Recording Vocals with AKG and Adobe Audition

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:42 pm

I am using an AKG 400 series Vocal mic. I am also Using Adobe Audition as my recording software. I have the settings on my mic for a bass roll off (or a highpass filter which i think I should turn back on) and a -10db cut.

I had an issue making the vocals sound 'tighter' or 'closer'. I noticed that when I was recording them Mono format I didn't have that problem but recording in stereo is giving me a wider sound which I don't want. What are some mixing tips to make the vocals sound closer and yet still have a nice background - air about it? Going back to Mono is not an option.

I usally do a compression. On the vocals after recording with a light vocal reverb.

take a gander at www.myspace.com/petertorresmusic

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:04 pm

Hmmm...

Well, if you're using only one mic, then by default you are recording in mono, regardless of how many tracks you record it to or whether you call those tracks mono or stereo.

BTW, most every vocal you've ever heard on any recording ever has been recorded in mono.

The following methods are used either alone or combined to create great vocals in "real" studios:

1 - Compression (single, serial or parallel)
2 - Reverb
3 - Doubling of vocals
4 - Harmonizing
5 - Phazer/Flanger
6 - So many others, there's not space on this server...but those are the common ones.

Cheers-

Jeremy

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:28 pm

Well the wiring I was using was a mono jack and mono cord - which i switch to stereo jack and cord - because the compatibility is better. I had to shimmy the mono to get it to work because it wasn't meant for mono - but I understand when you're saying the imput (even if stereo) is mono.. The problem is Im getting more of an airy sound where I was getting a nice CLOSE sound before

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:55 pm

What are you hooking your mic up to?

The XLR jack coming out of your mic is not "stereo" - it's balanced. It's quite common to hear people refer to 3 pole plugs (TRS or XLR) as stereo, but this is not the case when dealing with mics or any other balanced equipment.

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:27 am

Lxacex7 Not to worry.

You have not described the type of connector that you are utilizing but I can tell by your description, your single input to 2 channels is providing you with a 180° out of phase signal between the left and right channel. It sounds airy and ultra wide. Great stereo effect? Well, no. And the reason why utilizing the single input made things sound more front and center. It's because it was. This is operator error, a wiring error you are experiencing. You do not need nor should you plug your microphone into 2 inputs. If you were to collapse and listen to your recording in monaural, "mono", it would completely disappear! So for us folks that have a little experience during this (mine is a little over 37 years) adherence to proper wiring technique, recording technique and knowledge is crucial to the final product.

So like what was described to you before, the microphone should be plugged into a single input and recorded to a single track. That track can then be equalized, compressed and/or limited, equalized again and placed somewhere within the middle of your stereo mix. Panned center, mono. Then, you can also add some time delay and/or reverb by sending that track to your software or hardware effects processors, which I returned in stereo to the left and right channels. That gives you space and stereo. You can also position those vocals in the left or right channels in addition to adding your effects when you are layering vocals for lead and/or harmony purposes.

There is only a single exception to the rule of plugging your microphone into more than a single input without specialized splitter transformers and that is when you are utilizing the MS microphone technique and require your SIDE microphone to appear on 2 inputs of your console, for special processing purposes. YOU'RE NOT DOING THAT! You are merely screwing up but in the process you are actually learning a specialized function that can be discussed later on stereo microphone techniques here.

MS. Remy Ann David
why do you think they call me MS?

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:53 pm

Lxacex7 wrote:

I am using an AKG 400 series Vocal mic. I am also Using Adobe Audition as my recording software. I have the settings on my mic for a bass roll off (or a highpass filter which i think I should turn back on) and a -10db cut.

I had an issue making the vocals sound 'tighter' or 'closer'. I noticed that when I was recording them Mono format I didn't have that problem but recording in stereo is giving me a wider sound which I don't want. What are some mixing tips to make the vocals sound closer and yet still have a nice background - air about it? Going back to Mono is not an option.

I usally do a compression. On the vocals after recording with a light vocal reverb.

take a gander at www.myspace.com/petertorresmusic

Recording in Stereo is just fine. Just manipulate the two tracks by highlighting them and then clicking Separate Stereo Track. This will give you two tracks, you can center one and get the sound you previously were used to. Now you have an extra vocal track without having to create a fake delay. Move the second track a few millisecond behind the first.

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:55 pm

Lxacex7,
Remy and Cucco have given you excellent, real world answers. Take heed!

Filmmusic sez:

Quote:

Recording in Stereo is just fine.

There is absolutely no reason to do this if you are recording a single source. When you record one source to stereo you're just eating up HD space. The rest of what you're saying here Filmmusic is a form of ADT (and there is no good reason not to simply record the track in mono and copy / paste it to a new track - then it's virtual, no extra HD space gets eaten up).

A better way, whether we're talkin' vox, guitars, etc. is to actually record the part twice. If you find it necessary to do ADT (boredom, running out of time (or money), you should also throw a flanger on the delayed track and / or a pitch shifter, if you wanna get technical about it.

ADT sounds best when the doubled track is not a perfect 1:1 clone.

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