For discussion about setting up your studio and advice on the gear and equipment within it.
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By KNOCKAHOLIX Mon Jan 12, 2004 7:00 pm
guys, I have a yamah mixer, and it is a 6 track input, but i have my AT-3035 MIC hooked up on LINE 1.

Now my question is, that I'm using it to phantom power my mic and record my vocals thru my mixer and into my computer, there are the knobs on the mixer with, the MIDS, HIGHs, and LOWS, and of course the input pre-amp and the final output, (I dont use the AUX,or the PAN).

I want to achieve really good vocal audio w/o the hiss, or hum,......what should my HIGHs be and MY LOWS? and MY MIDS? Whats the best eq preset for my vocals?

I read the manual, it said to increase the MIDS to get better vocals, but I dont really see a result. THere is also a switch to cut off peaks also on the mixer, but i really dont use it too much.

Basically I just want to know how to use my mixer to reach maximum quality,.....otherwise, I really dont see why a mixer would help me.....


PLEASE HELP
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By Phatz Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:37 am
Its good that youve got the mixer because now you can eq the sounds and tweek them to perfection......as far as the best settings for it I cant tell you because vocals are different from song to song.......the best advice I can tell you is to play around with it.....once "The Butcher" (J.N.) gave me some guide lines.......he said, "it all depends on what you are trying to capture you gotta play with it dont be affraid you cant break it"
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By KNOCKAHOLIX Tue Jan 13, 2004 1:57 am
WOW! thats a good advice! youre rite!

I can't break it......KOO!
Bymaz Mon Jan 19, 2004 3:38 pm
KNOCKAHOLIX wrote:guys, I have a yamah mixer, and it is a 6 track input, but i have my AT-3035 MIC hooked up on LINE 1.

Now my question is, that I'm using it to phantom power my mic and record my vocals thru my mixer and into my computer, there are the knobs on the mixer with, the MIDS, HIGHs, and LOWS, and of course the input pre-amp and the final output, (I dont use the AUX,or the PAN).

I want to achieve really good vocal audio w/o the hiss, or hum,......what should my HIGHs be and MY LOWS? and MY MIDS? Whats the best eq preset for my vocals?

I read the manual, it said to increase the MIDS to get better vocals, but I dont really see a result. THere is also a switch to cut off peaks also on the mixer, but i really dont use it too much.

Basically I just want to know how to use my mixer to reach maximum quality,.....otherwise, I really dont see why a mixer would help me.....


PLEASE HELP
When I'm in the studios at school the only hiss/hum we ever get from mics are when guitarists have their amps cranked a little to hot for their distortion effects. Gotta love how guitarists rarely know how to get a good sound or tone to mesh into the final mix down, hence why I always use a DI and just reamp during mix down ;)

If you're getting hiss and hum just from your mic on vocals I'd suggest making sure everything is grounded properly and that you are using balanced cables and no TS (go for XLR or TRS).

As for getting a vocal to work in a track, that can be difficult to figure out. Sometimes you want a really mangled vocal for certain parts, recently I used the EQ to create an "AM radio" effect for the chorus of a tune I was mixing. It worked really well once I had the automation done properly and it cut out the normal vocal and not the bounced one running through the EQ.

Other times your vocalist might be heavy on sybilance ("S" sounds), the best way to do this would be using a notch filter around 3700hz and knock out a good chunk. Just don't use this too heavily on crash or rides.

The way I personally do vocals is get the full tune mixed down into what I think it should sound like then add the vocals last. A small touch of reverb can make a vocal fill the mix nicely, but other times adding that will kill the entire song. If you have an ear for what you want and knowledge on how to get there it won't be so rough. If you don't I really suggest experimenting.

-maz