Sound quality...help!!

[Juliaviolinista]

Hi Julia,
I am pretty much in agreement with cosmicdolphin. I have a friend who had recorded some live vocal/guitar recordings using a Zoom recorder and his stuff definitely sounded unprofessional. But, it was an improvement over the stuff he recorded using his iPhone!

You really don't have to spend a huge amount to get a decent mic, preamp, interface and DAW software. My current set up consists of several mics, preamps, monitors, etc. that were not cheap, but I am convinced that you can get by with MUCH less and still have great results. The room is hugely important as well!

-John

Thanks John!

Gosh yes, recordings on your iPhone definitely wouldn’t cut the mustard!! I’ve been looking into it and with all the advice I’ve received I think I now know at least what I need. And you’re right, you don’t need to spend a fortune on some decent equipment.

Thank you for commenting

[Juliaviolinista]

A good place where you can compare, Julia, is the Taxi forwards page. There you can see whats been forwarded to each listing, and you can see how yours measure up. https://blog.taxi.com/forward/

Yes that’s a good idea, thank you! I think I put too much pressure on trying to record everything live when actually these things are mostly done through virtual instruments and more digitally? It’s a new world for me!

[Kolstad]

A good place where you can compare, Julia, is the Taxi forwards page. There you can see whats been forwarded to each listing, and you can see how yours measure up. https://blog.taxi.com/forward/

Yes that’s a good idea, thank you! I think I put too much pressure on trying to record everything live when actually these things are mostly done through virtual instruments and more digitally? It’s a new world for me!

Actually, live recordings are in demand, so don't give that up. Keep working on getting a good sound, it may take a while, but definitely worth it. Nobody says you can't do both, either. YoU can deliver great performances with midi instruments for sure, but mix it with a real recording and you have world class magic.

[Juliaviolinista]

A good place where you can compare, Julia, is the Taxi forwards page. There you can see whats been forwarded to each listing, and you can see how yours measure up. https://blog.taxi.com/forward/

Yes that’s a good idea, thank you! I think I put too much pressure on trying to record everything live when actually these things are mostly done through virtual instruments and more digitally? It’s a new world for me!

Actually, live recordings are in demand, so don't give that up. Keep working on getting a good sound, it may take a while, but definitely worth it. Nobody says you can't do both, either. YoU can deliver great performances with midi instruments for sure, but mix it with a real recording and you have world class magic.

Thank you I'll add a microphone to my shopping list

[cosmicdolphin]

Some good tips here

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... ike-violin

[Juliaviolinista]

Some good tips here

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... ike-violin

Thank you for this, very useful!

[andygabrys]

Nice playing on the more recent stuff.

You have arrived at the (giant) chasm that separates one style of recording from another.

1) arranged, performed live and captured with one mic system (like the Zoom which is perfectly usable).

2) played part by part with a mixture of live and MIDI performances (whether they are actually played in and "fixed" or they are just programmed).


Most music that is used today is #2. Only because most people don't have the front end resources to pay for a studio, mixer, performers, copyist etc. to get a properly played live instrumental captured in awesome quality.

You might have the perfect combination as you are a violinist. Use a DAW like Logic or Cubase or whatever works for you, and record (MIDI) parts with high quality sound libraries (including background orchestral / chamber / string parts) and overlay your real live violin overtop.

So yes you need a decent small diaphragm condenser (usually used for solo violin), an interface with built in preamps (inexpensive ones like the Focusrite Scarlet series have excellent quality these days), your choice of DAW (any of them work, but everyone has their own favourite) and enough mixing mastering chops to finalize.

NOTE: the only reason that your recently posted live string performances aren't "good quality" is because they have been sonically maximized (limited) so that the resulting recording is loud "to the ear". That might be the built in compressor / limiter in the Zoom unless you worked on the recordings afterwards.

You can hear starting each piece that there is a loud hiss / hum which is the ambient room tone. It would be possible to use a noise reduction plugin that works by taking a noise "print" to reduce this noise not only in the beginning and the end of the piece but it would help to reduce the audible ambient noise all the way through. Get rid of that and they may pass as the playing sounds decent and the composition / arranging sounds appropriate for the genre.

