Recording 101

Recording Structure

Acoustics-

When it comes to recording, one of the biggest factors that can elevate your sound is the space you are recording in. It would be lovely to record everything in a beautiful thousand dollar studio, but for a majority of us that may not be the most efficient option for us. You may be recording in your living room or your friends house. Regardless of where you're recording, you can achieve a great "big" sound without having to break the budget. Here are a few tips you can do to help elevate your recording space.

Rug Under the Microphone Stand:

By simply putting a rug under your mic stand you can help eliminate or reduce any rumbles that may come from the floor. Stomping, walking, jumping, etc causes floor vibrations and by applying a rug, it will reduce those vibrations from being captured by your microphone.

Isolation Shield:

To help with room reflections, you may want to look into investing into an isolation shield. Isolations shield reduce reflections from bounces off the wall and potentially coming back into your microphone. If your space has hard floors or multiple parallel walls, Isolation shields help with those reflection. Essentially they block off the pathways of those reflections around your microphone. Some examples are Iso pop shields, eyeballs that you place over the microphone and some expensive options may be actual isolation booths. They can be helpful if used in proper situations. If your room or space doesn't have many reflections, you may not need one of these devices.

Furniture:

You would think your recording space should be clear of clutter such as drawers, libraries, couches, or a bed, but when it comes to room acoustics, those furniture pieces can actually be really helpful. Those big pieces of furniture are natural sound absorbers. They can help reduce reverberations and reflections. You may want to think twice before clearing out the room if you don't have any acoustic treatment to your room.

Acoustic Panels:

Acoustic panels are the most efficient way of treating a room. They absorb sound reflections, helping with frequency response and reducing bass rumbles. However they can be costly. If you do opt to buy panels, you need to know a few things.

First is the material of the panels. Most panels tend to be made of rock wool, fiberglass, or Owens corning. It's important to know the material because sometimes they can be a fire hazard. Fiberglass is not fire resistant, and can put out harmful strands in the air when you're putting them up. So be careful and do research before purchasing.

Thickness matters!! The thicker the panels, the more absorption. If your room is semi treated you may not need a 3' or 4' inch panel. 1' or 2' inches may be all you need(might be cheaper too).

Lastly is how many you need. You may need more than 1 or 2 panels to really hear a difference. However, buying more may be more costly. Be aware of the cost because it can get pretty high.

If you need a recommendation for panels, we will list them below. If you are up for the task, the cheapest acoustic panels are the one's you make yourself. You can buy the material and wood separately and assemble them yourself. Look into it if you're on a budget.

Recording in the closet:

Sometimes the best sounding place to record might be your closet. All the clothes and shoes in a small space create a dead sounding room. What that means is the echos and reflections are basically non existent. That's good for recording vocals.

Blanket:

If you need more help taming reflections, a very inexpensive way is to place a blanket around you and the microphone. the blanket helps absorb reflections. Some of your favorite artist will do this whenever they are recording in abnormal locations.

Acoustic Panel Links to Buy

https://www.gikacoustics.com/

https://psyacoustics.com/

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Insulation-Acoustic-Panels/N-5yc1vZcbqd

Microphone:

Probably the second most important piece in your processing chain is your microphone. Your microphone captures whatever source you put in front of it. There is plenty of different microphones to choose from. How do you know what microphone fits you best??

All microphones operate the same; they convert sound vibrations into electric voltage. However, the way in which this energy is converted is quite different. Dynamic microphones use electromagnetism, and condensers use variable capacitance.

Dynamic or Condensor

Dynamic Microphone-

Dynamic microphones turn sound waves into a voltage with the use of a magnet. They work like speakers but in reverse. In a speaker, electricity vibrates the diaphragm, which re-creates the sound waves. Those sound waves vibrate the diaphragm and create electricity. This electricity is then increased with the use of a transformer, and sent to the microphone’s output, creating sound.

Dynamic microphones can take a lot of signal without being damaged due to their low sensitivity and higher gain threshold, so you’ll see them used in many live situations. They’re also really good mics for things like drums, brass instruments, pretty much anything that’s really loud.

