Thanks guys :D
Gwem - in case you're thinking it was all done on the fag-packet-sized Boss Micro-BR... Nope! :lol:. It could have been (using an external desk for phantom power and compression during vocal takes), but I've acquired the Boss BR1600 - it's a damned sight easier to use... (except I haven't explored the drums/rhythm area yet, which is why none of my recent stuff has any drums on).
Vocals were all into a Rodes NT-something (1000?) large condensor. I use that for all vocals and standard acoustic guitars. The "rusty old SM58" was my old gigging lead vocal mic. I think it's lost some of its top-end but it does a job at the moment. I use that for situations where the condensor is too sensitive (percussion stuff like tambourines, which I still can't play well enough to leave in a mix, or resonator guitars). I just reached for the SM58 when it came time to try mic'ing up the Laney - that was actually just an experiment, I was expecting to get the Vox Tonelab out, but it worked so well that I might stop using the tonelab...
When I'm tracking, I use one of the BR1600's preset insert patches on vocals. I did investigate the settings a while back, but results were so good I decided not to fiddle. It's got light compression/limiter and gating (a bit like I use my dbx thingy for if I'm going through an external desk). The compression/limiter is essential for my vocals when the singer and engineer are the same person. The gate is essential in our flat, especially if the vocal to be is exposed in the mix or if I'm layering lots of voices.
I've tried the insert patch on acoustic instruments but the compression isn't needed and the gating produces artifacts I don't like, so I have to put up with external noise.
I've got another insert patch I use when I'm trying to get the Variax bass to do double-bass - but I think I've over done it this time, doesn't sound anything like a double-bass to me!! I might trust the Variax on its own next time :lol:
The BIG thing on the lead vocal is the "motown" trick. When you have the lead vocal take you want to use, copy the track and use them like this in the mix:
A: No eq/compression at all. Stick the reverb you want on this track. Get the track up to the level you want the vocals in the mix.
You're almost there, but the vocal doesn't quite "do it". If you don't have the other copy, you start fiddling with the eq, raising the level, reducing the reverb (which you wanted), and generally messing and accepting "I can't sing/record vocals that sit in a mix... :("
Instead...
B: Take the second copy. Remove ALL the bottom-end, pile LOADS of top-end on it, compress the living sh1t out of it (max threshold, INF compression). Then you just add some of that until the vocal sounds right...
What it does is it clarifies the vocal somewhat, it seems to put the singer "in the room" with you, and it allows you to pile loads of reverb on without getting mushy... AND it gets the vocal through the enemies of lead vocals - the backing vox, electric guitars, cymbals, etc.
I always use it now, even if I don't really need it to get through the mix, because it adds a touch of character that I've got used to.
Other tricks I've picked up for getting a better sound:
Delay - only use it when you actually want repeats, otherwise reverb is your friend, or nothing (and make sure you tune any delays to the tempo, unless you actually want crazy stuff)
Reverb - some folk hate it, but if you like it, you can get round many "haters" by using it "well". "Well" seems to be to use a DIFFERENT reverb for different things in the same mix. On this:
- the acoustics, electrics, and keyboards all have their own variations.
- the bass even has its own room reverb.
- the backing vox on the chorus have a very bright but hefty amount of hall
- the lead voices (lead vocal and lead guitar, in this case) always share the same reverb to keep them in the same song. In this case it's quite a long hall
EQ:
- cut rather than boost if you can, set yourself a low arbitrary limit to any boosting you feel compelled to do (I use +3db)
- always strip the bottom-end off of any electric guitar part that is not a solo or lead part. You can't hear the bottom end in the mix, and it uses up other instruments' bandwidth
- use complementary EQ. For example, mixing vocal parts, I'll cut a frequency on one part and boost the exact same frequency on another. I apply this across the board, not just backing vox, whenever instruments or submixes are not sitting together properly.
Oh yeah, finally - "try to get the tracking right". Everytime I think "I'll fix it in the mix" I'm storing up headaches for later and probably preparing a messy/busy/mushy/wotever "not-what-meant" mix.
I got a lot of this out of previous experience of "oh sh1t, that sounds vile, how do you actually do this?" and then getting my hands on a book called something like "Guerilla Home Recording - how to get great sounds out of anything". You do need techniques and theory, and better quality kit is better quality kit... but what you need most is the right approach to it all, the right attitude 8) even.
For example, on this one, I got my yamaha PSR-225 out. I'd written it off as a toy a couple of years ago. Last Friday was a real eye-opener. A) the sounds are pretty good once you turn the ubiquitous reverb off, B) there's some CRAZY stuff inside it that lets you manipulate the sounds quite a long way if you need it. I was getting geared up for investigating new synth modules or going the virtual synth route... I learnt that I don't really need to do that for at least a couple of years now (what I actually need to do is practice my playing a lot more, and learn the technical stuff that's inside the one I've got).
