mic and recording problems

[sir.TJ]

hi, i have recorded acoustic guitar with sm57. is it the nature that if we record, on medium volume it will sound sweet, but when i crank up my volume then i noticed theres alot off sound that was captured. eg slight windy sound, slight guitar movement are also captured. i thought dynamic mics aren't build to be like that. do i need to compress? or anything? :???:

 

[smurfpiss]

Microphones become more sensitive when you crank the gain higher, hence background sounds become more audible.

You shouldn't be cranking the gain up too high anyways, optimum gain settings would be having the signal peak at around -12dBFS to -8dBFS on your meters. If background sounds are still an issue then make sure you turn off your air con (and other noisy appliances). With regards to mic position you should point the back of the mic directly at noisy areas like the computer's CPU.

 

[sir.TJ]

sorry i dont really know technical term about the dbfs thing. when i have the gain knob from left(0 gain) to right (full gain) in the middle is -20db where should the knob be? and when i record classical guitar if its -12db to -8db does it captures sound very light right?

 

[jianrong]

Recording vocal from the mic will need to be compress. And also when mixing, its best to keep under -12 db.

 

[smurfpiss]

sorry i dont really know technical term about the dbfs thing. when i have the gain knob from left(0 gain) to right (full gain) in the middle is -20db where should the knob be? and when i record classical guitar if its -12db to -8db does it captures sound very light right?

In your DAW or sequencer you should be able to see a meter for your input signal, so when you play, watch that meter. Start at zero on your gain knob then slowly turn it up until the meter in your DAW or sequencer reads approximately -12dbFS and a maximum of -8dbFS at the loudest sections of your performance.

I think the volume should be just fine, you can make everything loud at the end of mixing with a limiter but until then turn up your monitor level. The most important thing is to not have your signals clip as a result of extreme gain settings.

 

[princessbsharp]

Re: Recording directly from a Macbook Mic

I'm using Logic on the Macbook at the moment. I record my voice straight into it through the Macbook mic itself. When I am singing softer parts, I am quite happy with the sound...but when I start belting some parts, the sound's kinda distorted.

Just wondering if any of you have any ideas what's the best way to record these kinda parts using the mic as provided by the Macbook? (ie: How far should I stand? What is the maximum volume of the recorded track?)

I don't expect wonders of course since I'm not using any special mic, but I'd
appreciate any advice on how to make the best out of my current resources.

Cheers x

 

[blueprintstudios]

I must have missed this thread for some reason.

Sir TJ : miking technique is where you get a sweetspot + more tone/sound of the instrument and least noise and the bad parts of sound. then use the preamp to control the recording volume. if it's too soft, bring it closer to the guitar instead of jacking up the gain. until you get optimal sound, then opt for optimal gain so it doesn't peak/clip/overload/distort/crackle.

princessbsharp :
you may have to trial and error abit. when you sing the louder notes, you will have to stand further or sing facing away the mic like up at the ceiling or something. and for more "intimate" or soft parts then you can sing facing the mic. it's that same effect when onstage vocalists pull away their mics singing the loud bits. it's the same situation as Sir TJ's except yours will be alot more sensitive if i'm not wrong.

-Dear Kumar/Aunt Agony.