Recording(vocals) Volume.

[UmbraVilla]

hey guys.

how loud must a recording(vocals) be?

and why?

im recording a rap song, and how loud should be my instrumentals?

 

[NYMorningstar]

This loud: ELEVEN!

with more cowbell

 

[Terra]

This loud: ELEVEN!

with more cowbell

haha.

to answer the OP: You really should record everything at a low volume, you can always use a limiter/etc to bring up the volume later, but you can't get rid of clipping in the middle of a vocal cut. Keep it way below unity gain (0db mark).

in terms of MIXING, that all depends on the song. does the song sound like the beat needs to be right up next to the vocal? or are you trying to highlight the rapper? in the latter case, you want to bring the vocal up above the beat just a lil'.

 

[Massive Master]

http://www.massivemastering.com/blog/index_files/Proper_Audio_Recording_Levels.php

 

[Chibi Nappa]

My rule of thumb: The first thing I record I set to peak at about -12 with the faders at zero. Everything I record after that I set to record at a volume that is correctly balanced with what was already recorded with the faders at zero.

It makes mixing easy and you don't worry about headroom with effects and such.

 

[TimOBrien]

http://www.massivemastering.com/blog/index_files/Proper_Audio_Recording_Levels.php

THIS.

Follow it and you wont go wrong. The last thing you want to do is run too hot.

 

[rockstarstudios]

What I usually do is after having a rough mix of all my tracks
I bring the vocal track fader all the way down and start pushing it up little
by little till it sits down in the mix. After that it usually needs and extra db up
or down or so.
then AB it with a good quality recording just to make sure you are in the spot.

this is what works for me