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Recording a Four Piece Band – Vocals

For this month’s blog, we are going to finish recording our awesome 4-piece band, with vocals! I love recording vocals. Probably because I am a singer first before anything else, I find it interesting how there are so many ways you can make a vocal sound.

Let’s say the song we’ve been tracking with our band is a pop/rock song. I’ll go over what I’d do differently for a male and female vocal in this scenario. I wouldn’t do anything different between the two singers until we start EQ’ing. When we get there, I’ll specify what I’d do differently. To start, let’s pick a mic. For vocals, it’s usually smart to do a mic “shootout” if you have the time. A mic “shootout” is when you line up 3 (or more) different microphones, and you have the singer sing into each of them the same part of the same song into each mic. Record a snippet of each vocal on each mic. Listen back, and decide which one sounded best for that vocalist. We do this because every voice if different. Sure, you can have a favorite or a “go-to” when you’re running low on time- but I suggest if you have the time and the mic selection to do a shootout, do it. You never know, you could capture some magic with a microphone that you never would’ve thought to use before!

Since we can’t actually do a mic shootout, let’s just do a theoretical one. Let’s say we used a CM7 (Wunder), Neumann U67, and a Sony C-800G. Each of these mics are known for their specific sound. Also, another thing to note is that all of these mics are tube mics. Now, for our female and male singer- to avoid this blog being two pages long, we will decide to pick the same microphone for both of them. I think the microphone that would work for both a female and male vocalist without too many differences is the Sony.

Now that we’ve picked a mic let’s go over placement. First off, don’t ever forget your pop filter. The pop filter will catch those harsh P’s and some S’s. Paired with a good compressor, those P’s and S’s shouldn’t be a problem if you have a pop filter. How far does the singer stand away from the mic, you ask? A couple of inches back should be fine. Now for mic placement. You never want the singer singing UP into the mic. You want to place the mic in line with their lips, and then SLIGHTLY below. This is so you can capture the top end and low end of their voice.

The signal chain I like to use for vocals is usually a Voxbox for the pre-amp, followed by an EQ (if there is an EQ on the pre I am using, I’ll use that), and then slight compression either from the ELOP, or the CL1B. I’ve had great success with both of these compressors. Regarding the pre-amps, if I’m not using the Voxbox- I am probably going to be using some sort of Neve pre. Let’s say we are using the Voxbox as the pre and the ELOP as the compressor. Now what I would do differently between a male and female vocal is simple, but I still want to point it out. For a male vocalist, I would boost extra in the 1k-3k area and take out around 150 if his voice is a little boomy. I do like to do the typical, boost a little at 200 and 2k though. It usually evens out nicely. He is using the Sony, which is a very bright, and “polished” mic if I had to describe it. For a female vocalist, I would take out a little in the 1k-2k if it sounds a bit harsh, but if not I’ll leave the top end where it is. Boost around 3k if need be. I like to boost around 200 for a female vocalist, to round out the sound. Again, since we are using the Sony, we shouldn’t have to boost TOO much in the top end.

After EQ, I compress. I compress either (like I said earlier), with an ELOP, or the CL1B. Both compressors are amazing. In this scenario, we are using the ELOP. I don’t compress too heavily during tracking unless our goal is to have an apparent compressed vocal, or maybe if we are layering and wanted that sound underneath the main vocal. Since I’m not compressing heavily, I set my threshold at -2db, Ratio at 4:1, Attack can be a little fast because you can catch some of those P’s and S’s that way, Release- quick (I know that isn’t specific, but I want you to use your discretion because every vocal is different), and gain you would want to adjust so it can match your input level.

A couple of tips/tricks for getting a great vocal that aren’t technical.

Below is the finished mic sheet from our 4-piece band recording session.

