Audio India

Home Recording – My 2 cents for newbies

By George Kuruvilla

For a couple of months now, I have been meaning to write an article on mixing based on my experiences since a lot of folks have been asking me to. I must state that I am no expert myself and have learnt through trial and error. I started mixing about a year back when I joined Muziboo and did not know a whole lot and had noone to explain it to me at that time. So I started googling and reading as much as I could. This helped me get started. With each song I mixed, by objective was to learn one thing new. This kinda helped me improve slowly but surely. Later on I also got tips from people like Sunny and Jay that helped immensely. I hope this will help some of you improve the fundamentals and hopefully get you more inquisitive and start asking the right questions.

Lets start off my looking at some of the main components in basic home recording:

1. Microphone: There are two types of microphones you can choose from (broadly speaking). They are Condenser Microphones and Dynamic Microphones:

• Condenser Microphones:
  Without going into too much technical detail, condenser microphones are the type of microphones typically used in studios. As compared to dynamic microphones, condensers have greater frequency and transient response. They are generally much more sensitive. There are two types of condenser microphones: Large Diaphram and Small Diaphram microphones. Large Diaphram condensers are recommended for recording vocals. Google as much as you like to read more Couple of important things to keep in mind when it comes to condenser microphones are:
  1. They are extremely sensitive to noise. For this very reason, condensers are normally used only in studios. If noise is an issue, I wouldn’t recommend a condenser microphone.
  2. If you decide to go with a condenser microphone, you need to keep in mind that the audio interface/sound card (explained later) you purchase needs to have phantom power support.

• Dynamic Microphones:
  These are generally more popular when it comes to home recordings/live shows. Dynamic microphones don’t require their own power supply like condenser microphones. Their sound quality is generally not as accurate, however. Most dynamic microphones have a limited frequency response, which makes them well-suited, for noisy environments like a live show etc. They are also pretty well suited for home recordings. The most popular dynamic microphone out there is the Shure SM58 and I would strongly recommend this mic to anyone looking for one!

2. Audio Interface/Sound card:

The sound card or the audio interface connects the sound source (microphone, guitar, keyboard) to your computer. It converts the audio from analog to digital and back from digital to analog. An audio interface provides different input and output options and is often equipped with one or more pre-amps to enhance the audio signal. If you plan to use a Condenser microphone, be sure to get an audio interface/sound card with Phantom Power support as explained earlier. When purchasing an external audio interface, you have the option to go for a USB or Firewire based interface. I would personally recommend going for a fast firewire based interface.

Some good examples of Audio Interfaces are the M-Audio Firewire Solo, the Edirol UA-25, Lexicon Omega/Alpha, the Apogee Duet (Mac)

3. Studio Monitor Headphones/Speakers -

A studio monitor basically refers to speakers/headphones that reproduce sound accurately. In other words they give a flat response thereby accurately reproducing tonal qualities of the source audio. Studio Monitors are absolutely essential when it comes to mixing as this ensures that your mixes are accurate. I personally like to use studio monitor headphones while mixing as this makes sure that room acoustics dont interfere with the mixing.

Some of my favorite studio monitor headphones are by Sony, AKG, Sennheiser and Behringer. When it comes to studio monitor speakers, my favorite brands are Mackie, Edirol, M-Audio, Alesis etc.

4. Software:

Needless to say, all of the above components are meaningless if you dont have proper multi track recording software. A multi track recording software allows you to record vocals, instruments etc along with a karaoke track if you like. You can then process the vocals however you like to get desired effects. We will talk in detail about mixing vocals later on.

My favorite picks when it comes to software are Steinberg Cubase, Steinberg Nuendo and Logic Studio (Mac). When it comes to freebies, theres Audacity. However it has very limited capabilities.

Basic Guidelines for Recording/Mixing

Now that we’ve covered the basic components, lets get into mixing. I am ONLY talking about recording vocals here as thats all I do. Below are the basic steps involved in my recording and mixing process:

1. First of all, whenever I record vocals, I record it absolutely dry. In other words I dont apply any effects during the recording phase. I know some folks on muziboo use mixers and apply reverb etc through the mixer. I personally wouldn’t recommend this. The reason is very simple. If your vocals are recorded dry, they you can tweak it however you want using software. However if you already have effects applied during the recording phase, there is noway you can revert to a clean signal to change the effects at a later point in time.

