vocals recording

Hello i'm totally newbie
and i have no friends that making beats or know
something about studio techniques but yet i'm here.

My question is
How i can record good quality vocals on my mpc 500?
i connect my mpc to my mixer but i don't know much
from EQ's or what is the correct level on my mixer
and mpc before it is clipping?

HannesKannes wrote:Hello i'm totally newbie
and i have no friends that making beats or know
something about studio techniques but yet i'm here.

My question is
How i can record good quality vocals on my mpc 500?
i connect my mpc to my mixer but i don't know much
from EQ's or what is the correct level on my mixer
and mpc before it is clipping?

Well, first off I would use a dedicated preamp for the mic. Art and Behringer got some good ones for a small price, anywhere from $20 to $200. They're good to get started and great for recording vocals. There are some high end preamps but learn the craft first and you'll understand why those preamps are expensive and built for quality.

Hook up that preamp to the MPC. Mixers are good too for vocals, but to me they sound too empty for vocals. They got an announcer-at-the-auction kind of sound while preamps bring that warm in-the-studio sound. Its all you to decide.

Damn that 500! Right. It doesn't tell you if you are clipping. I've had mine for 6 years and to get a great sounding sample, you have to watch the threshold meter during recording. If the bar is extended all the way to the right and just hangs there, then you're clipping. The bar should be extended all the way to the middle of the screen and bouncing to the right reaching the far right occasionally. Practice by speaking misc. words into the mic during record mode but don't record anything, just get the feel of that wacky threshold bar.

Hope this helped. Let us know whatever and Welcome to the forum.

Hey
Thank you Ill-Green, that is very helpfully!

Ill-Green wrote:Mixers are good too for vocals, but to me they sound too empty for vocals. They got an announcer-at-the-auction kind of sound while preamps bring that warm in-the-studio sound.

This is not true. A good mixer will come with some good mic preamps and they will not sound like an announcer at an auction.

jibber wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:Mixers are good too for vocals, but to me they sound too empty for vocals. They got an announcer-at-the-auction kind of sound while preamps bring that warm in-the-studio sound.

This is not true. A good mixer will come with some good mic preamps and they will not sound like an announcer at an auction.

Yeah, A GOOD MIXER will have preamps but some don't. Do you even know what type of mixer the OP is using? Maybe he's using a DJ mixer. Read the lines jackass, I said TO ME they sound LIKE THAT.

Thread has 40+ views and no one gives advice, so I did. So what! I know my craft.

I didn't say you don't know your craft. And yes, we don't know what kind of mixer the OP has. Nevertheless your statement is incorrect... it is maybe correct for the cheapest crappy mixers you can find, but any halfway decent mixer even in the entry level field will sound fine... that's all i'm saying.

OP - what mixer you using?

i have a Tapco Mix 100

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/355882-tapco-mixer-ok.html

The post of the user wallyburger regarding mics in use with this mixer brand is interesting for you i think.