 

Instrument Mic Wall Input Pre-amp Compressor Eq Pro-Tools Input
Kick In D112 1 API 1 DBX 1
Kick Out Fet47 2 API 2 2
Snare T Sm57 3 API 3 Chandler Little Devil 3
Snare B Km84 4 API 4 4
Rack Tom V421 5 Vintech 1 5
Floor Tom V421 6 Vintech 2 6
H.H SM7B 7 TubeTech 1 7
O.H Hat Coles 8 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 8
O.H Ride Coles 9 Gamma 2 (shadow hills) 9
Room L Royer 121 10 UA 610 Distressor 10
Room R Royer 121 11 UA 610 Distressor 11
Bass DI J48 DI 12 Voxbox 12
Elec Dynamic SM57 13 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 13
Elec Ribbon Royer 121 14 Neve 1073 14
Vox Sony 15 Voxbox ELOP Voxbox Eq 15

 

Alright, SoundGirls! That concludes our 4-piece recording session. I hope this gave you a couple of new ideas for recording that you may not have done before. If you use any of these techniques- email me! I’d love to hear about your results. My email is virginia@backbeat365.com. See you next month! 🙂

Recording Guitars and Bass

Hey SoundGirls! This month’s blog is a continuation of the last month. In March, I started writing about the process of recording a simple four-piece band. I started with drums. This month I will be moving on to guitars and bass.

Guitars.

Recording this instrument is truly in its own ball game. Capturing guitar tones is an art and a skill that has to be honed. Having a good ear is essential for recording any kind of guitars. For time sake, I’ll just be covering recording electric guitars and bass. (I’ll make a blog about recording acoustic later on – I promise).

I’m going to create a scenario here (there are many different factors that go into what mics you’ll pick depending on the kind of gear the guitarist is using). Let’s say he is playing a Fender Jazzmaster through an Orange combo with your standard pedal board (reverb, delay, distortion, compressor). For this setup, I usually like to keep it simple. I’d go with a dynamic, and a condenser microphone. Although for this, I’ll make it interesting and go with a ribbon microphone rather than a condenser. Recently I’ve been recording electric guitars with a Royer 121 (ribbon mic) paired with a dynamic microphone (usually an sm57 or an sm7b).

Placement

For the SM57, I will place this facing directly at the center of the cone of the speaker. For the Royer 121, I will place this off-center of the cone all while setting up the mics to have a “good phase.” Alright, now that we have picked our microphones and placed them on the amp- let’s pick our signal chain and start getting tones!

For pre-amps, I’m going to send the SM57 through a Shadow Hill. On the Shadow Hill model, I am familiar with; you can pick what kind of metal you want your sound running through. You can choose from nickel, steel, or have a mix of the two called “discrete.” Let’s go with discrete. Since its an SM57, we aren’t getting much warmth from the microphone. This is why I picked a tube pre-amp. I want to have some color. For the Royer 121, I want to send this through a Neve 1073. My reasoning for this is because I really want to have full control of the sound here. With the 1073, I have some simple high, low, and mid-band eqs to mess with after I dial in the mic. If I hear something I don’t like- I can take it out without there being a dramatic change. That’s my main reason for picking this pre for this mic. Before we move on, I want to touch on why I chose the Royer 121. The 121 is a ribbon. Ribbons are known for being a little dark. In this situation, I don’t mind, because we are recording guitars. Especially where I have placed the ribbon mic on the amp, having a dark microphone will round out the top end of what we are getting from the guitar a bit.

Bass

For this instrument, nine times out of ten for live tracking I send the bass DI through a tube pre-amp. Which tube pre do you use, you ask? Well, it depends on what studio I am working out of. The studio I went to school at, and still, frequently occupy while recording with my band- I use the Voxbox. So, let’s say we are at that studio. I like to use the Voxbox because it also has a built-in compressor. I just tap the compressor a bit to put the bass in its place during tracking, and usually, heavily compress in the box during mixing. The Avalon is another great pre-amp choice for tracking bass. Both of the pre-amps have built-in EQs that you can use to bring out the fundamental of the bass.

Here is a mic sheet with the added addition of what we added to our session today.

Instrument Mic Wall Input Pre-amp Compressor Eq Pro-Tools Input
Kick In D112 1 API 1 DBX 1
Kick Out Fet47 2 API 2 2
Snare T Sm57 3 API 3 Chandler Little Devil 3
Snare B Km84 4 API 4 4
Rack Tom V421 5 Vintech 1 5
Floor Tom V421 6 Vintech 2 6
H.H SM7B 7 TubeTech 1 7
O.H Hat Coles 8 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 8
O.H Ride Coles 9 Gamma 2 (shadow hills) 9
Room L Royer 121 10 UA 610 Distressor 10
Room R Royer 121 11 UA 610 Distressor 11
Bass DI J48 DI 12 Voxbox 12
Elec Dynamic SM57 13 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 13
Elec Ribbon Royer 121 14 Neve 1073 14

Recording a Four Piece Band Part 1

Last month I wrote about the importance of being an artist with a knowledge of what’s going on Behind the Board. This month I am starting a three-month themed blog about the process of recording a four-piece band.

