Emcee Lounge : Do you want clearer recordings??!!

this is dope. im too lazy to do this, but this is a good cheap way to have that isolation of the voice. I will just say for anyone reading this, there is no point of the laptop being inside there as well. so you can do a smaller version of this if you can fit your mic in it.

dtk, something I sometimes do btw is send it to my phone by email or some shit, I find it easier to read from my phone than the screen.... but that is also because I have a desktop rather than a laptop.

First and foremost, I want to commend DTK for sharing information/techniques/idea's hes amassed recently. thats dope of him.


now that the dap is out the way, I was hoping Jehu would've got to this before me as he's definitely more knowledgable on this end. all mine is trial and error as well as going to studio's big and small. Initially, I was going to post several recordings from different situations and explain how this 'box' is a horrible idea. Instead, I wanted to limit the amount of music I tossed up to keep this shit short and simple. I got two examples, both recorded in the middle of my living room when I was moving some of my recording equipment to our big studio for a "B-Side" production room. both of these were recorded, as I said, in the middle of my living room.

setup was as follows - NT100, tube amp and stock soundcard. no accoustic foam, no nice interface.. a mic and a knack for mixing (or not)





https://soundcloud.com/vintage-vocalist-verses/example-one-mixed

this is Example One.. this is mixed, a short little joint I threw together over a beat a producer had thrown me YEARS prior to recording over it. my vocals are mixed.




https://soundcloud.com/vintage-vocalist-verses/example-two-unmixed

this is Example Two.. a psuedo mixtape track that I ended up never doing anything with/for. this is the raw bounce, no eq, no compression..just mic and a amp.


again, both were recording in the middle of my living room.


DTK's box idea, kills your headroom..but *does* remove natural reverb, but in example two.. you can tell... natural reverb isnt necessarily bad.

so, if you want "CLEARER VOCALS"... focus on mixing and not worrying about accoustics. getting accoustics right is FAR HARDER than just learning to mix. if you want to be a cool rapper guy, and think a vocal booth is mandatory.. an auralux room raiders kit is like a hundred bucks...comes with absorption, diffusors and bass traps. if you think you sound "too hollow".. move your mic away from walls.







^this is the hotel "STUDIO" Jay-z and Kayne used for "WATCH THE THRONE"...





^not where Jay-z and Kanye recorded.

no problem bro, learning is what its all abooooot and youve been doing great.

the short version of headroom is... the loudest you can get before shit gets wonky. so while the box adds a certain "fullness" it also limits the the range in which you can go before shit gets wonky. in an ideal world.. youd want your raw recording to be at -3db at its peak. outboard or software compressors during your recording stage can achieve this, but in my examples, in particular the raw recording.. no compressor was nessecary.

dont even trip on the kids. theyve been in plenty of my recordings and once you add the beat..nobody will truly know. *BUT* if you like the sound of the box.. thats all that matters at the end of the day. just in my experience, a closed off isolation becomes "boxy". if you truly enjoy a muddy sound boost some mids. I just have found vocal booths only necessary when your recording with a shit ton of outboard gear and essentially record "ready to go". ill try and post an example of a raw "big studio" recording where natural reverb wouldnt have been good. but at this stage of the game, just stay away from walls and control your sound with more experimenting in mixing. itll help out in the long run, as when that booth is necessary.. youll have complete control of your sound.


a good practice tool is using some of Dj Khalil's beats from the china wars ost.. keep the mastered beats at 0... and mix into them. youll get good at finding the "pocket".

stay with cubase.. and you should be able to adjust the compressor. I started with Cubase, my first album was Cubase. I loved Cubase. but I switched to pro tools years ago so I could bring my home sessions to the big studio.. and have regretted it for years. now they have OMF and you can import/export into most daws which is nice, but id definitely recommend Cubase. if you have a Mac.. then Logic is also nice.

when you bring up your compressor on your aux channel.. what does it look like? can you post a screenshot?


*ninja edit*.. also..not that I recommend this at all as all my software is legit licensed.. but im sure you can find a "free" version online ;) ;) ;) but you didnt hear that from me.

no worries bro, headed to the buffalo zoo myself for my youngests birthday party lol.

the host of the server forbids linkage. ill see if I can find it and get it to you privately