from the guitar. It will never be completely separate, and really that's not necessary. Just record to two tracks on the DP32SD and you will be able to balance the sound.
While I have done it that way, I usually just record the guitar track first, then add the vocal later. That's a simple matter with the DP32SD. It is designed for multitracking and overdubbing. For me, it has the advantage of not having to be perfect for the entire song. When I hit that record button, my stress level jumps and the flubs come fast and furious. I have to concentrate on relaxing and just let things flow. Once I get the guitar part down, it gets easier for me to do vocal. I like to do songs with harmony vocals, so I can add additional vocals. Plus, if you only have one mic, that's the way to go.
Anyway, welcome to HR. Have fun and post some of your work when you get things going.
Last edited:
Slouching Raymond
Well-known member
I wonder what the latency is like on the DP 32SD. (That's the delay introduced when you record an additional track, while playing back existing tracks)
On my hardware recorders it was annoyingly noticeable.
In Cubase it is automatically corrected, by a setting that you enter.
On my hardware recorders it was annoyingly noticeable.
In Cubase it is automatically corrected, by a setting that you enter.
PorterhouseMusic
Mitakuye Oyasin
Latency is not an issue with the DP-24/32(SD) recorders. I've owned several stand alone recorders over the last 25-30 years and latency has never been in issue with any of them. I was under the impression that latency was primarily a PC based DAW problem - depending on your PC strength and specific DAW and it's settings.
Excuse me if I've misunderstood the opening post question - I assumed Gordon was asking how to set up the recorder to accomplish the stated goal: track assign, routing, etc.
I recommend that Gordon go to youtube and watch the Phil Tipping tutorial series dedicated to this recorder line. They are excellent tutorials that explain things from the perspective of signal flow as it relates to the factory block diagram. These recorders are very intuitive once you grasp the block diagram. The Tipping videos will point you to mastery.
Also - this site has ALL the technical information, tips and tricks, etc that you'll ever need. Myself, Phil, and other experts are there to help.
www.tascamforums.com
Excuse me if I've misunderstood the opening post question - I assumed Gordon was asking how to set up the recorder to accomplish the stated goal: track assign, routing, etc.
I recommend that Gordon go to youtube and watch the Phil Tipping tutorial series dedicated to this recorder line. They are excellent tutorials that explain things from the perspective of signal flow as it relates to the factory block diagram. These recorders are very intuitive once you grasp the block diagram. The Tipping videos will point you to mastery.
Also - this site has ALL the technical information, tips and tricks, etc that you'll ever need. Myself, Phil, and other experts are there to help.
2488 and DP-24/32 Digital Portastudios
TASCAM's integrated digital workstations with professional features.
TalismanRich
Well-known member
Good call on the Youtube tutorials. Not using the Tascam Portastudios, I'm not up on who has produced good videos. It's like Kenny Gioia's Reaper videos. I may have misunderstood what the OP was asking. My assumption was that OP had the manual which seems to lay out the basic steps pretty well.
I haven't used the Tascam DPs, but my R-24. H4n and Yamaha AW1600 had absolutely NO issue with latency. They don't have to deal with USB polling issues or background apps, virus programs, keyboard and mouse inputs and doing hi-rez video graphics. The operating system and hardware is designed to do one thing and that's to record audio.
I haven't used the Tascam DPs, but my R-24. H4n and Yamaha AW1600 had absolutely NO issue with latency. They don't have to deal with USB polling issues or background apps, virus programs, keyboard and mouse inputs and doing hi-rez video graphics. The operating system and hardware is designed to do one thing and that's to record audio.
maxman65
Member
Never noticed latency in standalone recorders . Latency in computers is another story . No noticeably latency in keyboard sounds either that's why I blend to get the immediacy of attack in a keyboard based piano and the velocity character variations in vst based pianos on computer . That's been my way of getting the best of both worlds
Pretty sure some recording folk artists of the early 70s will have been mic ed for guitar and vocal to play and record simultaneously. If the proficiency of the artist is there to get a good performance can't see why not . It's more organic provided it's done well
Pretty sure some recording folk artists of the early 70s will have been mic ed for guitar and vocal to play and record simultaneously. If the proficiency of the artist is there to get a good performance can't see why not . It's more organic provided it's done well
The answer to the original question would be: "WIth careful mic placement."
Phasing is going to be the one thing you want to avoid.
The mono button will be your friend in setting this up, as you can check if the two mics together are creating cancellations/phasey sounds/drops in frequencies or volume...all the happy by-products of two mics trying to deliver the same signal to one source.
Pointing the guitar mic down towards the guitar from a bit above level, and angling the vox mic up towards the singer is a start, as mentioned earlier in the thread.
Much depends on room, mic polar pattern, polarity switch setting and volume.
The point is not ultimately to try to get the two mics to "only pick up one source each", because that would be almost impossible, but to get a blend of the predominant source from each mic (voice/guitar) without cancellation issues from the whole.
C.
Phasing is going to be the one thing you want to avoid.
The mono button will be your friend in setting this up, as you can check if the two mics together are creating cancellations/phasey sounds/drops in frequencies or volume...all the happy by-products of two mics trying to deliver the same signal to one source.
Pointing the guitar mic down towards the guitar from a bit above level, and angling the vox mic up towards the singer is a start, as mentioned earlier in the thread.
Much depends on room, mic polar pattern, polarity switch setting and volume.
The point is not ultimately to try to get the two mics to "only pick up one source each", because that would be almost impossible, but to get a blend of the predominant source from each mic (voice/guitar) without cancellation issues from the whole.
C.
rob aylestone
Moderator
Now we have so many mic types, you can try the ones that let you get close without proximity effect and sing into them close. The amount of guitar will be virtually zero. The guitar mic will get the vocal reduced to a degree by a big mic in the way, but there will be some spill.
let’s assume the aim is to be able to provide processing and effects to one and not the other, or maybe you want to comp the vocal track, or even pitch shift it? With a close mic you can do that, and when you blend them together, you’ve fixed it. With two more distant mics, perhaps to avoid proximity problems, this kind of vocal work is very difficult. If you just repeat the recordings till your fingers and voice are perfect, balance and blend is all you need.
let’s assume the aim is to be able to provide processing and effects to one and not the other, or maybe you want to comp the vocal track, or even pitch shift it? With a close mic you can do that, and when you blend them together, you’ve fixed it. With two more distant mics, perhaps to avoid proximity problems, this kind of vocal work is very difficult. If you just repeat the recordings till your fingers and voice are perfect, balance and blend is all you need.