quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Great tips Raphie! Usually, the first time I meet a singer, I approach it as more of a meet and chat sorta thing just to get comfortable with each and talk about our experience, how we would work together, expectations, etc. One important thing to keep in mind when first meeting a singer is that it's best to make sure that they're 100% comfortable, especially when it's a female coming over to a strange guy's house. This may sound like no-brainer stuff, but you really want to make sure that you don't scare her off by giving her the impression that recording isn't the only thing you've got in mind, ya know?!

Haha YES I know. I wasn't gonna say anything before but both of these girls are fairly attractive and I was thinking that could be an issue for me (flirting and what not) but I definitely don't wanna lose a potentially good vocalist so I will try my best to remain professional.

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When I first meet a singer, I usually meet her at a neutral location (Starbucks near my house) to talk a bit. I also invite her to bring a friend, boyfriend, etc. along - the singers that I've worked with have told me that, in hindsight, those sorta things went a long way toward quickly establishing trust. And, it works both ways - I don't like the idea of a lot of people knowing where I live and how much equipment I have in my studio.

Ok good idea. I told the one girl I'd call her later in the week to make plans so that sounds like a smart idea to meet at a public venue first to break the ice. I was actually planning on telling her to come to my house but you raise too good a point about the equipment. I don't have a lot but I do have a lot of other expensive shit in my house.

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Anyway, once you get past that part, the rest is really up to you and the singer(s). The way I generally work with the singers is that I get a basic song idea together and email them an mp3 to write lyrics to. I intentionally try to keep the arrangement and instrumentation very basic (drum loop, basic bass line, pads), so that it can easily be changed to suit the singers' needs, range, etc. and to give them room to interpret it themselves. I usually provide them with a melody for the verses, chorus, bridge, etc., but I also leave it up to them to change it as needed to fit their lyrics and range. Sometimes, we end up having to transpose the entire song up/down a few steps to fit the sweet spot of their range - that's one of the reasons I like to keep the song in a relatively basic form until the vocals are recorded. I think it's also helpful for them to have a short version of the song that is primarily just the vocal melodies, rather than an 8-minute track that only has 3 minutes worth of vocals. But, I often tend to keep developing the song simultaneously while she's writing lyrics, just to keep the progress going. As soon as she has the lyrics written, we schedule a session to record the vocals, which sometimes happens in one session, or sometimes it takes several, where the first session is spent recording a rough version from which we can develop the song even further. Once the final vox are recorded, I build the rest of the song around them. So, that's one way that we work together. You'll probably find that there are many other ways of working, particularly if you are the one writing the lyrics, or if the singer is actively involved in the songwriting/production, etc. HTH.

Cool, very nice. I think I'll start off doing something very similar just till we get more comfortable and efficient working together. I went out and got a mic today and tested it, it works great. But the only thing that still has me wierd is my studio is in my bedroom and my bedroom is small so the computer is 2 feet from my bed.

I'm just hoping that these girls aren't expecting to walk into a full out studio with a seperate sound proofed room for recording vocals. Maybe I'll push my bed back and get a few extra chairs and table to put my keyboard on. Just to kinda make it look less like a bedroom and more like an area to do work in.
Thanks Cryo!

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Sequencers: FL Studio 9XXL & Reason 3.
Main Synth Bass GTs - Pro-53, V-Station, Sytrus, Subtractor, Trilian, Blue, Sylenth & Z3ta.
Main Synth Lead/Pad GTs - Z3ta, Sytrus, Sylenth, Vangard, Albino & Nexus.
Main FXs GTs - Waves Plugins, Soundtoys, Volcano, FL Native FX.
Hardware - Truths, Echo Audiofire, Virus Snow, & Novation Xio Midi-Synth.

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Originally posted by atxbigballer1 She also paid me $25 a hr to Record her and she was 16 and HOT!

Was it a one time thing or did she ever come back?

And if she didnt come back was it cause you tried copping a feel by any chance lol?

___________________
Sequencers: FL Studio 9XXL & Reason 3.
Main Synth Bass GTs - Pro-53, V-Station, Sytrus, Subtractor, Trilian, Blue, Sylenth & Z3ta.
Main Synth Lead/Pad GTs - Z3ta, Sytrus, Sylenth, Vangard, Albino & Nexus.
Main FXs GTs - Waves Plugins, Soundtoys, Volcano, FL Native FX.
Hardware - Truths, Echo Audiofire, Virus Snow, & Novation Xio Midi-Synth.

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Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox Was it a one time thing or did she ever come back? And if she didnt come back was it cause you tried copping a feel by any chance lol?

