While it's true that hiring a good engineer to mix your tracks can be expensive, there's no reason why the process of recording has to break the bank. Indeed, the dramatic improvement of technology has led to a significant drop in prices, which means you can obtain clean recordings for a fraction of the price you'd have paid in years past.
Allow me to share with you some tips on how to make great recordings of your a cappella group right at home. Starting with a clean overview of the process, I'll touch on pointers and pitfalls in studio vs. at home, as well as some anecdotes from my days recording with Cornell Last Call.
From the Idea to the Album
Let's imagine a fictitious group, the X-Tones: students at Y University located in Nowheresville, USA. They want to create a great new album.
First, someone in the X-Tones has to come up with arrangements for the album. The group has to learn these arrangements, polish them to performance quality, elect a soloist, and decide to record the arrangements.
The All-Studio Experience
The X-Tones go to a studio, and begin the recording process. Ideally, the studio knows something about a cappella, and records a section at a time, with each singer singing inches from his own microphone. This technique is called close-miking, and eliminates many problems, including slight room noises; allowing for the engineer to ultimately create the up-front vocal sound that is typical of great a cappella albums. Each singer has a guide track pumped into his/her ears through headphones - this usually consists of a MIDI file of the arrangement, along with a clicking metronome beat. By doing this, the singers can easily stay in tempo and in tune, and the track won't suffer from massive tempo and tuning problems. The engineer can spot-correct by asking the singers to simply re-do sections of the song, since the tempo and pitch are consistent throughout.
After recording, the X-Tones depart, and the engineer gets to work by opening up the raw files and correcting any mistakes (sopranos were flat there, someone came in too early on a cascading line here, etc.) After editing, we get a relatively in time and in tune product, albeit one where the parts may not be balanced - bass might stick out way too much, for example, and the overall product still lacks that certain something.
This is where mixing comes in. Mixing means many things to many people, but we'll call it the process by which the X-Tones' already-edited sounds are put together to form a cohesive track that works, and is aurally pleasing. This requires the use of effects. EQ, or equalization, accentuates certain frequencies and brings down the level of others. Compression reduces the dynamic range of tracks and improves the blend and cohesiveness when applied properly, while reverb gives the recording a sense of space.
Once each song is mixed, the engineer needs to make the X-Tones album sound unified. Here is where mastering comes in. Besides adjusting the tonal balance so that songs sound consistent, the mastering step makes every track clearer, louder, and punchier. The X-Tones know something about mastering, so they bring their track to another engineer who specializes in mastering. More importantly, this new engineer has not heard these tracks before, and thus is able to listen objectively and correct problems that might have been missed by the mixing engineer. In short, mastering takes a group of songs and turns them into a great-sounding album.
Your Home Studio Set Up
Given that engineers work on hourly rates, and good engineers can cost $100 or more per hour, the appeal of home recording is obvious. Luckily for us, this is an option that is growing more and more viable. But how do we do this? What do we need?
While the mixing and mastering phases will be left to professionals, the recording and editing phases (which are the most time-consuming) can be done at home, by a member of the group who will want to work for free! These phases do not require much expensive equipment or technical expertise beyond what the average group has.
To successfully record and edit at home, you'll need a microphone, an audio interface, a computer, a software sequencer, and either headphones or speakers. Don't forget the associated cables to connect them all together!
Microphone
For recording voices, a large diaphragm condenser microphone is ideal. These microphones are very sensitive and can capture the subtle nuances of vocal performance, including the airiness of a vocal. There are many excellent and affordable models on the market today: offerings from RODE (the NT1a), Studio Projects (the B1 and C1), Marshall Electronics (the MXL2001), and M-Audio (the Luna) provide good performance and will only set one back between $200 and $300. At the more expensive end of the spectrum, AKG and Neumann make great, venerated microphones. Look on eBay for even better deals. More importantly, check out audio forums like homerecordingconnection.com to see what people have to say about these products. New microphones are constantly being introduced and you might well find a phenomenal deal for even less money!
