Digital Audio Mastering – The Gift We Owe Our Listeners
by Owen Critchley
Warner/LoudThud recording artist/producer
Author of Easy Home Recording Blueprint
You are viewing Part 1: “Intro to Digital Audio Mastering”
(For Part 2 go to Mastering Tips)
The digital audio mastering phase is the true finish line of the home recording process and not “the mix” as many aspiring musicians believe. Mastering a song is perhaps the least understood step and it is what I am going shed some light on in this article.
I created this site to illustrate how to greatly simplify recording music at home. Actually, perhaps more accurately, the opinion I’m really offering throughout this site, is how simple the process should be for making our best home studio recording.
To be productive and have a realistic hope for a successful music career, the aspiring musician must get his or her songs and music recorded in the fastest, easiest and most effective ways possible. I believe the information available throughout this site will show you how to do just that.
However… digital audio mastering is a different animal altogether. What is audio mastering exactly?
The polish and shine that a good mastering job provides even the simplest home recording, is so profound, and makes such a positive impression on new listeners and potential fans, that some very careful considerations and decisions need to made to ensure we achieve the best home studio recording we can.
Audio mastering is essentially the precise and surgical manipulation of very targeted EQ (frequency equalization) and compression. A mastering engineer has to have an intimate understanding of EQ and compressors and the tools to manipulate them adequately for digital audio mastering.
Why do I need to have my mix mastered?
The final mix you create of your recording will span a range of volumes from the quiet portions of a verse, to the much louder climax of a final chorus. This is a good thing. It is what gives your song emotional dynamics. However…
The average listener who comes across your music will have his or her playback volume set to the same level all day long for all the different tunes they listen to during their normal day. They will not drop what they are doing to turn up the quiet passages of your song only to have your loud sections punish them later.
The listener you need to impress, will certainly flee as fast as they can from your music if listening to it is a chore. It could be a fantastic song, and even a great mix, but if listeners have to keep one hand on their volume control every time one of your songs come on, they will blame you and assume you are not ready for prime time.
This is where digital audio mastering comes in.
By pinpointing and targeting exact frequencies with tools like multi-band compressors and parametric equalizers and filters, the mastering artist is able to lay down some rules that a mix must abide by. Using compressors, he or she creates a defined volume range called a “floor” and “ceiling” that your mix must inhabit. i.e. Nothing is allowed to fall under a certain volume, and nothing is allowed to go over a certain volume.
Here… this is an easier way to think of it:
The mastering engineer is like a shepherd
Like sheep, the sounds in your mix have a natural desire to scatter all over the place and go wherever each of them wants.
Now think of the mastering engineer as the shepherd. And like a shepherd, he or she cannot allow this random scattering far and wide. He or she must “herd” the sheep and keep them neatly together, so he can see all of them as a single unit.
A shepherd will use dogs to patrol the edges of the flock to drive the sheep together. The mastering engineer’s “dogs” are his compressors and equalizers. He compresses the sounds and sections of your song’s mix together and chases and tames stray volume spikes and sounds with ultra targeted EQ and compression tools.
At the same time, the mastering engineer must not squeeze the natural emotional dynamics out of your mix by making them occupy too narrow a space. He must provide the listener with the illusion of dynamics (quiet and high volume,) but in reality he or she is giving them a recording that has a very similar relative volume throughout.
This, in a nutshell, is why a listener doesn’t have to leap back and forth to her playback volume when listening to well mastered songs. An even and consistent relative listening volume has been created by the digital audio mastering process. Mastering clarifies, intensifies, highlights, lifts and separates your mix and provides valuable listening satisfaction for your listeners and beloved fans.
Digital audio mastering is the gift we give to the most valuable member of our team: The Listener.
Where to find online mastering
In general, my advice is to hire a good mastering engineer to truly put the finishing touch on your mix. You owe yourself and your talent, the best master of your song that you can. Nowadays a great engineer for your digital audio mastering needs is just an email away, and better yet, he or she will often master for as little as $10 – $40 per song. This is still hard for me to believe but nonetheless, it’s true. So take advantage of it.
Here are just a few of the mastering services available online:
- XARC Mastering
- Songmastering.com
- Blue Mountain Mastering
- audio-cd-mastering.com/
DIY Mastering Software?