Well i sold my Pro Tools Setup so i just stopped part time recording (i had a ad in the papper) No i did not hit on her if your asking me that, it was a one time thing (maybe her boyfriend was thinking we where getting to close)! Her voice was not all that, but i think with some work i think it would be good for trance, house and freestyle! She just worked with me so she can make a R&B song she already made on papper for her MAN she was in love with at the time! But i know if i need her to do some thing for me she would be happy to do it! MAn i think i need to hit her up she is 18 now!

See my PRO TOOL SET UP At the time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aipz0WUcBY

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Trance Addict 4 LIFE!

quote:

Dr.DRE "It's not the equipment....it's the muthaf@#%r running it"

quote:

Originally posted by Pagan-za Fighting online is like winning the special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded.

Last edited by atxbigballer1 on Jul-22-2009 at 05:45

All, real good stuff, the recording/vocalist play could easily be a scripted cliché for a pornmovie, but that's where you just need to take a deep breath and focus on the music.

regarding the actual tracking, Have a decent mic and pre-amp ready
don't try to track through plugins and capture the voice as neutral as possible. every effect applied while tracking means that you are already committing to a sound which can not be undone.

also note you need the following:
- good mic
- mic stand
- 2 headphones with little bleeding (one her her and one for you)
- vocal booth (or foamed corner)
- pre-amp (either in mixer, soundcard, or seperate
- long enough cabling
- kbow the routing of oyur soundcard/mixer to make it all work, play the instrumental rcord the accapella etc. this sohuld all be tested upfront.
Good luck!

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Analogue Mastering
Esoteric sound for the discerning ear

quote:

Originally posted by Raphie All, real good stuff, the recording/vocalist play could easily be a scripted cliché for a pornmovie, but that's where you just need to take a deep breath and focus on the music. regarding the actual tracking, Have a decent mic and pre-amp ready don't try to track through plugins and capture the voice as neutral as possible. every effect applied while tracking means that you are already committing to a sound which can not be undone. also note you need the following: - good mic - mic stand - 2 headphones with little bleeding (one her her and one for you) - vocal booth (or foamed corner) - pre-amp (either in mixer, soundcard, or seperate - long enough cabling - kbow the routing of oyur soundcard/mixer to make it all work, play the instrumental rcord the accapella etc. this sohuld all be tested upfront. Good luck!

Ok great. The only 2 things I don't have from that list are a mic stand and vocal booth.
A mic stand obviously won't effect the quality of the music (correct me if Im wrong) and theres no way I'm turning my closet into a vocal booth. Theres not a square inch of room in it, nor anywhere else in my room really.

But I think I should still be good hopefully... ehh fuck see this is gonna drive me crazy now not having one.

___________________
Sequencers: FL Studio 9XXL & Reason 3.
Main Synth Bass GTs - Pro-53, V-Station, Sytrus, Subtractor, Trilian, Blue, Sylenth & Z3ta.
Main Synth Lead/Pad GTs - Z3ta, Sytrus, Sylenth, Vangard, Albino & Nexus.
Main FXs GTs - Waves Plugins, Soundtoys, Volcano, FL Native FX.
Hardware - Truths, Echo Audiofire, Virus Snow, & Novation Xio Midi-Synth.

stand is really a must have if you want consistent vocals. you should get a cheap one for $15,00 or so (or hang up the mic) unless you want Karaoke type vocals holding a mic properly is a technique on it's own

a vocalbooth is not important, but do realise that you will hear where you record in your recording, if the sound is fine then no problem

but headphonev bleeding is something that needs to be taken into account otherwise you get very noisy vocals which will be hard to edit.

last tip: don't GATE while tracking, you want to capture breathing and control gate times when you're editing at ease.

you would not be the first producer with killer vocals ruined by too aggressive gate tresholds (nasty chop offs, breathing gone, sounding unnatural etc. etc...)

___________________
Analogue Mastering
Esoteric sound for the discerning ear

^^^what Raphie said^^^

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Originally posted by Raphie a vocalbooth is not important, but do realise that you will hear where you record in your recording, if the sound is fine then no problem

Mic placement can make a big difference here. If noise is a problem, you may want to consider picking up something like an sE Reflexion filter or Ethan Winer's Portable Vocal Booth at some point to minimize excess noise coming from behind the mic, reflections off walls, etc. I don't have an isolation booth - I just use the Reflexion filter that I keep between the singer and myself, computer fans, etc. Of course, as the engineer, it's important to stay still while she's singing, etc. BTW - if you happen to have a squeaky chair, get some WD40 on it before recording.

BTW, I just realized that we totally hijacked this thread! Sorry about that!

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We just want him to beprepared as requested

I find we're still on topic

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Analogue Mastering
Esoteric sound for the discerning ear

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Originally posted by Raphie I find we're still on topic

Yeah, I guess you're right - for some reason, I was thinking that someone else started this thread. duh.

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