For recording vocal percussion, a small diaphragm condenser microphone will provide the snappiness needed to capture the percussive sound best. I've used the RODE NT3 extensively and it is probably one of the best-sounding vocal percussion mics ever. (Wes Carroll of the HouseJacks swears by this mic!) But if you only have money for one microphone, get the large diaphragm condenser; it will work adequately for percussion too.
Also remember to purchase a microphone stand and a windscreen - this is a screen that you set up in front of your microphone to reduce pops and vocal noise.
Audio interface
An audio interface enables you to connect your microphone to your computer. Whichever product you choose, make sure it provides phantom power which is required for condenser microphones to work. Most units will contain preamps which amplify the signal from the microphone on its way into your computer. Some units will also replace your existing sound card, which is a nice plus.
You have a great deal of choices. Most people choose the MBox by Digidesign because it works with Pro Tools, which is what most studios use for mixing. By choosing this, you also get the Pro Tools LE sequencer - so you kill two birds with one stone. On the down side, it is relatively pricey (around $500, although again, eBay helps) and you can't use it as a regular sound card for your system (it only outputs sound from ProTools).
I run a SONAR-based studio (as opposed to Pro Tools), so I don't need (or use) the MBox. I am currently using the EDIROL UA-25. Like the MBox, it contains 2 mic inputs and phantom power, and it offers great sound; most importantly, it costs half as much as the MBox. Though it doesn't come with a software sequencer (unlike the MBox), it can be used as a regular sound card for your system.
M-Audio and Mackie also make several great interface products. If you're only interested in sending tracks to Pro Tools-based studios, the MBox is probably the easiest product to get; however, other companies do make excellent products as well. Google (www.google.com) is a good place to start your research: just type in "audio interface" or something similar.
Computer
For recording and editing, you just need a reasonably well-running computer; something blazingly fast is not required, although if your system is unstable, your software sequencers will be as well. Either PC or Mac is fine since the major software sequencers and sound interfaces work with both platforms. Also, laptop or desktop is fine; I've done most of my work on a regular Pentium IV laptop.
Software sequencer
This is the software which you use to do your recording and editing. As mentioned earlier, Pro Tools is somewhat of an industry standard, and the MBox comes with Pro Tools LE (lite edition). However, even if you use another software sequencer, it is easy to "print" out the individual tracks (after recording and editing) to individual continuous WAV files; these are compatible with Pro Tools or any other system your mixing engineer might use.
Other choices include SONAR, Cubase, Logic, Nuendo, and many more. These systems have evolved to become ridiculously similar to each other, so which one you pick is really up to personal preference, computer platform (Mac or PC), and budget. All will enable you to easily record and edit music.
Headphones/speakers
For recording and editing, pricey speakers are not required. You'll need 2 pairs of headphones:one for the person at the computer (the "recording engineer") and one for the singer. You might also need to invest in a splitter so that both pairs of headphones can be connected to the single output in your audio interface. Get headphones that have big, comfortable pads; again, they don't have to be expensive. For editing, speakers may be more comfortable; your average pair of computer speakers should work just fine.
Recording
Without going into specifics of each system, (since they differ and you'll probably have to spend some time figuring out stuff by reading manuals), here is an overview of the home recording process, with some tips to ensure the process goes smoothly. I will assume the typical dorm-room setup.
* In general, one person recording at a time works best. This is time-consuming, but by doing this, you avoid problems of bleed (where Person B's signal can be heard on Person A's track because Person B is singing next to him). If you own two microphones and want to record two people at a time, ensure that both people are singing closely into their respective microphones and are on pitch and on time.
* Have people sing closely into their microphones. Ideally, singers should be no more than six inches from the microphone. This cuts down on the effect of ambient noise, as well as making stuff sound in-your-face (which is what you want for contemporary a cappella).