If you would like to try your hand at mastering so you can learn more about it, there are a couple of useful software mastering programs that do a pretty good job. My favorites happen to be:
- iZotope Ozone 4 Complete Mastering System Software Standard
(Quite easy to use, and a great audio mastering learning tool)
- IK Multimedia T-RackS 3 Standard Hybrid
(exciting program, but be careful of its tendency to overemphasize the upper mid-range… tends to create masters on the harsh side. Solve this by rolling off a bit of the high mid-range frequencies)
Just promise me that you won’t use any “instant” or “intelligent” mastering programs that promise to master like a pro with the click of a button. Mastering is just too important and is a far too organic and personal process to be left to a computer algorithm.
Free Home Recording Course and more…
There’s a whole section about digital audio mastering in my book, Easy Home Recording Blueprint. And don’t forget to sign up for my free home recording course at the side of this page. The free course is full of home studio recording tips I think you’ll love.
Talk soon,
Owen Critchley
Mixing Music Software – Ease of Use is Your 1st Criteria
by Owen Critchley (Warner, Capitol, Audio Socket recording artist)
The number one thing I’ve learned about recording, mixing music software is that when it comes right down to it, the only thing that really matters is that it is effortless to use and gets out of my way as I turn creative inspiration into a great record. We must make this the rule with all the tools in our home recording studio.
The holy grail of any recording artist is to create a home recording setup that captures and records our ideas exactly as we imagine them. As I often say, “We must always look for ways to shorten the distance between inspiration and realization.”
So, let me ask you this:
- Is your recording and mixing music software staying out of your way?
- Is it simple to use, effective and provide a quick route to the capture and recording of your ideas?
It is irrelevant how much you spend on your home studio recording software, and it also doesn’t matter what anyone else says you should spend. Because if it doesn’t work hand in hand with your creativity, then it just isn’t right for you. The bottom line is, if you can’t answer “Yes” to the questions above, then your music will never reach tape the way you imagined it.
I’m not saying expensive recording software can’t do a great job, because in an experienced engineer’s hands, they can. It’s just that for so many talented musicians and songwriters, the learning curve is so steep with these complex software packages, that the reason they bought these recording programs in the first place, i.e. their music, ends up suffering as they struggle simply to get something of value recorded.
My own answers to these questions are what led me to re-think my methods which then led to me tearing down my very expensive home recording studio and amazingly, replacing it with my new system…. based around free music recording software!
In fact, my system is so simple, and provides such a direct route to making the type of recordings I want, that I wrote a book about it so other aspiring recording artists can make the sort of records they always imagined doing.
Recording and mixing music software. Which is best for you?
Now, I happen to use the simple and brilliant Garageband recording software for Mac, but many of you use Windows based computers and Garageband is not available to you. If changing to a Mac is not in the cards for you, here is one of my home studio recording tips:
Before you get pressured by the “expert” voices on the discussion boards out there and sucked into spending $300-$600 on recording and mixing software for your music, try hard to remember your goal… to effortlessly and quickly record great sounding records.
Say it out loud. “I want to effortlessly and quickly record great sounding records.”
So, for you Windows users who don’t have access to Garageband for PC, keep it simple and try a few of the following inexpensive or even free music recording software.
The proof of the success of a simple and free computer recording system is right in front of your ears… on the radio, that movie soundtrack, on that iPod over there….
If you need answers and proof as to whether it really is possible to make great sounding recordings at home using dead simple recording software, I will be only too happy to share with you the success of my recording blueprint. A blueprint I use every day use to record music at home using free recording, mixing music software.
Just sign up for my home recording letters or grab a copy of my new book showing my exact step by step for recording my songs for movies, tv, CD release, video games etc.
Remember, when it comes to home studio recording, mixing music software…
Make it simple, make it successful.
Talk soon,
How to Edit Garageband Tracks
The Basics About Editing Waveforms in Garageband or Any Other Recording Software
by Owen Critchley
Warner/LoudThud recording artist
Author of Easy Home Recording Blueprint
Knowing how to edit in Garageband effectively is certainly the key that opens up almost unlimited creative possibilities and shows the surprising power of this seemingly simple recording software. In fact, once we learn the basic technique for making simple edits in Garageband we are only limited by our own imaginations.