Waves has a number that work this way but they are $$$. iZotope has the RX series which could work.

This one I have and its relatively cheap but works about as well as the WAVES ones I have used: https://klevgrand.se/products/brusfri

Hope that Helps!

[Juliaviolinista]

Nice playing on the more recent stuff.

You have arrived at the (giant) chasm that separates one style of recording from another.

1) arranged, performed live and captured with one mic system (like the Zoom which is perfectly usable).

2) played part by part with a mixture of live and MIDI performances (whether they are actually played in and "fixed" or they are just programmed).


Most music that is used today is #2. Only because most people don't have the front end resources to pay for a studio, mixer, performers, copyist etc. to get a properly played live instrumental captured in awesome quality.

You might have the perfect combination as you are a violinist. Use a DAW like Logic or Cubase or whatever works for you, and record (MIDI) parts with high quality sound libraries (including background orchestral / chamber / string parts) and overlay your real live violin overtop.

So yes you need a decent small diaphragm condenser (usually used for solo violin), an interface with built in preamps (inexpensive ones like the Focusrite Scarlet series have excellent quality these days), your choice of DAW (any of them work, but everyone has their own favourite) and enough mixing mastering chops to finalize.

NOTE: the only reason that your recently posted live string performances aren't "good quality" is because they have been sonically maximized (limited) so that the resulting recording is loud "to the ear". That might be the built in compressor / limiter in the Zoom unless you worked on the recordings afterwards.

You can hear starting each piece that there is a loud hiss / hum which is the ambient room tone. It would be possible to use a noise reduction plugin that works by taking a noise "print" to reduce this noise not only in the beginning and the end of the piece but it would help to reduce the audible ambient noise all the way through. Get rid of that and they may pass as the playing sounds decent and the composition / arranging sounds appropriate for the genre.

Waves has a number that work this way but they are $$$. iZotope has the RX series which could work.

This one I have and its relatively cheap but works about as well as the WAVES ones I have used: https://klevgrand.se/products/brusfri

Hope that Helps!

Hi Andy,

I so appreciate this, thank you! Yes I wondered what that sort of white noise was that I was getting at the front of all my recordings, I didn’t know how to get rid of it. I tried noise reduction in audacity but to no avail.. I’m looking into some better equipment! Plugins are a whole new ballgame!! Thanks for the link to the one that you use, I’ll check it out. Are there any particular websites that you could suggest for purchasing plugins?

I don’t know if my zoom is adequate enough really. Could it be that it’s the audio interface that I need more than the mic at this point?

Thanks again for your comments!

Julia

[lesmac]

What they all said .

Check this out and click on show more to see the equipment used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkcJX38tsvo

Because violin needs a larger somewhat reflective room to shine the zoom can be an easy way to capture a performance in a great room. I would consider a large diagram condenser instead of or as well a SDC. LDCs have less self noise [less stress on the zoom] and can come with variable polar patterns, pads and filters.

Edit: An active ribbon could be the go, i have been looking into them for vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haZzCqgQZ50

The Audient line of interfaces are worth considering along with the Focusrites.

I use Waves X Noise for reducing unwanted hiss and room sound. It can be a rigmarole downloading waves plugins sometimes and I can no longer access new waves stuff because my OS is no longer compatible..el Capitan [money saved! They often have deals if you wait and you could pick it up for $29 at the right time.

[jerryjennings]

I used to get a lot of responses with the "recording quality" box checked, and that was pretty frustrating, since recording people is a huge part of my living.

The thing that made the biggest difference for me was Sonarworks. They have room correction software that really changed my mixes for the better. For best results you want to purchase their mic too. It's not much. I think in all you're spending 300 or 400 ish. Turns out my room has a 10 db bump at 80 hz. So my mixes always had a "hole" at that frequency. I hear this lush bass and think, "yea but that's too much" Now I just mix exactly what I hear and it ends up right. My studio clients have never been happier either.

This would only be good advice if you're already computer recording rather than a stand alone unit. As for the basic software for computer recording, nothing beats Logic. I've used it since 1987 when it was called Creator/Notator. If you have a mac, Logic is only 200 bucks. If you're using a PC get Cakewalk, since it's actually free now.