How would YOU pan?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:21 am

Interesting. How do you set that up? 3 microphones? 1 microphone with different outboard gear? Are the paths to each A to D different in some way?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:04 am

well i used to record 3 overdubs - 1 extra vocal, and two "adlibs" one panned left all the way, and the other right. that gave me the idea to just create 1 stereo track and 1 mono track. i use either an x-y config with two rode nt-1 mics, or that with a sm58 in the middle, depending on the vocalist. i have sometimes obtained the desired effect with just a single nt-1, which surprised me (sometimes i record with a "portable setup"). i recorded the tracks at the same time, not seperately. I would usually lower the stereo track a little, so it isnt too loud, or sometimes lower both stereo and mono to be equal. When adding effects, such as reverb, i'd add it to the stereo track, so i can keep the original sound on the mono track. (thats just a personal preference). Ever since i've done this, people have started to compliment on my vocal recording quality, asking which preamp/mic combo i use. a lot of these rappers i 've been recording are starting to want to record a single voice instead of multi-voices now. this setup only works on recording digitally though. i've started to use this for my folk singing recordings also, and now vocals sound great. try it, and tell me what you think. when i finish setting up my website (sometime in jan '09), i'll drop you a line, so you can give me your opinion.

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:08 am

this technique is actually used in a lot of R&B recordings, but to a more extreme level: imagine 32 tracks for one vocalist panned at different levels!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:18 am

So sometimes it is one take with several microphones and mix to taste.
Other times it is several takes and one microphone (double tracking)
And other times a combination of the two?
That make sense.

I use the multiple microphone technique for acoustic instruments, but have found that when recording voice movements of the vocalists head cause weird panning effects.

At first I thought you were saying one microphone, one take but directing it to 3 tracks in your DAW.

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:46 am

that is actually what i am saying. i know its weird, but i've been able to make it work. it doesnt work well with instuments though, or maybe i havent been able to work it right yet.(sometimes, when recording with my portable setup, i only have one mic) but it works much better with a stereo mic setup. i used to get that weird panning problem, but when recording the multiple tracks/1 take, we end up with a more full sounding vocal track, rather than a small "in a tube sounding" one. I'm not saying everybody has this problem with their recordings, but i have heard it on a few people's tracks. This is just another solution to try. remember that there is not just one way to record, otherwise everything would sound the same. but i've researched some of your posts. you seem to have a lot of knowledge. i'll be sure to thank you if i try one of your suggestions and it works for me.

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:14 pm

Thanks man,

I'm not sure which of the 4 items I listed you are saying yes to.

1. 3 microphones 1 take 3 tracks
2. 1 microphone 3 takes 3 tracks
3. 3 microphones 3 takes 9 tracks
4. 1 microphone 1 take 3 tracks

-Steve

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:48 am

I finally finished the instrumental version. I have yet to do the vocals. It can be found here (it starts after about 6 seconds):

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=878485&songID=7116214

Let me know any thoughts!

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:57 am

Sounds good. I like the tone of the ukulele. I would like a little more low end on the djembe, but that might just be me. The noise floor is a little high. Maybe you recorded with a little too high head room? Or it could be a noisy pre. There is some breathing at 2:30 ish. You might be able to snip it out.

Did you use two microphones on both the djembe and the ukulele or is that just the verb that makes it sound wide? It sounds very real.

Looking forward to hearing it with vocals.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:10 am

Thanks for the compliments!

I don't mind natural sounds like breathing, especially in music of this nature. I like hearing all the little things like page turns and bass pedal squeaks.

I tracked everything at about -12 to -15. I don't have that great of a S/N ratio because of the following reasons: the room isn't that great, the microphones are cheap, and the mics are running through Behringer (I know) mixer. It's what I have at the moment.

Djembe and Uke were both recorded with 2 mics each. Here is how I panned each one:

Djembe Head 25 R
Djembe Body 10 L
Uke Neck 25 L
Uke Body 10 R

I tried that so there are both instruments in each speaker, but with different complimentary frequency ranges.

What do think about the solo? I think I did:
Uke Neck 50 R
Uke Body 20 L

I put reverb on the both Uke Necks, and Djembe head, all through input-sends to the same reverb bus. I used a fairly big room with a longish decay time, but hopefully not too heavy. I didn't want to put the reverb on all of the mic tracks, I thought it would be too much, so I only did the higher frequency ones.

I used slight compression on all of the tracks, as well as a little envelope shaping on the uke, to help make it not as muddy.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:47 am

to geko/ steve: i was saying yes to #1 & 4.. # 2 is used when people are doing multiple takes to have that "multi voice" sound used a lot in R&B and hiphop.

to third bird: overall sounds good, but there was a little on the highs, but that might have just been my headphones. Keep it up!

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