For the first blog, I will be sharing how to pick out mics for (my favorite thing to capture) drums, the second blog will be all about guitars/bass, and the third will be about getting the icing on the cake during a vocal session.

Drums. The base of every song.

The very instrument that I may go as far as to say- determines the vibe of your song. For that very reason, I recommend getting your drums feeling good first. How do you do that you say? There isn’t a “correct” way of doing anything in recording. It’s a creative endeavor. There are NO right or wrong answers. So let me be clear, I am by no means telling you HOW to mic drums. I’m just going through the steps I have taken to get good drum sounds in the past. Of course, over time you will find your own ways to get tones you like as well.

The first step is pre-production. So, let’s assume you have already heard a demo of what you’re client is recording. This way you know how to create a plan of attack for the drum sound in the song. After that, your second step is organization. I always print out a mic sheet with columns for wall inputs, mics, preamps, EQ/compression, and Pro-Tools inputs.

Organization is always crucial when recording, but I would have to say MOST important when recording drums. There are (most of the time) several mics on the kit, some of which may require phantom (48v), some may not. Either way, you don’t want to accidentally send phantom to a microphone that doesn’t need it (aka, ribbons). Now when it comes to picking out mics, you can get VERY creative, so to avoid writing a three-page blog- I’m just going to go over a pretty simple setup, basically my “go-to” for good drums tones.

 

Instrument Mic Wall Input Pre-amp Compressor Eq Pro-Tools Input
Kick In D112 1 API 1 DBX 1
Kick Out Fet47 2 API 2 2
Snare T Sm57 3 API 3 Chandler Little Devil 3
Snare B Km84 4 API 4 4
Rack Tom V421 5 Vintech 1 5
Floor Tom V421 6 Vintech 2 6
H.H SM7B 7 TubeTech 1 7
O.H Hat Coles 8 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 8
O.H Ride Coles 9 Gamma 2 (shadow hills) 9
Room L Royer 121 10 UA 610 Distressor 10
Room R Royer 121 11 UA 610 Distressor 11

 

I’m going to go through this mic sheet, and explain why I picked what for each part of the kit:

Kick in: I almost always use a D112. It’s a dynamic microphone that (depending on where you place it) can give you a nice punchy sound on the high end for your kick drum tone

Kick out: I chose a Fet 47. I did this because I’ve found if you place it a few inches back from the kick, it will pick up an excellent fat tone of the drum that fills out the bottom end of the kick very well

Snare top: I’m using an SM57 because this microphone is good at focusing on precisely what it is directed at- the snare. I don’t want to pick up too much of the cymbals that are around this mic, so any kind of dynamic microphone is almost always a good choice. Some people use crash guards. I recommend messing around with one, so you can see the difference it makes in how your snare sounds, and the overall effect it takes on the sound of the kit. The snare top is the only piece of the kit I used an outboard EQ on. I used the Little Devil EQ because I always, ALWAYS want to have a great fundamental and crack on the snare from the very beginning of recording the drums.

Snare Bottom:  I like to keep it simple with an SM57

Toms: I am fortunate enough to work out of a studio that has a vintage 421. On this mic sheet, I chose to use the vintage 421s on the rack and the floor, because in a perfect world- that’s what I would do! I chose the Vintechs for the toms because I want them to have a nice, clean tone. I’m not looking to add any color to the toms during tracking

High-hat: I am using an SM7B with the filter off. I chose this mic because I want a nice crisp tone for the high-hat. I am running this through the TubeTech, so that crisp tone is smoothed out by the tubes in this preamp

Overheads: I chose to use Coles. I love the Coles. They have this beautiful, dark sound to them that tends to smooth everything out in the BEST way. I ran these mics through the Shadow Hills to continue getting a warm tone for the overall image of the kit

Rooms: I chose the Royer 121. These are fantastic ribbon microphones. Like the Coles, they can also be a tad dark, but as a room mic on a drum kit- it’s quite lovely.

