L
lawrencepd
New member
Do most people record lead vocals in mono and background vocals in stereo?
bvaleria
New member
That's pretty typical - lead vocal is a mono track panned dead centre 99% of the time. Backgrounds are 2 or more mono tracks panned (and effect'd) to produce a 2-channel stereo spread.
However in the case of a choir or chorus, you may well record it as a stereo track.
On the other hand, there are no hard and fast rules - experiment and see!
Bruce
Blue Bear Sound
However in the case of a choir or chorus, you may well record it as a stereo track.
On the other hand, there are no hard and fast rules - experiment and see!
Bruce
Blue Bear Sound
S
sondriven
New member
When you guys talk about recording vocals in stereo are you saying that you have 2 inputs recording one panned hard left and the other right?
When I do that it seems the signal gets weaker than if its dead center.
Im an idiot when it comes to mixing.
sondriven
When I do that it seems the signal gets weaker than if its dead center.
Im an idiot when it comes to mixing.
sondriven
B
boardman
New member
lawrencepd, sondriven,
As bvaleria said, lead vocals are recorded mono panned straight up (most of the time). What he means on the backups (two or more) is to record them on seperate tracks in mono and then pan them left and/or right or what ever sounds good to you. There are know rules to how you do it. Listen to some Beatles, on some songs, the lead vocal is panned hard left or right and the backups are on the other channel. What ever sounds good. If you want to hear how the best does it again listen to what Sir George Martin did with the Beatles. Great lessons in mixing. Here's a good trick on panning in the mix. Close your eyes and listen to your song. Then as if you were standing or sitting at a show and looking at the band, pan things as they appear on stage, except for the drums. They should be panned seperatly. Pan them as they are set up on stage. Kick straight up, riding toms, a little to the left, floor toms, a little more to the left, snare, just off to the right, hihat, just a little more off to the right, the same with cymbles (left and right). You get the idea. Pan as you see the band setup looking at them from the front. Just something to try. You may not like the mix, but experiment.
Boardman
OldNewDam Productions
As bvaleria said, lead vocals are recorded mono panned straight up (most of the time). What he means on the backups (two or more) is to record them on seperate tracks in mono and then pan them left and/or right or what ever sounds good to you. There are know rules to how you do it. Listen to some Beatles, on some songs, the lead vocal is panned hard left or right and the backups are on the other channel. What ever sounds good. If you want to hear how the best does it again listen to what Sir George Martin did with the Beatles. Great lessons in mixing. Here's a good trick on panning in the mix. Close your eyes and listen to your song. Then as if you were standing or sitting at a show and looking at the band, pan things as they appear on stage, except for the drums. They should be panned seperatly. Pan them as they are set up on stage. Kick straight up, riding toms, a little to the left, floor toms, a little more to the left, snare, just off to the right, hihat, just a little more off to the right, the same with cymbles (left and right). You get the idea. Pan as you see the band setup looking at them from the front. Just something to try. You may not like the mix, but experiment.
Boardman
OldNewDam Productions
L
lawrencepd
New member
Re: Background / Stereo or Mono...
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm gonna try them out. As a side note, what software you guys use for recording? I find it's a lot easier to record vocals and copy & paste them in Cakewalk. I haven't tried recording in Vegas 2.0 yet, just doing the mixing there. Any of you guys tried it?
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm gonna try them out. As a side note, what software you guys use for recording? I find it's a lot easier to record vocals and copy & paste them in Cakewalk. I haven't tried recording in Vegas 2.0 yet, just doing the mixing there. Any of you guys tried it?
bvaleria
New member
Software??? I use 3 copies of ADAT version XT20 and 1 copy of Mackie version 8*buss. Lots of plug-ins version PATCHBAY...............
Bruce
Bruce
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
My understanding is that reverb will tend to move something to the back of the mix, while flat (no reverb) brings it to the front.
I've seen several arguments on this board about the use of reverb. One camp says to use the same setting on everything, as this is how it would tend to be in a live setting. Others say to vary the amount of reverb on each track to create depth.
I've tried both ways, and have had success both ways. I guess it depends on the song and what you are trying to achieve.
The best advice I've seen on this board (and I've seen it a thousand times) is to use your ears. Experiment until it sounds good. Panning and reveb create width and depth, but I've done songs with no panning and equal reverb on all tracks that I thought were fine.
Experimenting is, to me, what makes this stuff so much fun. The biggest benefit from computer recording is the ability to try something, and then remove it if it doesn't work. (Sort of like what word processing did for typewriters. Copy and paste, cut and paste, undo... I love it!!)
I've seen several arguments on this board about the use of reverb. One camp says to use the same setting on everything, as this is how it would tend to be in a live setting. Others say to vary the amount of reverb on each track to create depth.
I've tried both ways, and have had success both ways. I guess it depends on the song and what you are trying to achieve.
The best advice I've seen on this board (and I've seen it a thousand times) is to use your ears. Experiment until it sounds good. Panning and reveb create width and depth, but I've done songs with no panning and equal reverb on all tracks that I thought were fine.
Experimenting is, to me, what makes this stuff so much fun. The biggest benefit from computer recording is the ability to try something, and then remove it if it doesn't work. (Sort of like what word processing did for typewriters. Copy and paste, cut and paste, undo... I love it!!)