Recording Vocals - Levels and Compression

I've always felt reasonably competent when recording vocals.  But in those days I was using 8 track analog recorders borrowed from friends.  It was difficult to NOT understand what to do.  The only real challenge was finding a good volume -- somewhere between inaudible and peaking.

Now that I am using more sophisticated gear my level of competency has slightly dropped mostly because I have had little to no experience using EQ, compression, etc.  I found an organized, fun-to-read article about recording vocals on a website called tweakheadz.

tweakheadz article

There are tons of other articles on many different topics.  I have not checked those out at this point, but if I find anything useful, I will post it!

Miking Guitar Cabs

Miking guitar cabs is generally accepted as the best way to capture good guitar sound/tone.  I found an article with some pretty good material about microphone placement, headphone mix, and much more.  There are also several useful tips about recording in general such as tidbits about proper phantom power usage and the relationships between time, temperature, and tone with regard to tube amps. 

I cannot find the author of this article, but the link is below.

Article

Tone and Tuning

I've been researching different recording techniques for guitar (acoustic and electric) and drums.  Besides a few helpful paragraphs and a handful of seconds of video tutorials, I've found little in terms of specific suggestions.  Instead, I'm finding the following generalizations:

This one is obvious, but important nonetheless.  It is necessary to tune instruments as close to perfection as possible.  I learned a cool kick drum tuning technique from an Evans promotional video.  Here it is.

Tone is absolutely essential.  Recording software includes plug-ins, compressors, etc. but it is best to have optimal tone before recording.  If it's necessary to use software to create the desired tone, don't settle for anything less than what is optimal.  The best way to capture the right tone is to experiment with various settings.

Kick Drum

Tips - Recording Kick

The above website elevated my interest in proper kick drum recording.  I recently recorded drums with two over-head mics (Recorderman Technique), and was relatively satisfied with the resulting drum sounds; however, the kick drum sound is lacking.

Recorderman Technique Video

Objectives

The purpose of this blog is to keep track of various ideas and techniques I learn either from experience, peers, or literature.

I will attempt to organize my posts so that a particular set of information can be easily and quickly accessed when needed.

My hope is that by the end of this 2011 Spring Semester I will be much more competent in the art of DIY recording.