Recording multiple tracks

[Midiman]

Hi Brandon!

I recently joined the recording forum via Musicians friend website and I had an old mobile home that was given to me that I kinda converted to a private studio. Being so new to this recording avenue, I?m wandering how is it that I can record lets say lead vocals on 1 track and background vocals on another track without them both getting into each others track? I hope I asked this question right? I don?t see how I could get multiple tracks recorded without the tracks being spilled over with audio from others in studio?especially with the large condenser mic I have...? This is my setup so far: I have Cubase sx3, 14 channel mixer, SP2?s, and a Boss BR-64 Digital Multitrack along with a whole bunch of dynamic mics and the large condenser. Could you give me any info on making sense of this maze? I recorded a vocal track last night using the condenser mic and the sound was out of site!!! Now if I could record more than one track without bleeding, I would be so grateful! Peace!





Midiman

[brandondrury]

There are only two ways that your previously recorded tracks are going to get into your newly recorded tracks.

#1 because of some flaw in the setup of the sound card. On cheap sound cards (usually the stock computer type), there is a possibility that the playback will have to be combined with the incoming audio. I think they solved this with "full duplex". I don't remember the name. It's not important as long as you don't have the cheap sound card style mentioned here.

#2 The other comes from your monitoring methods. I use my studio monitors for monitoring as much as I can...usually electric guitars and bass. Of course, I'm not worried about the sound coming out of studio monitors getting into a mic sitting in front of a cranked guitar amp in a guitar fort. I almost exclusively record bass with a DI, so that rules out bleed.

For quiet stuff like vocals and acoustic guitar, I usually use headphones while tracking. I have let the singer monitor with the studio monitors and it turned out well, but mostly depends on the type of music and what we are going for.


There is a third possibility. If a mixer is used for monitoring and a person has not setup the routing correctly, they may be feeding their headphone mix into the next track instead of just the signal from the microphone.

Other than that, I can't think of any reason a previously recorded track would get into a new track.

Let me know if this helps.

Brandon

[Midiman]

Yes this helps me to a great degree! I now know the real question that lost me hours ago....I really was speaking of recording lead and background vocals at same time?? Is there any way this could be done? I was told that it couldn't be done without the lead or background be isolated from each other...I just love this music maze! Thx Brandon!

Midiman!!!

[brandondrury]

I really was speaking of recording lead and background vocals at same time??

Well, this depends on the situation. I'm going to assume that you can record more than a single track at the same time. (I'm not sure exactly how you are using your gear). Just give a mic to your lead singer and give a different mic to the person single backups.

As long as they have plenty of distance between them, it should be fine.

If there is some kind of benefit to recording both at the same time (from a performance energy level standpoint) this seams like a good idea. However, if you are not getting a big energy/emotion boost from both singers at the same time, it seams like it would be more effective to record them one at a time.

Brandon

[Midiman]

Now this makes sense to me! This really has opened up some more avenues for me! This forum will hear a lot from me in the future! Thanks alot!

Midiman!!!

[brandondrury]

Not a problem, Midiman. I'm always here so don't hesitate to ask questions or just jump in on other threads.

Brandon