For this article we’ll have a look at the basic process of how to edit in Garageband. NOTE: Remember, the following techniques are similar in all recording software and for you PC users, there is a program called Mixcraft 5 that is very similar to Garageband. You can download and try Mixcraft 5 free here.
However, for truly stunning editing effects and step by step recording tips and tricks, you will be interested in my book, “Easy Home Recording Blueprint.” Contact me at the link at the bottom of this page so I can include you in the advance copy list.
Step by Step: How to Edit Garageband Tracks and “Regions”
- Under the Control menu at the top of the window, turn off the “Snap to Grid” option. This will prevent the song position cursor from defaulting to the nearest beat or bar and will allow exact, manual positioning so you can pinpoint your edits and cuts.
- Highlight the individual track to be edited
- Click the “scissors” edit icon at the bottom left of the Garageband window. This will provide a zoom view of the track to be edited. Move the slider in this area to zoom in further for very fine editing in Garageband. (These features are also present in most other recording software)
- Place the song position cursor at the exact place of the recorded waveform where you will be making a cut
- To make a cut in the recorded waveform, you can either choose “Split” under the Edit menu, or use the keyboard shortcut, which is “Command key + the letter T”. (The “command” key is also known as the “Apple Key.”)
What can digital sound editing do for me? The bottom line is…
Each track’s waveform is known as a “region” and therefore, each time you split a region you give birth to another region. These regions can be moved around and copied and pasted elsewhere on the track or to entirely new tracks. Just being aware of this, is like a road map for creating pro sounding effects and sound layering tricks.
In my free email newsletter and in even greater detail in my book, I illustrate exactly how to edit Garageband (of course, my step by step editing tips also work for any recording software) to create monstrous guitar sounds, how to record good vocal tracks that are a mile wide, huge drum and synth sounds and thunderous and clear bass. Sign up now on the right side of this page or click the “Contact Us” link at the bottom to be notified when your advance copy of my eBook is available.
Top Tricks on How to Soundproof a Studio at Home
by Owen Critchley
As I got going with the challenge of creating my easy home recording studio method, it dawned on me, “How about some tips about how to soundproof a studio at home? Is it really necessary for aspiring musicians to spend hundreds of dollars on specialized acoustic foam and studio baffles?”
You see, soundproofing a home studio is just one more way the “business” side of the home recording studio sucks us into the “product culture” that manufacturers work hard to create. You can see why, because they know that “where there is great interest and big dreams, there is money to be made.”
One or two tips, straight from my book, about how to soundproof a studio at home
This is a method I use myself and it is a dirt cheap way of soundproofing for studio walls and floors at home. If you are, or plan on recording at home, you’ll be most likely setting up in a bedroom, a corner of the living room, or recording in the garage. That’s great for convenience and easy accessibility, but the square corners and hard walls and floor surfaces in our homes create the problem of sound ricocheting and bouncing all over the place and messing up our ability to accurately judge our recordings.
Our goal is to dampen, absorb and randomize the shape and surroundings of the recording home studio environment.
How to soundproof a studio: Walls
* I stumbled on the perfect acoustic material for soundproofing my home studio when I was in the hardware store. What I found is the foam tile-type exercise mats or sectional mechanic’s mats. These foam type mats fit together like a jig-saw puzzle enabling you to put them together in any shape or size needed.
Simply drive very small brass nails through the mat (like those found in picture hanging kits) to attach them to the wall. We want to be able to re-position the foam tiles as needed, so do not glue the foam mat tiles to the wall. Also, no one needs to mess up their walls.
I use a single foam tile under my microphone stand to insulate resonance from the floor that can travel up the mic stand. It works like a charm, does not cost much at all, and actually looks really cool on the walls of the studio. Have a look:
Soundproofing for studio: Floors
- Wall to wall carpet (often ugly, but effective)
- Multiple shapes and sizes of area rugs. Nowadays you can get inexpensive fake oriental area rugs or modern designer knock-offs that create a nice vibe and do the job of dampening and absorbing sound reflection off the floor.
- Foam exercise tiles as described above. You could potentially tile your whole home studio floor with these snap together foam tiles.