2. I normally import the karaoke track into my project and add a second audio track for my vocals. I make sure that the levels are all set properly for the mic input (on the audio interface) and the overall mix (what I am listening to on my monitoring headphones). It is also important to make sure that the recording environment is as quite as possible. So switch off fans/ac’s/heaters, close the door, put ur phone on silent (you get the idea ) After all this, I FINALLY record my vocals. Sometimes this means multiple tracks (harmonies, backing vocals etc)

3. Once the recording is complete, I normally clean up the tracks by applying a noise gate to get rid of unwanted noises. I also silence the portions where I am not singing.

4. Before I explain the next step, its important to understand the common effects used for vocals:

• Compression – A compressor is an automatic volume control. Loud sounds over a certain threshold are reduced in level; quiet sounds are not reduced. In this way it reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal. This may be done for aesthetic reasons, to deal with technical limitations of  audio equipment, or to improve audibility of audio in noisy environments. Some compressors do have presets for certain types of audio, and these can be a good starting point, but remember that you will still have to adjust the input/threshold for it to work properly because every recording is different

• Deessing - This plugin removes sibilance ( the “sh” sound) from vocal recordings.

• Equalization – Equalization (EQ ) is the process of changing the frequency envelope of a sound. It is used to correct, or make equal, the frequency response of a signal. More later!

• Reverb - Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. The reverb effect basically simulates the scenario when sound is produced in a space, and large number of echoes build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air. For vocals, the general rule of thumb is to use more reverb for softer numbers like ballads, and go easy on reverb when it comes to rock and other fast paced numbers.

Effects can be applied in one of two ways: As a SEND effect of as an INSERT effect. You can find more about the differences between the two here.

All you really need to know is that reverb is always placed as a SEND effect and compression, equalizaiton, deessing etc are always applied as inserts.

5. So now continuing with our recording/mixing process, I would then apply a compresser and a deesser as two separate inserts to my vocal track. I would then use equalization to modify the vocal characteristics depending on the song. Sometimes I want to thin my vocals.. sometimes I want to add depth. So it really depends on the song. You can find some basic guidelines on equalization on the web. It also helps to apply some equalization to the karaoke track to make the vocals and the backing track blend. Remember that the objective is not to make the vocals stick out a lot. That gives a very karaoke feel to the recording. All the elements should blend well.

6. Once you are done applying all the effects, the next objective is to apply special effects to certain portions of the song (depending on the song). For example, when I covered “Trapped” by Indus Creed, there is a portion in the middle where I sing Alaaaps (for lack of a better work). I wanted to sustain those notes more and add a heavy reverb/delay. So I selected just that portion of the song, right clicked –> selected the reverb plugin and applied it to just that portion. Then I applied Gain to that portion to make it sound the way I want. I hope this example gives you an idea of what I am talking about.

7. The next step is to use the software mixer to adjust the levels of the various tracks to make sure that all the levels match up. Make sure that the backing vocals/harmonies are at a much lower level than the main vocals. Also if you are mixing a duet, dont keep the male and female voice at the same gain. It really depends how the vocals were recorded. You have to make sure the indicators match up evenly across the board.

8. So at this point, we are very close to DONE. The next step is to select the output channel and apply some overall equalization. Most applications provide some presets. I normally just use the presets when it comes to eq for the whole track. I also like to add compression to the entire track.

9. At this point, you are more or less done. You can convert the entire track to an mp3 and call it a day!!

Some other effects I like to use now and then are below:

1. Chorus Effect – Chorus effect allows you to add multiple layers of your vocals with some slight lag between the different layers of vocals to give a richer fuller chorus like sound. This is useful for certain portions in some songs.
2. Flanger – A flanger is in some ways similar to a chorus effect. It mixes two identical signal and introduces an even changing time delay between the two thereby creating a unique sound.
3. Vocoder – A vocoder plugin takes your voice and gives it a very synthetic robot like sound. An example where I used this was my cover of One More Time by Daft Punk.
4. Antares Vocal Toolkit – This is another plugin that I like to use at times. It helps you modify vocal characteristics and produce certain unique sounds. It helps you model throats, add breathiness, make a voice deeper etc.
5. Vocal Panning – Vocal panning is the technique used to to make vocals sound like they are on the left channel or right channel. So for instance if you had two vocal tracks and you wanted one to come off the left channel and the other off the right channel, panning is what you would use.

I prepared a short demo for everyone, since a Picture is worth a thousand words. You can find the demo here.

I have tried to keep this article to the mere basics since I know my target audience. If you need further details, feel free to email me at gkuruvilla@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to help.