* Make sure that singers are well-hydrated (keep a glass of water handy), are in good singing shape, and know their music. The recording process is tedious enough; nerves can fray further if singers feel uncomfortable or do not sing up to par.
* Have the musical director present at recording sessions to be a producer. Singing without the group can be a very lifeless experience, and so the singers need to be reminded to give as much energy to their singing as they do when singing with a group. Also, mistakes and wrongly-learned passages can be caught and corrected.
* When setting up the session file in the sequencer, include a guide track with metronome clicks and the MIDI file of the arrangement. Singers will hear this while they sing, to help them keep in time and in tune.
* If singers sing sharp, try lowering the volume of the guide track. If singers sing flat, raise the volume of the guide track.
* Encourage singers to come in on the right note before recording a passage. You can always erase these notes, and singers will feel more confident if they can "test" their voices before singing a passage.
* Offer constructive comments: instead of saying "That was really flat", try saying "Try singing those notes higher."
* One can either do complete takes through the song and then piece together the best parts, or record the song in 2/4/8 measure pieces. Personally, I find that a combination of techniques works best, depending on the singer. If a singer is having problems with a passage, try breaking it down and recording it in smaller chunks. This "chunking" won't in general matter in the final product, and can save time in the recording process.
* When recording solos, try to get enough material for 4 or more complete takes, and then "comp" it (piece together the best bits) in the editing stage.
Editing
All sequencers have a "grid" mode that enables the user to easily lock sung notes where they are supposed to come in. This allows the group to sound a lot more in sync.
Read up on techniques like fading and cross fading. These techniques will allow you to extend notes that should have been sung longer, and most importantly, avoid creating clicks in the recording.
If you can afford it, consider getting software like Melodyne or Vocalign; they can help speed up the editing process.
The use of tuning products like AutoTune at this stage is not recommended unless you really understand how to use them well. Albums have been ruined because of amateurish usage of these powerful tools.
Practice really does make perfect! The more you use your sequencer, the more shortcuts you'll discover, and the faster you'll be at editing these raw tracks into a tight, synchronized product.
Mixing
While you could send tracks to a local studio to be mixed, chances are that they do not understand a cappella well; hence, you may not get the best results. Here's a list of producers that I personally know do excellent work:
Bill Hare
http://www.dyz.com/
Gabe Rutman
www.asylumstudio.com
Dave Sperandio
www.diovoce.net
Freddie Feldman
www.vocomotion.com
James Gammon
www.jamesgammonproductions.com
Viktor Kray
www.bristolstudios.com
John Clark
www.cb-productions.com
And, of course:
T2 Productions
www.t2-productions.com
Each of us has a particular aesthetic, so the best way to decide is to listen to CD's engineered by us and decide whose style you like the most. Taken to extremes, you might even decide to give different tracks to different engineers - Cornell Last Call recently released a CD with work by five engineers, and individual engineers were chosen for individual songs, based on what genres we thought they would do best on. Remember: hourly rates should not color your decision; the more expensive engineers often work quite a bit faster.
Mastering
Mastering services abound on the Internet, and the best way to decide is to Google for "cd mastering" or "audio mastering." Many of the engineers above also master albums, but for reasons stated above (a fresh perspective), it is also a good idea to look elsewhere for a mastering engineer. In particular, I've had good experiences with Earle Holder of HDQTRZ Digital Studios (www.hdqtrz.com) - his rates are very affordable (charging by song-minute instead of hours worked, with a 20% discount for an entire album).
Home recording is really the way to go for a cappella, if you want a great product but don't have a lot of money. But here's a cautionary note:
What you save in money, you make up for in time spent.
There's no free lunch! But with hard work and perseverance, and some talent and musicality, any group can make the album of their dreams, without breaking the bank.
Good luck! :)
-Tat
Click on the wrench in the upper left-hand corner to see what else you can do.