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Flei

Flei

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I don't know about you, but there were several times in the past where I had a musical "breakthrough". I don't mean that you reinvented the wheel or anything, just that you figured something out, and said "Holy sh!t. That's how they make it sound like that."

What was your biggest break though(s) or discovery? I'll start...

Vocals
1. I made lots of instumentals before I could find somebody willing to lay down some vocals. When I did, they were recorded dry and left that way. Needless to say, it sounded like crap. One day I heard about this thing called "compression" and supposedly it made it easier to hear everything. I quickly found out that if you throw some effects (compression, reverb, chorus, delays, etc...) on the vocal track (in a good way, not in a over-produced Britney Spears way) and it makes the songs sound more "together". That, and making the vocals mono helps carve out space for everything.

2. Putting too many effects is bad (but common) :spank:

3. There are not enough effects on the planet to help somebody who has no vocal talent :drunk:

Oh, and the day that I got my tube pre-amp and discovered what "warm" sounded like... That was a good day.:guitar:
 
Flei said:
d making the vocals mono helps carve out space for everything.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by this. A vocal track IS mono no matter what. Even if you record it into a stereo channel, it's still mono.
 
True indeed. I can only speak from my experiences but...

When I record vocals into a stereo track it sounds "wide". If I record vocals into a mono track it sounds more "in the middle". I understand what you're saying (the exception being if you're actually using a stereo mic - I'm not), but there is a definite difference in the sound when I record in stereo vs mono. As a result, I typically record the main vocal track in mono, and the backing vocals in stereo. That helps the vocals sit "in the pocket" and the instruments play all around it. It might just be me... perhaps I should lay off the greenery while recording... :o
 
Flei said:
True indeed. I can only speak from my experiences but...

When I record vocals into a stereo track it sounds "wide". If I record vocals into a mono track it sounds more "in the middle". I understand what you're saying (the exception being if you're actually using a stereo mic - I'm not), but there is a definite difference in the sound when I record in stereo vs mono. As a result, I typically record the main vocal track in mono, and the backing vocals in stereo. That helps the vocals sit "in the pocket" and the instruments play all around it. It might just be me... perhaps I should lay off the greenery while recording... :o
Click to expand...
Nah, greenery's a good thing.:cool:

But I think what you're experiencing is "Psycho-acoustics". It doesn't sound wider, that's just not possible. The only thing recording into a stereo might do is make the vocals only come out on one side, but you would have noticed that if it ever happened.
 
When I get home from work today I'll upload two different songs. One with "stereo" vocals and one with "mono" vocals. Maybe my DAW is doing some funky shit behind the scenes, but there is definitely a difference in sound. I guess technically, it's probably recording "dual-mono" or something.

I guess I never thought about it since I assumed that I was recording in stereo... but your right, it's a mono signal coming in from a mono source so technically, it can't be stereo. I've got two different programs that I use for recording, and they both can record in stereo or mono. It's set to stereo by default. If I then convert the file to mono, it sounds more "in the middle".

Strange but true... at least in my head :drunk:
 
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