4 Simple Changes That Will Enable You Improve Home Studio Vocal Recording

By Frank Lubsey


You might invest a lot of money buying the perfect beat for your next hip hop track, but if the vocals don't match the beat quality, you might just end up creating a track critics will enjoy tearing apart. Hip hop is as much about great vocals as it is about beats and instrumentals. You can never find the perfect excuse for buying great beats only to mix them with horrible vocals. It can be difficult producing high quality hip hop tracks using the cheap equipment found in a home studio but it is not entirely unachievable. Here are 4 audio changes that will set you on the way to creating great hits.

Noise gates are a must. The truth is that there will always be some noise within your home studio no matter how hard you try to eliminate it. Modern technology has enabled the development of software that can help you minimize noise. The noise gate is the primary tool to use for this purpose. Most music production software come with noise gates. A good example is Audacity, a popular open source recording program. Noise gates eliminate any noise present during silent periods during recording. This noise elimination program is especially useful for noises within the studio such as an overhead fan. Turn the noise gate on when going through a silent interval. Caution must be taken when using this tool as use might result in unnatural sounding records. A background noise that's too loud can result in an unnatural sounding record once vocal recording is complete.

Use noise reduction. Noise reduction tools are also included in most music recording software. However, use this tool carefully and only in instances when needed. This tool eliminates all noise and the track actually sounds like it's recorded under water. Before using this tool, ensure to indicate what noise is and what is not. It works best for low volume noise. High volume noise elimination with this tool can result in the distortion of the track.

Learn to use compression. This feature is designed to regulate loudness within the track without constantly adjusting volume. As with the nose reduction tool, avoid using the compressor too much. This tool gives you freedom to select maximum loudness of the vocal recording. You can afterwards use volume controls to increase volume above the selected maximum loudness. This gives you better control of the voice recording volume while at the same time regulating track pitch. This tool displays the track in the form of waves. Your aim is to ensure that the waves occupy as much space as is possible within the display without touching the edges. If this is allowed to happen, distortion of the recording will occur.

Learn about normalization. The normalization tool is effective in increasing the audio recording to its highest volume without risking distortion. This tool is especially great when volume faders and gain features can't be used to increase the tracks volume without causing distortion. In such instances, track recovery can only be achieved through the use of the normalization tool. This tool is also effective when you want to set the peak volume of your track.

However, be warned that the need for these tools would depend on your mix.You should use them with care to ensure that your vocal tracks will blend well with your instrumental whether you decided to buy beats from professional producers or create them in your home studio.




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