Tip for buying soundproofing for home studio:
Instead of getting these mats in the home gym section of your sports store, the identical product is available even cheaper in the tool section of the hardware store, but they market them as mechanics’ mats.
Who else wants to make a wickedly effective vocal recording booth in seconds… AND costs almost nothing?
In my book, “Easy Home Recording Blueprint,” I have recording tips and tricks that include making a vocal or instrument recording booth in seconds that costs next to nothing. Even better, you can take it apart and put it away in 10 seconds flat. No tools, no effort and it works great. There is literally a ton more stuff about how I make my records at home. Great sounding, fast and dirt cheap… you’ll see ; )
Get on the advance list now by clicking “Contact Us” below. Just put “Your book” in the subject line and you can be among those who are first in line to get my book.
Talk soon,
Owen
Garageband How to Fade In and Fade Out
by Owen Critchley
Recording artist/Producer
Once the new Garageband user finds the “Track Volume Timeline” he or she realizes what an elegant little tool it is. However, with the track volume timeline in Garageband, how to fade is only one of the benefits that becomes apparent to the new user. He or she soon realizes that this function is the key to how Garageband has incorporated a surprisingly useful and unique approach to automated mixing.
Garageband – How to Fade In and Fade Out Using the “Track Volume Timeline”
First let’s find the Track Volume Timeline in Garageband. Each track we create has a series of icons in a row under the track name. After the headphone and padlock icons, the final icon is an arrow pointing up. Click on this arrow and the Track Volume button is revealed. Click on it to activate the timeline.
As you can see, there is a blue shaded “volume timeline” under the entire length of the track. With this volume timeline in Garageband, how to fade in or out, and how to make fine volume adjustments throughout a performance, is as easy as clicking the timeline to create a volume marker at the exact desired position of the track.
Create volume markers at the beginning and end of each section that needs a volume adjustment. For example, use this function to catch performance volume spikes.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Once the Track Volume Timeline is activated, the panning control is taken offline.
- To re-engage your track’s panning control, simply turn off the Track Volume temporarily while you make your desired pan placement adjustment.
Garageband – how to fade and how to remix Garageband. Advanced tips and tricks to take your recording to pro level… fast
In my book, “Easy Home Recording Blueprint,” I have much more detail than I can go into here, about some very big league sounding automated mixing tricks you can easily achieve using the Garageband Track Volume Timeline. Using just this unique little tool in Garageband, I created an incredibly complex automated mix for my song, “Taste An Escape” which was used in the TV series Roadtrip Nation.
Click on the Contact Us link below, to get on the list for your limited advance copy of my book now.
Today’s Head’s Up – from our “Home Recording Deal Spy”
By the way, I was just scanning the BSW flier and there are some great deals on condenser mics and studio headphones over there right now.
A good home recording studio condenser mic makes a big difference. Just don’t spend too much. If you can get one for under $200, you’re golden.
Here’s the snippet from BSW’s promo flier:
Check out BSW for a wide selection of professional audio and recording equipment at great prices.
How to Record on Garageband – Getting Started
by Owen Critchley
Warner/LoudThud recording artist
Author of Easy Home Recording Blueprint
UPDATE: Recorded on Garageband – Worldwide Label Release for “Keep Looking For Me”
“Keep Looking For Me” was recorded entirely using the
Easy Home Recording Blueprint method. Find out more below
Intro
Perhaps more than most, I submit that learning how to record on Garageband should be a prerequisite for all aspiring, and even established musicians. In my opinion, knowing how to use Garageband effectively is second only in importance to the ability to write and/or play music.
Pretty strong opinion, I know. However, the effect of Garageband on my own most recent career successes, more than validates this statement. In fact, the results of a year long experiment with Garageband is at the core of my new book: “Easy Home Recording Blueprint – How to make pro-quality records at home.“
Garageband is, of course, the multitrack audio recording software that comes fully installed in all new Mac computers. When first released, what seemed like beginner recording software, Garageband has proven itself by quietly, and profoundly, revolutionizing music creation and therefore the business of making music itself.
How to Record on Garageband – First Steps on the Path to Pro Quality Sound
I recognize that the first meeting between person and software, is the most delicate and tenuous point in the entire relationship. It determines in large part whether the relationship continues or ends before it even gets started. With that in mind let’s answer the most basic questions about sending a sound to, and how to record on Garageband.
