One of the most common areas I address with those new to recording is equalization. It’s not surprising that this is a roadblock for many aspiring engineers simply due to the fact that with all of the controls and adjustments that are available, it’s easy to feel like you need to make use of EVERYTHING. This is not the case, the numerous options that are available are simply there to provide flexibility to compensate for the recording source, the engineers preference and any other of the innumerable issues that can arise in a recorded track. In this installment, I’m going to continue to focus on the usage of this tool on vocals.
Not to break tradition, I want to start with the disclaimer that, as with just about everything in a studio, equalization is very subjective. At the end of the day, what sounds good to your ears is correct. I have spent a lot of time studying and practicing learned EQ techniques, and I can tell you, the best education that I have received is spending time critically listening to the music that matches the style I’m working on and working to emulate that sound. In most cases, we are not trying to reinvent the wheel, just trying to attain a good sounding vocal that rides in the correct place in the mix. What I will share with you here are some of my most common practices as I am mixing vocals. I’m also writing this from the perspective of the current trend in vocal presentation, which is a crisp vocal from the top down with a much less obvious bottom (especially true with female vocals).
Depending on the style of music, one of the first things I’m working on is cleaning up the bottom end frequencies of the mix. Knowing that there is a lot of room for “mud” between kick drums, toms, bass, guitar and vocal sibilance, I work to make the vocal track stand above those instruments. Generally speaking, I begin with a high-pass filter on a vocal initiating a gentle roll off between 250 & 125 Hz (Know that if you are going for the “big” male vocal, this may have to be adjusted). With many microphones mid-range frequencies are accentuated, the next place that I’m looking is at these frequencies. Generally, these are the frequencies that will “argue” with my guitar tracks. Typically providing a gentle cut in the mid-rage will remedy this. Finally, to get the “crisp” sound, I work with my higher frequencies. I will usually slightly boost 8-ll kHz, which adds the breathy crispness. Use caution doing this, as it is very easy to make your vocal track too “brittle”. I spend the bulk of my EQing time on the high-mid frequencies with the desired end result of making the vocal ride perfectly on the top edge of the mix. While the above is greatly over-simplified, it is a good point of reference.
The more time you spend working with your equalizers the more comfortable you will become making the right adjustments. It’s just like anything; practice makes perfect. Find what you like, listen to as many reference mixes as you can and work to make your mixes sound similar.
I love to get your input and tips as well, feel free to share. As always, I’m happy to answer questions or provide my opinion.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Recording Tips: The (very) Basics Pt. II
I have received a lot of positive feedback on my blog post: Recording Tips: The (very) Basics, and have been asked by several people to expand on it so that it might encompass what an entire project style studio would need to be to achieve a more complete set-up. I will preface this by saying, if you’re like me, you will never have enough “toys in your toy box” and that a “complete” studio is a very subjective thing. Here I will provide, in my opinion what a good starting point is for a more complete set-up.
In the first installment of this blog I discussed the three most critical facets of the studio, the microphone, the preamp and the room. Assuming you have those three figured out and are happy with that, let’s round it out.
First, you have to have something to record to, either a computer with software for recording or a standalone device for recording. I prefer the computer method, as most do these days, so I’ll focus on that style. First, don’t skimp on your computer, you will be asking this machine to do a lot and to do it without creating latency. Don’t expect an old machine with slow processors and very little RAM to do the job without creating tons of frustration. Get a computer that can handle the workload, Rain Recording is a great place to check out for quality machines. The software is also very subjective and there are tons of choices like Pro Tools, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic and Sonar (just to name a few). Find what works best for you and learn it inside out. Know what you will need to properly run the software; you will likely need an external piece of hardware as well.
Next, you will want to be able to hear what you are recording. You will likely need headphones to do this. Look into multi-channel headphone amps and good, comfortable headphones. The number of channels that you will need for your headphone amp will be dependant on how many simultaneous tracks you intend on recording. You will probably not need an eight-channel amp if you only have two inputs available to record to. Also, if you don’t need many headphone outputs, be sure to check on your external piece of recording hardware (if one is needed for your software), many of these have 1-2 outputs preinstalled. Speaking of hearing what you are recording, you will also likely need a decent pair of studio monitors. There are many choices for studio monitors and again, it is subjective, but be sure to get something that provides a very clear and uncolored sound. Studio monitors are crucial to the mixing process and need to be worked with to get the mixes you like. You will likely have to do some work “tuning” your room to get the best possible sound.
If your audio source is being recorded in another room, you will also want to consider a talkback mic, which enables the engineer to communicate to those being recorded through the headphones. A good, inexpensive place to start is with either the Mackie Big Knob or the Presonus Monitor Station. Both of these will also provide many different ways to configure your monitoring system.
After you get all of the above, a few things that are often forgotten about are, microphone stands, pop filters, good cabling and a music stand. Don’t forget to budget these things into your mix. They do add a considerable amount of cost and are hard to do without if you forget.
This is a very over simplified list, and there are certainly MANY other things that you can add, but as a starting point you have a nicely thought out studio set-up. Studio set-ups can be as simple or as complex as you can make them. The most important thing is that you capture good quality sound and have the ability to take that captured sound and mix it into something pleasing to the ear.
In the first installment of this blog I discussed the three most critical facets of the studio, the microphone, the preamp and the room. Assuming you have those three figured out and are happy with that, let’s round it out.
First, you have to have something to record to, either a computer with software for recording or a standalone device for recording. I prefer the computer method, as most do these days, so I’ll focus on that style. First, don’t skimp on your computer, you will be asking this machine to do a lot and to do it without creating latency. Don’t expect an old machine with slow processors and very little RAM to do the job without creating tons of frustration. Get a computer that can handle the workload, Rain Recording is a great place to check out for quality machines. The software is also very subjective and there are tons of choices like Pro Tools, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic and Sonar (just to name a few). Find what works best for you and learn it inside out. Know what you will need to properly run the software; you will likely need an external piece of hardware as well.
Next, you will want to be able to hear what you are recording. You will likely need headphones to do this. Look into multi-channel headphone amps and good, comfortable headphones. The number of channels that you will need for your headphone amp will be dependant on how many simultaneous tracks you intend on recording. You will probably not need an eight-channel amp if you only have two inputs available to record to. Also, if you don’t need many headphone outputs, be sure to check on your external piece of recording hardware (if one is needed for your software), many of these have 1-2 outputs preinstalled. Speaking of hearing what you are recording, you will also likely need a decent pair of studio monitors. There are many choices for studio monitors and again, it is subjective, but be sure to get something that provides a very clear and uncolored sound. Studio monitors are crucial to the mixing process and need to be worked with to get the mixes you like. You will likely have to do some work “tuning” your room to get the best possible sound.
If your audio source is being recorded in another room, you will also want to consider a talkback mic, which enables the engineer to communicate to those being recorded through the headphones. A good, inexpensive place to start is with either the Mackie Big Knob or the Presonus Monitor Station. Both of these will also provide many different ways to configure your monitoring system.
After you get all of the above, a few things that are often forgotten about are, microphone stands, pop filters, good cabling and a music stand. Don’t forget to budget these things into your mix. They do add a considerable amount of cost and are hard to do without if you forget.
This is a very over simplified list, and there are certainly MANY other things that you can add, but as a starting point you have a nicely thought out studio set-up. Studio set-ups can be as simple or as complex as you can make them. The most important thing is that you capture good quality sound and have the ability to take that captured sound and mix it into something pleasing to the ear.
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