How to improve home recording

[Aunt.mall]

Hi Fellas !

Ive been making a few videos and recordings and i can see significant improvements to the quality . Unfortunately i have not met my expected standards yet .
I seek your opinion and tips on how to improve my stuff .
You can see samples of my stuff in my signature .

Gears i use are listed below :
TC - Helicon create xt
Line 6 Ux2
Kaossilator pro
Kaosspad
AT2020
Yamaha BB404
Custom Acoustic F62E
Zoom Q3
Zoom H4N
ATH-SJ55
Canon 550D EF 50mm f1.8
Macbook pro 15"
Korg NanoPad2
SHURE SM58
EHX Voicebox
Microkorg XL

I appreciate your help !

 

[carboxymoron]

Hey man, what exactly doesn't meet your standard? For DIY, I honestly think your videos are up there. There are far more "well known" YouTube artists who don't even have a proper mic setup or a DSLR. I also think you have a good eye when you do those cuts and pan shots to make things more interesting (noticed in some of your previous videos, latest one seems to be a single shot throughout).

 

[Aunt.mall]

Umm if you listen to some of my covers , the quality varies . I think my problem lies with EQ-ing . Im not really sure on how to do it correctly . They have all the compressors , EQ bla bla bla .. I just tune them to what i think sounds ok . But usually after i finish and render . I end up being unsatisfied with the final product .

Im not really sure what i need to do to get a good sound from an acoustic guitar plug in or mic-ed . Same goes for vocals .
Maybe ill try attending some short courses on recording .

As for the videos , it takes a lot of effort to do multi angle all on my own . Nowadays im struggling to find time to do my recordings so its just a shoot and upload

 

[Schtauffen]

Alfy, Jeremy here lol.
Sounds good for a home recording to be honest. :O

 

[pokoot]

Bro, I honestly like your videos and voice.

Which one do you think is much better TC - Helicon create xt OR EHX Voicebox? Or do you have a another good suggestion.

 

[Aunt.mall]

Hey dude thank you very much . Those two things you mentioned are totally two different things .the tc helicon create xt is more of a multi effects processor for vocals . It has stuff like reverb , delay , auto tune , megaphone , distortion e.t.c . The EHX voicebox is a harmonizer which layers vocals of different octaves into what youre singing and is controlled by what you are playing on he guitar or keyboard . The TC-helicon equivalent of the EHX voicebox is TC-helicon harmony G xt or TC - helicon harmony m XT .

TC - helicon however has got something that has the effects processor and the harmonizer + looper which is the voicelive touch or voicelive 2 but they are quite bulky . They have other options like the singles , you can find them all at the website http://www.tc-helicon.com/ .

There are other brands that carry effects like these like digitech , boss , vox .

It also depends on the application you intend for the equipment , either for live or studio purposes . Most of these are for live performances but sometimes i use them in my recordings to have the live feel . If you record with the effects on , there is no way to remove them later on using your DAW . So most people would record dry then post-process using whatever racks they have .

 

[Godspeed64]

It's all mixing bro. Next time I head to your place maybe you can share with us what's the problem.

I think they're good. The Adele's cover and Fate is nice and well-recorded. For video-editing I can teach you stuff also since I'm commercially trained in that.

 

[pokoot]

Hey guys so far so good with all your replies.

See my problem really is mixing my voice. Here is an example of my voice:
http://snd.sc/uHcH5R

If you notice, my voice is heavily post processed by some auto tune VST's. But I don't get good results so far. Maybe can teach me how ... This is how my layering looks like after a dry recording with my voice.

- Layer 1: Compressor
- Layer 2: Some Reverbs
- Layer 3: EQ

Am I missing something?


@Aunt Mall - The goal is really is more of a home studio purpose. I am bit confused if get something like the TC electronic gears. Or should I stay with record dry & do a vst post process.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[kongwee]

You need to get your best voice.
As much as possible do not use autotune.
After you record your voice, edit the gain(not by automation) of your voice against the MMO.
Add compressor,EQ and whatever after that.

 

[Godspeed64]

Maybe bro you can post the vids that meet your standards?

 

[pokoot]

This is getting interesting ....

First I will let you know what my background is. I have study all sort of music for the last 5 months now. Again only 5 months I don't have much experience about music. I never had a band or anything primarily because I do have a day job as senior software engineer for 8 years. In other words I don't have the time. Music to me is just a hobby

As much as possible I would like to learn music the fastest and the quickest way. Everyday I have been researching all sorts of stompboxes, racks and even voice signal processors. But I felt short because I have no one around me to teach me on mixing and mastering. I did study logic Pro 9.0 for a week and fortunately I was able to understand all the basics. But It would be nice enough if there is someone who is SOUND ENGINEER that can help or some sort. But I know that doesn't come cheap. So I settle for forums.

Here is my simple video. If you notice the video is kinda private because It also doesn't meet my standards. Honestly I did this only for a week. 3 hours to shot the video and 1 week to edit the video at the same time learn Adobe Premiere. It is all a lip sync, coz I just want to try video editing... Then recording comes next ....

Again thank you all for your reply.. I wish you could help me guys

 

[kongwee]

For me, the problem will be the room.
Bare wall,windows....

 

[squarehero]

It's probably the artifacts from your autotuning and your room that are holding your "single acoustic instrument/voice recordings" back.

You need to overdub parts that are sang out of tune unless you want to do the kind of artifact-y autotuning that you are doing for a lot of your songs.

For your room, it's best to get some room treatment. Btw, if you want to know what's possible with a treated room, feel free to drop by the project studio I work out of or my friend's place. Just drop me a pm and I can let you know the details. Always great to help another musician out.

For your video that you posted, it's already a pretty good mix. It's not a commercial mix but it's pretty good for what it is. You recorded all backing instruments in your place? The drums are a sample library, right?