Thread by @TheBiGJooN

Artists... Recording quality affects your songs as much as almost anything else so I'm gonna start a thread with basic recording tips, tricks and recommendations. I'll be adding to it from time to time. You can reply to them with any questions and I'll try to respond asap...

The mic level shouldn't be above or in the red (peaking/clipping) on your channel's meter inside your DAW (app/program). Also no red light should light up on your mic preamp. The waveform should look like the one on top in this pic. The one on the bottom will sound distorted...

If you're recording from home then most likely your environment isn't optimal for recording, even with a homemade recording booth. Your vocal bouncing off the walls back into your mic and noises in your room, like a computer fan, degrade the sound quality

A lot of popular mics are cardioid (only record the sound that's in front of them) or have a cardioid pattern setting that reduces some of the sound reflection. It also lessens the amount of noise going into the mic when you face the direction of the noise while recording

Reflection filters also improve the sound of your vocals by surrounding the mic with acoustically treated material. These were a game changer in home recording. They vary in quality, price, size/portability and should be used even if you have a homemade vocal booth

Turn the beat/instrumental track down around -8.5 dB so you can hear yourself clearly when recording. Just turning up all the vocal trax causes playback distortion and can distort your stems when they're exporting. You can then control the overall volume from your interface

Proximity effect: The closer you get to the microphone the louder the bass/low frequency of your vocal will be. The farther you are the thinner the vocal will sound. Try to find the sweet spot (around 5 to 8 inches) where your vocal sounds natural and adjust your mic gain/level

How you use the proximity effect is called microphone technique. Experiment with getting slightly closer and slightly farther away while recording different vocal parts. A little closer for leads and softer parts an a little farther for backgrounds/ad libs and louder parts

The pop filter should be right in front of the mic, 3 to 6 inches away from it and the mic should be level with your mouth. And yup you can cover the mic with a sock if you don't have a pop filter at hand. Tube or dress socks both work for this. Trust we've been there 😅

Note 1: I came up producing and recording with Logic Pro and now use Pro Tools to record and mix but the tips and concepts in this thread apply to almost every DAW and recording equipment/situation. I'll touch on specific pieces of equipment later

Note 2: Just want to repeat that you can ask questions underneath each tweet so I can respond with more detail since a lot of these things can't be summed up in 280 characters and since my terminologies might be confusing

We can't have a discussion about recording quality without talking about the heart and soul of it... the microphone. Your mic chain and environment are the determining factors when it comes to recording quality so here's one with more price and quality options coming

The Slate Digital VMS by @SlateProAudio is the mic to get when you never want to have to buy another microphone for the rest of your life. This is a mic and mic pre that comes with accurate sounding plugin emulations of some of the best mics and mic pres throughout history

They also sell additional emulations and is the virtual equivalent of having thousands of dollars worth of mics and mic pres in your studio. This mic is for the serious artist/musician, sells for about $1,000 and is used to create incredible music by my friends at @Dopeski_Ent

@Dopeski_Ent This hot #RnB song by @ZaeFrance was recorded using the @SlateProAudio VMS and mixed by the amazing @JuneYLE. #DoneUp #RhythmNBackwoods…
soundcloud.com/zae-cheeba/zae…

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE Next is a mic by a classic name in microphones: the Neumann TLM 103 by @NeumannBerlin. It borrows from their legendary #U87 and sounds amazing on vocals and more. This great sounding and well made mic runs about $1,000 but can be found for less online. #TLM103

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin This dope mellow #HipHop song was recorded with the TLM 103 by @duskyuhh. I thought the natural full sound of the mic matched the vibe of the record. Check out #DEADNOISE here…
thebigjoon.com/post/187635045…

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh This next mic created a big buzz when it was released. The @M_Audio_ Sputnik has the quality of a high end classic microphone at a consumer level price. A lush sounding tube mic kit that now sells for around $400. Even at a higher price you'd want to check out this mic. #Sputnik

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh @M_Audio_ This moving big #Pop ballad Back to the Start by @mattheart and featuring @JhuryllPhoenix was recorded with the Sputnik. It's versatile enough to handle both the singing and rap vocals. #BacktotheStart #StartOverSaga…
thebigjoon.com/post/187635880…

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh @M_Audio_ @mattheart @JhuryllPhoenix This mic has been one of the more popular mics for home/project studio recording for years now. The @BlueMicrophones Baby Bottle is another great sounding mic for the price which is about $400. I've heard it work really well for both rapping and singing vocals. #microphone #mic

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh @M_Audio_ @mattheart @JhuryllPhoenix @BlueMicrophones This hot street banger called #Enough was recorded using the Baby Bottle by @x____ang (IG) and @starborn_s4s. #HipHop #Rap
thebigjoon.com/post/187646855…

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh @M_Audio_ @mattheart @JhuryllPhoenix @BlueMicrophones @starborn_s4s The Rode NT-USB by @rodemics sounds surprisingly good for the price of around $170. Since it's USB it doesn't need an audio interface or mic pre so there are no extra parts to purchase. #microphone #mic

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh @M_Audio_ @mattheart @JhuryllPhoenix @BlueMicrophones @starborn_s4s @rodemics This moving rap song was recorded using the NT-USB by @LookItsLazlo and shows that the mic can help your vocals shine on a song with big record potential. @rodemics #microphone #mic
thebigjoon.com/post/187805165…

@Dopeski_Ent @ZaeFrance @SlateProAudio @JuneYLE @NeumannBerlin @duskyuhh @M_Audio_ @mattheart @JhuryllPhoenix @BlueMicrophones @starborn_s4s @rodemics @LookItsLazlo Recording thread continues here...

https://twitter.com/TheBiGJooN/status/1180259560667451392

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