The bullet points you just read were mostly about why I picked each mic. These next bullet points will be about placement for these mics.

Kick in: I aim the kick mic inside the sound hole (if there is one), and go about halfway inside of the drum

Kick out: I mentioned previously I like to put the kick out a couple of inches away from the kick, so I can get that nice fat kick tone I am looking for to fill the bottom end

Snare top/snare bottom: when mic-ing a snare, you have to use your ears to find the correct placement. I can’t tell you exactly what to do because it’ll always be different for that very reason. What I can say is when you find that perfect spot, make sure you have good phase between your two snare mics after you’ve finished picking their positions

Toms: basically what I said about positioning the snare mics.

High-hat: I usually position this mic a couple of inches away from the center of the bell. The middle of from where the bell starts and the edge of the cymbal is a good spot

Overheads: Overheads aren’t as tricky as they may seem! The trick with overheads is finding good phase. What I do to get good phase is first I place the mics. I place the left mic above the snare and point it down at the snare. Now with the other mic, I just aim it a little past the drummers ride cymbal and point it down. Once the mics are roughly placed, I like to grab a mic cable, place one end on the middle of the snare, stretch it to the middle of one mic and then to the other. This is to check and see if they are both equal distances from the snare drum (because, phase).

Rooms: Room mics are where you can get creative. Sometimes I do a mono room; sometimes I’ll do a stereo room. In this case, I chose to do a stereo pair for the room. I like to place my room mics relatively high and a hefty few feet back from the kit

Like I said before, all of this is just my version of the basics of mic-ing a kit. There are no right or wrong ways. You don’t always have to have good phase. You don’t always have to use a dynamic mic on the snare. If it sounds good, hey- IT SOUNDS GOOD. Always trust your ear. Follow where your creativity flows. With that being said, I hope you enjoyed this month’s blog post. I had fun writing it. Feel free to use this mic setup or something similar next time you are recording drums, and if you want to send me your results- please do.

 

 

Behind the Board

Hey there SoundGirls! This month I chose a topic that I feel is super important to dive into, but before we dig into that let me tell you about the months following. For March, April, and May I’ll be writing about the process of recording a simple four-piece band. Each month I’ll break it down by instrument (March/drums, April/guitars/bass, May/vocals), but we’ll get to that more next month. This month I would like to touch on the importance of being an artist with a knowledge of what’s going on behind the board.

So you love music, you play music, you write music, music is what fuels you. Maybe you’re a tad interested in learning about the audio engineering world- but what are the benefits, you ask? Some positives to having audio engineering skills:

Since I started audio engineering four years ago, I think one of the most valuable things I’ve taken away is networking. I’ve had consistent internships at multiple studios in Austin, and because of that nearly every session I assist on, there is at least one person I have met before, that is playing in the band.

Why is that valuable you say? When an artist sees you multiple times at different studios or the same studio- you might not realize it, but you are building trust with them. Since music is such a personal and sensitive thing, it’s essential for an artist to trust you. If an artist trusts you with their music, their next project might be going to you instead of the person next to you. This is an opportunity to grow as an engineer, as well as build your client list.

As an artist, networking, building friendships, and professional relationships with people in the industry could help you with growing your network with bands you’re meeting in studios. You could become friends, and they may even want to play a show together if they like your music. You never know. Example: My band is very new to the Austin music scene, but for our first show we got to play with two amazing, established bands, at a great venue. I met both of these bands multiple times in and out of recording studios, went to their shows, and became acquaintances with them. It was full circle to share a bill with these bands, four years ago when I assisted on their sessions, who knew we’d be sharing a bill?

So that’s just ONE benefit to being an audio engineer as well as being an artist. I’m going to touch on two more reasons why I think it’s important to dive into audio engineering (even if it’s just a little bit of research or a couple of months of an internship). I’ll pose a question. Is being a jack of all trades a bad thing? I don’t think so; in this day and age- it’s important to be skilled in multiple areas of the industry.