Q: How do I get a sound I play to show up and record in Garageband?
A: A sound from an instrument or voice that originates in the “real world” (instruments, voice, etc), must be converted to a digital signal that is suitable for the digital world of recording software. Your computer has a built in analog to digital sound converter, allowing you to “plug in and play” directly into the computer. However, for truly high quality sound reproduction, an external hardware converter should be used. (Also known as an I/O box.)
Q: What do I have to know about I/O hardware?
A: External I/O hardware normally attaches to your computer via USB or Firewire cable. Once plugged into your computer’s USB or Firewire input, simply set your computer’s audio preferences to allow the I/O hardware to handle all incoming and outgoing audio. This will bypass the computer’s built-in sound card, thus giving you professional quality analog to digital sound conversion. Nothing fancy. I use the M-Audio Fast Track MKII USB Audio Interface
Q: Ok, so I open Garageband and then what?
A: The true beauty of Garageband is, from this point on everything is, and remains very simple. Go to the upper menu in Garageband and choose “Create New Track.” Each track has a channel which you set to receive a Mono or Stereo signal. If you are simply plugging in a single mic or instrument, the channel should be set to Mono. Click the record button and begin playing or singing. This is your “source sound” and it will show up on the track you created in Garageband. To add an additional layer or instrument, repeat the process beginning with “create new track.” This is the essence of “multi-track recording.
Q: What if I’m not using a Mac? Can you tell me how to get Garageband on Windows?
A: Garageband, so far, is not available for PC. However there is simple multi-track recording software that is very similar to Garageband for PC called Mixcraft 5. (You can download and try Mixcraft 5 for free here)
Q: So that’s how to record on Garageband… but can I make pro sounding recordings with Garageband?
A: The answer is yes. Garageband provides an elegant and cooperative environment for creating great recordings. However, from this point on you must deepen your understanding of the recording process and how to capture sound properly and clearly. This is as much the case with Garageband as it is with all other digital recording software.
Recording tips and tricks: Laying perfect tracks including how to record in Garageband, Mixcraft, or any recording software for that matter
The Easy Home Recording Blueprint provides, what I think is the simplest and clearest guide available in the world for easily making truly professional sounding recordings at home. Read reviews of recordings made using the methods in my book from some of the best ears in the music business on the homepage.
It includes my many specific tricks, tips and techniques that I have documented after an entire year creating recordings using Garageband. My book includes:
- How to edit in Garageband
- Understanding like a pro, the power of EQ
- How to mix in Garageband
- How to create huge backup vocals using just a few tracks
- How to create “mile wide” guitars and keyboard tracks
- How to record bass like a pro
- How to record vocals like a pro
- How to easily edit existing beats to create beats of your own
- How to be heard by thousands of new listeners
- Tons more… you’ll see
The proof of the power of this incredibly simplified system is the fact that my recordings, using the exact same methods in my book, have gone on to be used in movies, tv, licensing, as well as record label CD releases around the world.
Find out more about Easy Home Recording Blueprint …
Tips – Home Recording Part 2: Getting a Good Input Volume Level
Second Installment in the Continuing Series: Tips – Home Recording
by Owen Critchley
Introduction
In part 1 of my tips – home recording, we talked about the importance of imagining the instrumentation, style of performance and our desired mood for the song, well before the home studio recording session starts.
[Home Recording Tips - Part 1]
I think I also pointed out that “he who understands and controls the most little details, wins.”
Let’s continue with Part 2 and talk about one such little detail:
Tips – Home Recording. Setting input volume levels
You see, our source sound can be colored and altered in many unexpected ways. This is especially true in the home recording studio because we are most likely recording in a room that was not specifically designed for audio recording.
Therefore, it is important that we at least take control of the things which we are able to control. Taking a few minutes to set the volume input properly that goes to track is one of them.
You may not believe it, but way too many folks recording at home, spend all kinds of time getting a great source sound for guitar, synth, vocal or whatever, only to totally blow it by not bothering to set a good input level. The original sound of course, becomes totally colored and altered.
- A wimpy input level? Thin, hissy, low energy sound sent to the track.
