How do youtuber record their video?

[ivandlevine]

Hi, I watched a lot of acoustic cover in youtube and was wondering how they recorded all this. I realised it was recorded using an audio interface for noise cancellation and of course better quality.

However, I don't see a mic hanging around.

The sound and video quality is great, something like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEUdpeOjtxw

This is my gear,

E-MU 0404 interface
Canon 550D
Shure beta 58

They did not plug in their guitar to any interface so it was just pure tone coming from that guitar.


Appreciate if anyone could tell me how they record this. And is my gear good enough for it?

Thanks

 

[carboxymoron]

Not sure about that video in particular, but I'd guess that many YouTube artists use their DSLR mics alone, Zoom recorders (H2, H4n, Q3HD), or good USB mics like the Blue Yeti. They probably have a simpler setup than you imagine, without any interface or multiple mics or whatever, especially the acoustic songwriters.

You don't mention your guitar specs, but if your acoustic guitar has a pickup, record both the pickup signal and the mic, so that you can mix them later for the best sound. The pickup signal might be clearer and less noisy (depending on your room conditions) but the mic might pick up some natural reverb and your hand movements and picking sounds, which makes the sound feel more realistic.

 

[ivandlevine]

hey thanks for the reply. oh as in where do they place their mic. I dont see any mic hanging around. But true, most of them just use the DSLR's mic. But I find it difficult to get the noise away. If i use a software to cancel out the noise. The sound quality will drop too. Audio interface might be the best way to record i guess, but I'm just wondering how others record it without seeing their mic.

I'm using a guitar with pickup. So normally I record it with my guitar and mic plug to my audio interace.

Thanks

 

[soft]

They might have recorded the audio in a more controlled environment or even multi-tracked it. The music is then played back for them to lip-sync while filming the video. The audio and video are then put together in a video editing software.

That is how music videos are made.

For simpler setup, you can hang the microphone above the performer. Just make sure it is out of sight in the camera. Just like what we see in those 'behind-the-scene' of movie making.

Currently, you have a Shure 58. You can try to borrow a condenser mic to try out. Condenser mics usually have more sensitive pickup. Look out for something like the Audio Technica's AT2020. Good thing that your audio interface has phantom power!

 

[undryoasis]

How about Samson Go-Mic? Will it work as well?

 

[soft]

All microphone do the same thing. Converting sound into electrical signal that can be recorded. The difference is in the quality.

The Samson Go-Mic has a built in usb audio interface, it will be good for people who does not already have an audio interface. Since the threadstarter already has the E-MU 0404 , for the same amount of money, he could get a better mic instead of the Samson Go-Mic.

 

[squarehero]

Video

The recording was definitely done in a live medium sized room, most likely in the hotel room as they said. Their voices are suffering from slight comb-filtering, especially obvious during the ess-y parts. There is evident traffic noise but maybe it is much softer than the speaker noise of lots of consumer equipment.

Anyway, you will be surprised how quiet hotel rooms are. Some better hotels even have fully acoustically sealed solid core doors to prevent tenants from disturbing one another.

Sounds like it was edited and done using multiple takes. There is a very obvious edit at the 2:00 mark when she changes into the bridge. This is also evident from the double tracking and auto tuning of the vocals during the chorus sections of the song.

Sounds like a 3 microphone recording. I don't detect any off axis response for any of the vocalists. This could have been due to the mic being an omni-directional microphone, which I doubt.

The microphones are further back from the vocalist than usual. This is evident from the amount of room tone in the recording. You can hide a mic by just hanging it above the camera angled down at the vocalist.

There is also a cameraman as the camera moves and they are using pro tools as a DAW on their Mac.

My advice is this. If you want to do a similar quality recording, learn about your environment and how mic placement interacts with it. The rest is just music, editing and filming.

 

[Aunt.mall]

i think since you have an interface all you have to do is get a condenser mic like AT2020 . Im using canon 550D too and AT2020 microphone . A condenser mic is more sensitive therefore you dont really need to be near the mic . That could be on of the techniques some of the youtubers use to hide the mic . But you might need a really quiet environment .