In our last issue, we discussed how to get started doing home recording (see Gnome Recording - December) We talked about the equipment needed and threw in a few pointers about recording technique. In this issue we continue that discussion with more examples and pointers.
Pick an easy song, like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," that you can play easily on guitar or keyboard and that you can sing and even harmonize to.
To keep this discussion simple, we will assume that the final result will be monaural (aka, mono - we'll talk about stereo another time) and that acoustic guitar and vocal are the only things to be recorded.
For starters, just plug the mic into channel 1, play and sing while adjusting the level so that the loudest part of the song just barely clips (goes above 0db, or into the red, or however your recorder indicates the input level). During this adjustment, also adjust the volume in the headset to be comfortable. Then just hit 'record' and play the song (and sing). When you've finished playing and singing, hit 'stop'. Rewind the tape and listen to what you have recorded. Can you hear both the guitar and vocal? Are they balanced? Is there any noise on the tape that you did not expect or want? You can repeat this several times trying different mic positions, level settings, or any other variations, like your location in the room. Find out what this kind of recording can do - then we'll try some things that should make a difference.
Keeping it simple, next we'll record only the guitar on a single channel (you can use any channel on the recorder - from now on we'll just call this the guitar track). Again, position the mic to pick up the guitar (much more on positioning in a later issue). Try a position about 50 cm from the hole and slightly above the guitar (not directly in front of the hole). Play the loudest part of the song and adjust the level as before. Now, when you start recording the two most important things are: 1) don't make any sounds other than the guitar, and 2) play the song in a way that you will remember again later. Using written music is one good way to do this, or simply remember the number of verses and chorus' and the order.
Now that you have the guitar track recorded, we'll record the vocal track. First disable recording on the guitar track. Plug the mic into a different channel, adjust the mic physically for your singing comfort, and then sing while adjusting the record level on the channel and if necessary the headset volume. Now play the guitar track and adjust that playback level to your liking so that the 'mix' in your headset when you sing sounds good to you. You may or may not record the vocal track while making this adjustment. It doesn't really matter, you're going to record over it anyway. If your recorder has separate level controls for record and monitor on each channel you can play with both the guitar level and the singing level for the headset mix. But the record level should always be set as before - just barely clipping on the loudest passages.
Now you're setup, so go ahead and sing along with the guitar track while recording the vocal track. When you're finished, listen to your result. You will probably need to adjust the headset mix again to balance the vocal and guitar tracks. You can also play with 'pan' to separate vocal and guitar between left and right ears, but for now it's probably best to just leave pan set in the middle. How does it sound? Compare it to the first technique, where both vocal and guitar were recorded at the same time. Is the balance good throughout the song - did you remember where the soft passages were, and where the loud passages were? Want to try again? Easy enough! Just go back to the beginning, set all levels, etc. Use a checklist, and don't skip any steps. You'll find that writing things down (and reading them again later!) will help avoid a lot of simple mistakes that usually require re-recording.
When you have the guitar track and the vocal track like you want them, try recording a harmony track! The process is the same - protect the guitar track and vocal track from being recorded on, plug the mic into a third channel, set record level, set headset mix levels, and sing away. How is your harmony? Play it back and find out!
It's really easy and fun, once you get the hang of it. Let us know if this has been helpful. For a bit of play-by-play, watch the Musician's Forum. In there we've set up a thread just for Gnome Recording and we have a guinea pig using these articles to set up a home recording session. You can offer our guinea pig advice, share your experience, tell us about your frustrations, or just read and try it yourself.
GET OUT THERE! and give it a try. Until next time....
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