- An overly hot input level? Distorted, flattened sound with no nuance or life.
To make matters more absurd, this is the point when many folks are convinced their equipment sucks and begin scouring the online discussion groups to try to find the next expensive toy to buy. But the sad part is that no new shiny studio toy will save them from themselves if they don’t learn to deal with the details.
Simply, your input should average a couple of dB’s under the “zero” point on your meters. This will leave room for unexpected peaks during the performance while also maintaining a good signal to noise ratio. In other words, you want to receive mostly Signal i.e. the source sound. And not much noise and hiss from room noise and/or the equipment.
More importantly a healthy input level enables your recording software to “assemble” and reproduce the full spectrum of the source sound you worked so hard getting. When we get a full bodied reproduction of each of our source sounds onto their tracks, we’re golden. Instead of trying squeeze blood from a stone with bad input levels, our mixing and editing process will be a breeze because our sounds will respond beautifully to even our smallest sonic tweaks like EQ and compression.
Tips – Home Recording. How to set input volume levels without being a session buzz kill
Nothing drains the energy out of a recording session quicker than the person who is engineering asking to test his input volume levels by saying daft things like, “Say something… give me a level. Keep talking. Again… again. Say “1, 2, 3, 4, 5,..” Keep it up.”
He may be able to make sure everything is working, but the level he is getting is going to be pretty useless, because it has nothing to do with what is actually going to be recorded to track.
Even in the recording home studio environment, an engineer should always try to do his job so that no one is even aware that he is doing his job.
It should be done more like this: Tell the person who is performing the track, that you’re going to play back the song and he should play along to warm up for a few minutes. Yes, you’ll be setting your levels as the guy is playing or singing, but secretly, you’ll also be recording the whole time as well.
Why?
Two reasons. With todays recording software, you’ve got almost unlimited track space, so who cares if you have a few rough “warm up” type tracks? Second, while the performer thinks he is just “warming up” he or she will often be at their most relaxed and creative point of the whole session and you don’t want some great stuff he or she is playing to disappear into the ethers. Record it. It might be garbage. Who cares? It might also be gold.
So, after the performer has fun warming up for just a few minutes singing or playing along with the playback, and we have secretly saved it all to track, you will have set your input level accurately and in context.
As engineer, you’re now ready to ask, “Ok! Ready to try one?”
Read more tips – home recording and home studio tips in Part 3
Home Recording Tips – Part 1
Home Recording Tips. Getting Your Best Home Recording – Part 1 in My Continuing Series
By Owen Critchley
In my book, EASY HOME RECORDING BLUEPRINT, I have 8 Golden Rules for making great sounding recordings in the home studio. Golden Rule #8 states: “If you are true to your aim, your aim will be true.”
In other words, if you focus on what you need to do for your song’s recording, and not ponder every conceivable thing you could do, the path from the starting line to the finish line gets a whole lot shorter, easier and more fun.
Home Recording Tips 1 – Get Your Head in the Game by Stacking the Odds in Your Favor With Creative Pre-Planning
Let your song take shape in your head before you start recording. In life, it is puzzling that we are all quite comfortable pre-planning all the common every day things, but we inexplicably become muddled and lose our common sense when we are standing at the threshold of recording our music. Is it because we care too much, and become drunk and blinded by our own excitement and sense of anticipation? Yes, maybe that’s what’s going on.
But whatever the reason is, it sure stacks the odds against achieving what we want most: making a great record that’ll leave a mark. So, let’s make a deal right now, to get our heads out of the clouds and embrace what’s real. Trust me, it will make reaching all our goals so much more possible.
Home Recording Tips 2 – “What does this recording really need?”
Let’s practice and pretend we have decided to record a hypothetical song we’ve written together.
Let’s call this song, “Behind Your Tears.”
We’ll start like this:
Q: What mood are we after with this song?
A: Sad and personal
Q: How should the lead vocal sound?
A: Sort of weary, almost defeated
Q: Does this vocal mood ever change?
A: Oh yeah… the choruses are more hopeful because the lyric there is a bit more positive because it talks about how things could be if they don’t give up.
Q: So how do we make the instruments support these moods?
A: Maybe we don’t have drums in the verse. Just a piano and maybe a few crying bent notes on an electric guitar.
