Comments on Do You Want To Do Another Take?

-- awesome thread and post. i'm digging these studio tips and hints. very cool!!!

: )

Agreed. These Sound Check things are sweet.

Kevin, you talk about "buryihg the needle" and hitting the tape hard. Could you explain.

I wish I knew more than I thought I knew.

and I meant to ask what recording Cat Power was like.

How was it getting her to get the take? Was she easy to work with?

Minus Five rock.

What I mean by burying the needle is putting it all the way into the red and then some. You can realy get that sweet analog tone if you hit it realy hard. You don't want distortion, but even with the needle pinned all the way to the floor you should still have some room before that happens. On realy heavy rock stuff I'll keep the needle pegged whenever the singers mouth is open.

Chan was a pleasure to record. All her takes where pretty damn cool. She tottaly knew what she was going for at all times.

Thanks for keeping the vocals where most of us listeners want it--so we can hear hear hear! More Chan please.

Where in the world is Trent Moorman now?

Tante

Dr. Love? I'd love some Suggs love on my project.

What do you do when the singer absolutely can't hit the note and the band doesn't have the heart to tell them it sounds horrible?

How do you kindly say, " That sucks ass. You shouldn't be anywhere close to the mic." ??

Thanks for this. I've been doing a ton of home vocal recording of late and getting the compression right has been frustrating me. I finally talked to an engineer friend who has recorded my voice and he told me that he used a band-specific compressor (like a "de-esser") on my vocals to soften the range between 2k and 3k and take out some of the piercing edge, and then another compressor (usually a tube simulator) for the whole thing. Trying to figure this stuff by trial and error when there are literally thousands of possible options is truly maddening.

and what is the Trent nudeness status? Kevin, any word?

Well, I haven't come across many singers that are just beyond help. If someone is having a hard time I'll just be patient. Sometimes they don't have the mix right or don't even know what they need to hear in order to sing better. It can take a while to figure out what works best in their mix. The beauty of the studio is that you only need to hit the note once and then you have it on tape. If every note they sing is wrong, well then you have a problem. I try not to use the term "Sucks Ass" too much. It sorta brings the vibe down.

Yes, compression is a wonderful thing. Most compressors roll off a little high end naturally. That helps smooth out the voice as well

did someone say cat power chan marshall rules

I think trent is in the NYC

keep the posts coming these inside the mic posts are awesome

Yes, Trent is in NYC. Was supposed to be in North Adams, Mass. but we had some equipment issues.

New Haven tomorrow.

Thanks a bunch, Kevin. Doctoria de amor.

Great piece. One clarification: the "Proximity Effect" means there's a disproportionate increase in the bass response of the microphone. This effect is less pronounced in dynamic cardiod microphones (like the SM58 you mentioned) than in omni or bi-directional condenser mics. My experience is that this extra bass boost can make instruments sound "boomy", which is why the SM57 (same guts as the SM58) is popular on guitars, a bit back from the amplifier's face. Thanks Kevin & Trent!