Sound quality...help!!

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Juliaviolinista
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Sound quality...help!!

Post by Juliaviolinista » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:11 pm

Hi all,

I submitted a few instrumentals recently and although I had some positive feedback, they were returned because of the quality of the audio recording. I wanted to ask what setup/programmes/software everyone uses? I’m not much of a techy in terms of knowing how the best way to record is and what equipment is best but affordable! I use a zoom recorder for my instrumentals at the moment which is good but then maybe it’s the editing/production software that I should look into?

Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated!

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by Kolstad » Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:08 am

Hi Julia, those performances are really wonderful. Very nice musicianship. Your music will fare well in tv/ film/ advertising productions, I think.

Regarding the tech side, your tracks from 8 months ago sounds much better, and about where you want to be production wise. What has changed?
Your latest tracks sound somewhat noisy, boxy and distant in comparison.

The usual recording chain is to use a mic that fits with your circumstances, and a soundcard where you can plug in the mic and record direct to a daw (digital audio workstation), of which there are a few to choose from. People use all kinds of mics, soundcards and daw's depending on what they like and can work out, so the actual choices are quite subjective.

The process of working out your own tracks is

writing,
performing,
recording,
mixing,
mastering,
distribute/ publish

While your latest tracks are well written/ covered and performed, they sound less well recorded and somewhat unmixed.

You will get far with a simple setup like a Shure Beta 57 microphone and a soundcard with a bundled daw, as they often come.
In the DAW software, you will be able to do a little mixing of your tracks, that can go a long way.

There is a ton of mixing advice online too, which you can attend to when you experience challenges.
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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:19 am

Hi Julia

I'm just going to echo what's already been said, the older material with the piano on sounds great and well recorded & mixed. The more recent stuff is a big step down in terms of production.

I also own a Zoom recorder but I wouldn't use it to record anything critical, it's just handy to have because it's so portable. It sounds to me like the older stuff was recorded and mixed by someone else ?

Instead of a portable recorder you need a decent mic / pre-amp -/ audio interface - and some recording software to allow you to mix and master and also a decent acoustic environment. You can spend anything from a couple of hundred to many thousands to achieve this but it should be achievable on a sensible budget.

As an example my own personal setup is :-

Audio Technica 4040 Mic £360
Audiient ID4 interface inc mic pre £ 110
Cakewalk DAW - Free
Monitors Adam A7s £ 700 per pair

Hope that helps

Mark

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by SubRivers » Fri Aug 14, 2020 4:11 pm

I think you play great - arrange great - and recording is pretty decent as well.
It's clearly real playing which has a bounty imo.

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by Juliaviolinista » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:43 pm

Kolstad wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:08 am
Hi Julia, those performances are really wonderful. Very nice musicianship. Your music will fare well in tv/ film/ advertising productions, I think.

Regarding the tech side, your tracks from 8 months ago sounds much better, and about where you want to be production wise. What has changed?
Your latest tracks sound somewhat noisy, boxy and distant in comparison.

The usual recording chain is to use a mic that fits with your circumstances, and a soundcard where you can plug in the mic and record direct to a daw (digital audio workstation), of which there are a few to choose from. People use all kinds of mics, soundcards and daw's depending on what they like and can work out, so the actual choices are quite subjective.

The process of working out your own tracks is

writing,
performing,
recording,
mixing,
mastering,
distribute/ publish

While your latest tracks are well written/ covered and performed, they sound less well recorded and somewhat unmixed.

You will get far with a simple setup like a Shure Beta 57 microphone and a soundcard with a bundled daw, as they often come.
In the DAW software, you will be able to do a little mixing of your tracks, that can go a long way.

There is a ton of mixing advice online too, which you can attend to when you experience challenges.

Hi Kolstad,

Thank you so much for your comments and advice re. equipment. I’m already looking at your suggestions! ☺️

It’s good to have some feedback on my music...you spend so much time on your pieces that you can’t then listen with fresh ears so it’s really great to hear the feedback.

Those first recordings weren’t actually of me playing! These were just the mp3 files from my composition software...but perhaps I should have just submitted those?! I didnt think they’d be accepted as they weren’t live performances but if nobody can tell...😋 The latest performances are of me playing and using my zoom recorder which perhaps isn’t good enough quality. Hopefully if I can get the recording elements sorted I’m in with a chance of some forwards!

Really appreciate your message, thank you.

Julia

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by Juliaviolinista » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:47 pm

cosmicdolphin wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:19 am
Hi Julia

I'm just going to echo what's already been said, the older material with the piano on sounds great and well recorded & mixed. The more recent stuff is a big step down in terms of production.

I also own a Zoom recorder but I wouldn't use it to record anything critical, it's just handy to have because it's so portable. It sounds to me like the older stuff was recorded and mixed by someone else ?

Instead of a portable recorder you need a decent mic / pre-amp -/ audio interface - and some recording software to allow you to mix and master and also a decent acoustic environment. You can spend anything from a couple of hundred to many thousands to achieve this but it should be achievable on a sensible budget.

As an example my own personal setup is :-

Audio Technica 4040 Mic £360
Audiient ID4 interface inc mic pre £ 110
Cakewalk DAW - Free
Monitors Adam A7s £ 700 per pair

Hope that helps

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your comments and advice! Yes you’re right, the zoom is very handy as a portable recorder but perhaps not good enough quality for the type of broadcast quality submission that are expected on taxi 🙄

The earlier recordings were not actually of me playing! These were just the mp3 recordings I took from my composition software...but perhaps I should have submitted these!! I thought that it would be very noticeable that they weren’t live performances?!

I’ll have a look at your suggestions and get myself some better equipment...give myself the best chance on here!

Thanks again, I really appreciate the feedback.

Julia

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by Juliaviolinista » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:49 pm

SubRivers wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 4:11 pm
I think you play great - arrange great - and recording is pretty decent as well.
It's clearly real playing which has a bounty imo.
Ah thank you so much 🙏🏼 It’s great to get some feedback on my music. As I said in another post, you get so used to hearing it that you then can’t hear it with fresh ears!!

Really appreciate it!

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by Juliaviolinista » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:52 pm

CTWF wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:00 am
Further to what Kolstad wrote, yes, 8 months ago sounds much better. Is it just the processing/mixing?

I think some of your tracks could be improved a lot by just noise reducing and compressing them a little, EQing on the brighter side and adding some (different) reverb. This should not be too difficult, but of course depends on the software that you use.

I am sure people on here would be happy to tell you what to do precisely if they had the chance to play around with your files.

:idea: You should start a remix contest on here! :)

Tom
😂 A remixing contest, now that sounds like a plan!! Yes I think I was a little naive in thinking what was expected of the submissions and sound quality on here...I’ll learn! Yes the earlier recording weren’t actually of me playing! They were just the mp3 files from my composing software...but then if nobody can tell the difference between them and the live performances maybe I should have submitted those!!

I think I’ll have a look into some better equipment..

Thank you for your advice!

Julia

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by jwamusic » Sun Aug 16, 2020 3:32 pm

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

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Re: Sound quality...help!!

Post by Kolstad » Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:10 pm

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/
Ceo of my own life

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