Q: Any bass instrument?
A: Maybe very little in the verse. Played high on the neck. Let’s save the real stuff for the chorus and really lift off there. The drums can come in there too. But not too heavy for the first chorus.
Q: Let’s make the second verse a bit different ok?
A: Yeah… acoustic guitar and maybe a few far away sounding deep tom-toms.
Q: Cool. Keep building the choruses by adding some weight to each one?
A: Ok. We’ll put a harmony over the lead vocal starting on the second chorus and the drums and bass will be fully locked in. But we’ll end with just the piano again.
See what we did there? Think of it like this: The mood of the song is like the “weather” outside. The instrumentation is how the song is “dressed.” With creative pre-planning, this song is now “dressed” appropriately for the “weather.”
The conversation we had above, translates into a clear track sheet for our upcoming home recording session and gives us a very clear plan and path ahead.
Here’s our preliminary track lineup:
- Vocals: Lead vocal plus one overdubbed harmony vocal
- Guitars: Acoustic and electric
- Keyboards: Piano or similar
- Bass: Bass guitar or similar
- Drums: Acoustic drum kit (or acoustic pre-recorded drum loops) with low toms
We are ready to start recording knowing what we want and what will serve our song well and we have cleared the road ahead by effectively removing thousands of unnecessary possibilities from the table.
Home recording tips like this will separate you from the head-in-the-clouds crowd. Based on what we came up with in our little pre-planning session, I can guarantee you this will be a fun and very simple to do recording session.
Can you hear the song in your head even before we start? Very cool…. we are halfway there and we haven’t even hit the record button yet.
Continue to Part 2 of home studio recording tips…
Vocals Recording Tips – Part 1
Simple Vocals Recording Tips for the Home Recording Studio Part 1
There are so many little vocals recording tips we can talk about. So I’m going to make this subject a multi-part series.
Recording vocals that sound great is the product of being aware of, and taking care of a bunch of little details. As I’m fond of saying, “With all facets of recording at home, the person who ignores the fewest details, wins.” Let’s look at some of the first, and most important details we’ll face when getting set up for recording vocals in the home studio.
Vocals recording tips 1 – “Visualize it” and “Communicate it”
Picture the sound of the vocal and the type of performance you want well before you start. In other words, rehearse and imagine the finished performance well before the vocalist starts recording. You see, it’s a lot more effective to go over and discuss the performance well before the tension of the recording session.
Vocal recording tips 2 – Choosing a microphone for a subtle melodic lead vocal
The performance you visualized in the previous step before starting the recording process, will point you toward the right microphone to use. Remember… there are no hard and fast rules for what tools you should use. Always be willing to test your creativity and imagination. That said, it’s just as important to know the basic characteristics of your home studio tools and how each of them basically functions. With that in mind, here are a few things to consider for choosing a microphone for lead vocal.
- Is the song strongly based on vocal melody and subtle emotional nuances? A vocal condenser microphone is the best place to start.
A condenser will ensure a full frequency “capture” of the lead vocal. They have the added benefit of allowing the lead vocalist to stand at a comfortable distance from the microphone because condensers are very sensitive and do not require the singer to plant his face on the microphone to get a good volume level. Affording the vocalist this freedom from being too aware or nervous about maintaining a strict and close proximity to the mic, means that he or she can concentrate more fully on giving themselves to and “inhabiting” the performance.
NOTE: Some condenser microphones can be prohibitively expensive for the home recording studio. However, the good news is there are some very good and very affordable condenser mics for the home studio market. I get great results from my RODE condenser microphone. It approaches the quality of microphones that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, except I think I only paid about $130 for my RODE NT-1.
Vocals recording tips 3 – Choosing a microphone for an “in your face” lead vocal
- Will the performance be an aggressive, attitude-driven and edgy type of lead vocal? In that case, the immediacy and mid-range highlighting qualities of a live performance, dynamic microphone is cool place to start.
The Shure SM58 and SM57’s have been the warhorses of the live performance for decades. They are dirt cheap, almost indestructible and add an “in your face” color to the recorded vocal sound. I use them in almost any capacity in my recording home studio.
Read part 2 of the Vocals Recording Tips series……..
