Sound not right

  • Thread starter Thread starter jwfisch
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jwfisch

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I have an alesisLX20 8 track I can't get the sound I want The sound I get when I record a live band it sounds real muddy, Now if I use can music and 1 vocal its sounds pretty good. I'm using sm57 for instruments and sm58's for vocal's I have tried all different levels and still doesn't sound right. Also when I go down to my dat or my cd burner it sound's like the kick-off instrument has been compressed and its not. I come out of the 8 track to an apex 104 aural exciter and through a equalizer to ether my dat machine or my cd burner. I pull the main slide on the console down just enough so it dosen't clip the red on my dat, and when I'm througt it just dosen't sound good, Boy I could realy use some help (The Band is all acoustic)
 
Hope you don't suspect the machine!

The ADAT 20 bit format is an excellent sounding digital format.

Right off, I should say that you have given too little information to really help you. We would need to know things like:

What kind of monitors are you using?

What kind of mixing board?

Are you submixing any tracks (are you combining microphones together and sending them to the same track?)

How are you placing the mics?

How are you adjusting the eq after you record the tracks?


I can comment on a couple of things straight off though.

The SM 57 is a good all around instrument mic, but usually in the studio it's uses only include snare drum, rack tom's, and micing a guitar speaker. Of course there are other good uses for it, but I am just listing the most common ones in a studio. More times then not, condensor microphones are used for acoustic type of instruments in the studio.

The SM 58 is an excellent live vocal mic, but usually is not the type of sound one is looking for in recording. Again, condensor mics are usually employed for recording.

In either case, both mics can produce decent enough results if you place them carefully.

It is very uncommon to use a equalizer and/or a aural exciter between the mixing board and the mixdown deck. Yes, some have used both with some success, but you really need to know what you are doing to make this work, and sometimes, the problems they fix are overshadowed by the problems they create. Try mixing without either and work on eqing the individual tracks to sound more like what you want.

It sounds like you may be kind of new to recording, and if so, please try to remember that it could take you some time to develope the skills to get the sound you want. Be patient and plug away at it and you will start finding little tricks that work for you.

This question might actually be better suited for another forum. This forum doesn't seem to get a lot of people posting in it.

Good Day!
 
Mr. Sound Cracker
I have an alesis 32 console and alesis 100 watt amp two 3311 monitor speakers, I have tried different position for the mic's, I don't know what else to do that the reason I posted my problem here I wanted some professional answer's and I am very new at recording but I am willing to take any advise that you can offer.
I didn't mean to offend you and I'm sorry if I did by posting my question here, If you would tell me were to post I would. Thank you!
Jimmy
 
Hi jwfisch, Soundcracker has some good advice.
What he meant about posting in the Alesis forum
is that it doesnt get many hits, not many folks
hang out here. You would get more opinions
posting in a forum with more traffic, like the
Recording Techniques Forum, mixing and mastering,
and Microphones.

I dont think you could possibly offend people around
here! Everybody is in the same boat, we all want
to learn from each other. I would also assume that
the problem is not the Alesis, the problem probably
lies elsewhere . Good Luck, David
 
Thanks
David i sure don't want to make anybody mad.
Jimmy
 
If you're doing Bluegrass try recording the band the old fashioned way; get yourself one nice condensor like an AT-4033 or a reasonable facsimale and have everybody gather around it and balance the mix by positioning the players. When they do a solo, have that person step towards the mic (Grand Ol Opry style). I've recorded bluegrass bands this way and also tight micing and the single mic technique just sounds more natural to me. Your milage may very.
 
Mr. Track Rat

Thanks for the info, I just might try that!

Thanks again!
Jimmy
 
One point about processing - I would leave out as much processing as possible beforehand. Personally, I've even been known to not EQ anything till it gets to tape...(The studio32 has a selectable EQ, as I recall) -that way, if I need a punch-in a few weeks later, it'll be a lot easier to get the right settings - just get the volume right

But I've had professionals tell me to eq before - so that you aren't amplifying tape hiss when you EQ high end...then again, that was with analog recording, so maybe it's ok now
 
It sounds like a problem between the EQ, that aural exciter, .... I don't think it would be the mics or placement.. even if they aren't the best ones for recording the way you are, you should still, get a decent sound.. from any mic with sufficient eq'ing, 10 years back when i was just starting out, I had a few $29.99 radioshack mics, and a little fostex 4 track, and with the proper eq, I could make that shit sing!!... (I pull out those old recordings now and they still sound decent (although not not master quality)...I would say, bad eq'ing or that aural exciter, for your problem, (long shot of a guess at least).... Don't be scared to turn them knobs, alot of engineers, even pro guys have that "less eq is better" philosophy, but You gotta experiment... get rid of some mids, and ad a few highs, maybe that will kill that muddy sound....Hope this helps in some small way...
 
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