Here are some examples of what they’re typically used for:

Guitar amplifiers
Loud vocals
Snare drums and toms
Keyboards
Brass instruments

Condenser Microphone-

Condenser microphones work on the principle of variable capacitance. In simple terms, they work as a battery. Sound waves vibrate the diaphragm with a magnetic plate that’s behind it. When this happens, it creates a boost of voltage which is sent through a phantom power supply (+48V) to increase it. Then it gets sent to the output of your microphone. Without this phantom power supply, you’ll have little to no signal since the voltage won’t be boosted. Some condensers can also have a built-in high pass filter, built-in pads, and a switch to change the polar pattern.

While microphones can be used interchangeably, condenser microphones are generally more sensitive to signal, so although you can’t blow out the capsule, you can get a lot of distortion if your signal is too hot. They can be used in live situations sometimes, but they’re more commonly used in studios where you can get a bigger, more natural tone.

Here are the most common applications for condensers:

Vocals
Bass drums
Acoustic guitars
Ambiance (Room)
Piano

Information above can be found with the link below

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/what-difference-between-dynamic-condenser-microphones/

Recommendations-

Dynamic:

Shure- 57- Price $80 - $90

This mic can be used for anything, very durable, great response, cardioid polar pattern, the do everything microphone.

Shure-58- Price $80 - $100

Just like the 57 this mic is very durable, if you like the feeling of holding a mic when performing, this is perfect for you. Bruno Mars recorded "Uptown Funk" with this microphone!

Shure-SM7B- Price $390 - $420

This mic is very popular on the podcast world but it is also fantastic for recording vocals too. It has a great frequency response, cardioid polar pattern, and great at reducing/eliminating any possible noise. Michael Jackson's mic of choice was the first iteration which was the SM7!!

Condensor:

Audio Technica AT-2020- Price $90 - $100

This was my very first microphone, a very affordable option that gets the job done. Very trusted brand as well.

Rode NT1 Signature Series- Price $150 - $170

Rode make incredible microphones and this one right here is a fantastic microphone for getting you pro sounding vocals.

Lewitt LCT 240- Price $100 - $120

Lewitt makes beautiful microphones, I highly recommend looking into their brand

Lauten Audio LA 220- Price $320 - $400

Lauten Audio is another brand that makes great sounding mics.

Warm Audio WA-47 Jr.- Price $290 - $300

My current microphone. This mic is great for dynamic vocals. Very smooth, gives you multiple polar patterns so you can use it on almost everything.

Avantone Pro CV-12- Price $350 -$400

Avantone makes great audio equipment, this mic is beautiful clone of the vintage AKG C12. It has a vacuum tube in it. Beautiful for vocals. Taylor Swift recorded a lot of early stuff using this microphone.

Slate Digital VMS_ML1- Price $300 - $800

This mic has changed the game. This mic comes with a digital mic locker. It allows you the clone great vintage microphone. It captures sound really well. Slate Digital is chasing the game. Highly recommend their mics and their plug-in subscription.

Preamplifiers:

Wondering what a preamp is? In simplest terms, a preamp takes a weak signal from a microphone and makes it loud enough for you to send through a mixer or recording interface without introducing excessive noise into the signal. Preamps are often found in mixers and recording interfaces, and there are even standalone desktop preamps as well. When you get into standalone preamps, you can choose between tube mic preamps or solid-state preamps. Tube preamps rely on vacuum tubes to amplify the signal, and as the tubes have signal pushed through them, a pleasing distortion is added to the sound. Solid-state preamps use transistors to amplify the mic signal, and tend to sound cleaner than a tube-driven circuit.

DIgital Workstation(DAW):

The best DAW to work in is the one you have access to. There are plenty to choose from and they all have their pros and cons but essentially they all get the job done. There is no right answer to which is the best. Songs have been produced and mixed in everything from Pro Tools, Logic, FL Studio, Cubase, Reason, and even Reaper. If you have access to one, that's the one you should be using. Become efficient at what you have. If you only have access to garage band, then use that DAW. You can get everything done in garage band. Don't get too caught up on which one is better. To be a hundred percent honest, You should be efficient in working with multiple DAW's. The link below shares great information on picking a DAW and seeing which one is right for you!!