One thing that I think deserves its own paragraph is the importance of being comfortable in a studio. Studios can be intimidating; I know this from my personal experience, (cue, storytime). I remember the first time I ever walked into a recording studio. I was taking a tour of my soon-to-be school for audio engineering and music production in Austin, Texas. I remember seeing all of the gear, and not knowing a single thing. I had never even messed around in GarageBand. I was so intimidated, but also had this hint of excitement the moment I walked into the studio. I was excited to learn; I was excited to be challenged, I was excited to grow, and be an artist that also has valuable knowledge of audio engineering.

Now that it’s been four years, I can speak from experience. Whenever my band is in the studio, or I’m recording vocals for my songs, I’m comfortable. I’m in my element. If you told me four years ago that I wouldn’t be completely nervous singing in a recording studio, I might not have believed you. I couldn’t even sing in front of my friends without turning around! Having that experience in the studio on the other side of the glass gave me confidence in myself, and gave me a sense of purpose. It also gave me a sense of trust in the person who is engineering my vocals, because I know exactly what is going on. I want every other girl/woman that steps into a studio to eventually work their way towards feeling that confidence too, and that’s why I think having audio engineering knowledge is so important.

Last, but not least. The importance of knowing how to record, mix, and master. By having these skills, you are taking the time to learn what is going to be the icing on the cake for your songs. Learning what microphones are going to best capture the way your guitar or vocals sound, and knowing how to mic up a drum kit. Understanding what mixing is, and creating your own mixing style — learning basic mastering skills. All of these things are incredibly beneficial. Not only that, but it’s honestly very exhilarating (and a struggle at times) to work on all aspects of your own music as an artist.

Also, I think I’ve learned more through mixing my own music than I have when mixing others. This might be because of how critical my own mind is towards my work. Not only that, but I believe I have become a better musician from learning audio engineering because my ears are trained, I know what to listen for, and for the simple fact that I am around music all the time. If you’re around something almost every day, you’re going to become good at it. Whether it be, audio engineering, guitar, drums, or singing. You’re going to become better. As an engineer, you will never stop learning. In this craft, you learn something new every time you step foot into a studio. That type of consistency keeps your mind flowing, as well as your creativity. That’s why I believe being an artist as well as having valuable knowledge of engineering is important. Your creativity will never stop.

 

 

Valuing Your Worth and Getting Paid

Happy New Year, SoundGirls! Let me start by saying I hope you all have a fantastic year ahead of you. I hope you get that gig you’ve been working toward for years. I hope you learn lessons that make you a better engineer, and business owner. Most of all I hope you have fun! We engineer because we love music, we love the job, and because we all want to live exciting lives! So, I challenge you this year to do all of these things.

For my first blog post, I’m going to jump right into the nitty-gritty: payment. First of all, we as women and as creatives often sell ourselves short when it comes to how much we charge and how strict we are about receiving payment. We’ve all been there. You’re spending hours on a song, an EP, an album, and you haven’t even seen half of what you should’ve made yet. I know I have spent hours in front of Pro-Tools working on a mix only to do the math and realize I have made less than minimum wage for hours invested in a project. Why does it give so many of us anxiety to charge what we deserve? I mean this is how we make our living, isn’t it?

Now, I will clarify that I engineer for more than just the money. I feel so passionate about this work that I tear up sometimes – especially when I finish a project. I love helping people bring their music to life, hold their project in their hands and share it with the world. Engineering warms my soul. It gives me a strong sense of purpose. I imagine many of you feel similarly, and this is likely the reason we have anxiety about asking for what we deserve. It’s true; we are fortunate to have such a cool occupation – one that sometimes doesn’t even feel like “work.” We’ve all had those sessions we walk away from thinking, “I had that much fun, and I get paid for it?”

However, being paid fairly for our work is still essential. It’s taken practice, but I’m better at realizing my worth and charging appropriately. I’ve also learned to make sure I see half of it up front before beginning a project. I always ensure I get paid immediately at the end of a session. I also only take projects that excite me. I’ve stopped taking projects just for the money or because I feel like I have to say yes to everything that comes my way. I’m engineering because it makes me happy, so I choose to work on the music and with the artists that make me happy. I hope that is what all of you decide to do this year, too.

So, to bring this first blog post to a close; here are some key things to have ready to bring up the next time you are talking to a potential client about pricing:

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