Recording - February 2016 - 37

p-pops-for example, RX 5's new De-Plosive module has
worked flawlessly on everything I've tried it on so far.
Watch that vocalist!
Sometimes the problem can be the vocalists themselves! One
issue I occasionally encounter is the performer who moves
around too much during takes. This is common in live performance with a handheld mic, but when the stationary studio mic
doesn't follow his swaying or dancing, problematic tonal variations can result. The tonal balance can be inconsistent-occasionally muffled off-axis notes or phrases, or even dropouts.
Worse, the background ambience picked up by the mic may
vary from barely noticeable to overly roomy and distant.
These intermittent flaws are much more difficult to deal with
after the fact than most of the others I've mentioned so far. Yes,
there are EQ/ambience matching plug-ins that let you analyze
a section of the vocal where the tone is right, then apply it to
the problematic parts, but they don't always work perfectly. By
far the best solution is to gently and tactfully persuade the
singer to maintain a more consistent position on mic.
Don't clip the clips
One very obvious recording flaw is clipping. Overloading
the input stage of a preamp may give you a warm overdrive,
but overloading the analog-to-digital converter will give you
harsh digital clipping that will effectively ruin a take.
These days, with 24 bits of dynamic range in the modern DAW,
it's easy enough to simply lower the input level without compromising the noise floor. However, sometimes less-experienced recordists
will look at low input meter readings that are actually just fine, but
think that they're not hot enough, and push the input level until it
"looks" healthier. Then, in the heat of a live take, the performer pushes a bit harder, or leans in just a little more, and boom-clipping.

If the meter is showing average rather than peak levels, this is an
even easier mistake to make.
Clipping used to be an unfixable flaw, but then DAWs introduced the Pencil Tool that lets you draw in changes to the
wave, making it possible (but not easy) to draw out the
clipped tops/bottoms of a wave. For a recording with lots of
clipping, audio repair software may include a De-Clipping
tool, which can automatically perform the same function. Once
again, even though these tools may work miracles most of the
time, I'd caution everyone not to expect 100% success.
Blah vocals
What if there's nothing technically wrong with a vocal track,
but it just doesn't jump out and grab you? This is a matter of
enhancement, and the classic tools are EQ, compression, and
delay, as shown in Figure 4.
I tend to use little or no EQ on (lead) vocals myself, but that's
partly because I have access to excellent studio mics. If a
vocal isn't floating above the track as it should, a very broad,
gentle bump of a dB or two in the presence range-5 to 10
kHz, the same range where many studio condensers have a
bump-can help bring it out without making it sound EQed. If
the vocal is a little too thick or chesty, a slight dip around 200
Hz or just below should tame that.
Compression is another matter-it can be applied quite
heavily to vocals with good results, as long as it's done
smoothly and with a musical ear. Many engineers start with a
4:1 to 6:1 ratio and apply to taste. You can compress just the
loudest peaks, but often a lower threshold and ratio, coupled
with a soft knee, will yield a smoother compression character.
Often the best results can be had with specialty compressors, like the many widely-available emulations of classic vintage analog models. The Universal Audio LA-2A Opto (optical)


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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2016

Contents
Recording - February 2016 - Cover1
Recording - February 2016 - Cover2
Recording - February 2016 - 1
Recording - February 2016 - 2
Recording - February 2016 - 3
Recording - February 2016 - 4
Recording - February 2016 - 5
Recording - February 2016 - 6
Recording - February 2016 - 7
Recording - February 2016 - 8
Recording - February 2016 - 9
Recording - February 2016 - Contents
Recording - February 2016 - 11
Recording - February 2016 - 12
Recording - February 2016 - 13
Recording - February 2016 - 14
Recording - February 2016 - 15
Recording - February 2016 - 16
Recording - February 2016 - 17
Recording - February 2016 - 18
Recording - February 2016 - 19
Recording - February 2016 - 20
Recording - February 2016 - 21
Recording - February 2016 - 22
Recording - February 2016 - 23
Recording - February 2016 - 24
Recording - February 2016 - 25
Recording - February 2016 - 26
Recording - February 2016 - 27
Recording - February 2016 - 28
Recording - February 2016 - 29
Recording - February 2016 - 30
Recording - February 2016 - 31
Recording - February 2016 - 32
Recording - February 2016 - 33
Recording - February 2016 - 34
Recording - February 2016 - 35
Recording - February 2016 - 36
Recording - February 2016 - 37
Recording - February 2016 - 38
Recording - February 2016 - 39
Recording - February 2016 - 40
Recording - February 2016 - 41
Recording - February 2016 - 42
Recording - February 2016 - 43
Recording - February 2016 - 44
Recording - February 2016 - 45
Recording - February 2016 - 46
Recording - February 2016 - 47
Recording - February 2016 - 48
Recording - February 2016 - 49
Recording - February 2016 - 50
Recording - February 2016 - 51
Recording - February 2016 - 52
Recording - February 2016 - 53
Recording - February 2016 - 54
Recording - February 2016 - 55
Recording - February 2016 - 56
Recording - February 2016 - 57
Recording - February 2016 - 58
Recording - February 2016 - 59
Recording - February 2016 - 60
Recording - February 2016 - 61
Recording - February 2016 - 62
Recording - February 2016 - 63
Recording - February 2016 - 64
Recording - February 2016 - 65
Recording - February 2016 - 66
Recording - February 2016 - 67
Recording - February 2016 - 68
Recording - February 2016 - 69
Recording - February 2016 - 70
Recording - February 2016 - 71
Recording - February 2016 - 72
Recording - February 2016 - 73
Recording - February 2016 - 74
Recording - February 2016 - 75
Recording - February 2016 - 76
Recording - February 2016 - 77
Recording - February 2016 - 78
Recording - February 2016 - 79
Recording - February 2016 - 80
Recording - February 2016 - Cover3
Recording - February 2016 - Cover4
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