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VOCALS: Why an $85 Mic Beats a $4000 Mic.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ย. 2020
- Consider this: there is no such thing as a "good sounding" or "bad sounding" mic, and there are a lot of reasons why a cheaper, weirder, less "pretty" mic might be the perfect tool for the job at hand. Gregory Scott, Kush Audio's resident hardware and plugin designer, offers another left-of-center way of thinking about the issues that engineers and musicians face in the daily battle to find their sound.
Check out sneakylittledevil.com/ for some tunes
and thehouseofkush.com for the tools used to make 'em!
![[TH] LEV vs TLN | TE vs VIT - VALORANT Champions 2024 DAY 3](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_AbmrWv2lO0/mqdefault.jpg)
I really feel that I’m struggling in general. I am trying to be an independent artist, who does everything. Some say that would hold me back, I say that would make me a millionaire WHEN I figure out how to pull this off. There’s so much that goes into all of this though, the craft itself- singing mixing mastering producing, mics, interfaces, to business, marketing n brand building. I just can’t seem to figure it all out all at once. I’m everywhere. I work a job and i live in far from ideal conditions and spend time trying to learn and also create. Do you have any tips on this particular type of situation. I refuse to give up but my brain is always so tired
Innteresting... I'm not sure what tips I can offer, usually what I offer that's of greatest value is 'clarity'. But it sounds like you see and understand your situation quite well, including the sources of the exhaustion and your continued devotion to those sources.
Ok, how about this: I see an embedded story hidden in your last sentence (they often hide there). Here's the story: changing your patterns in a way that frees you from this exhaustion is the same as "giving up". That's an interesting phrase, "give up." Your mind thinks it means "surrender into defeat". Maybe it just means "give up," as in "give up beating your brain into a pile of mush and depleting it so utterly that it can't possibly deliver on all the promises it never actually made to you."
I'm 50 years old and I don't know much but I do know this: surrender ALWAYS leads to something better. Every. Single. Time. But it involves confronting a certain pain, the death of a mythology, a fantasy identity that our ego constructed and which, with the best of intentions, our younger self agreed to become at all costs. And then life responds (as it always does) with clear signals of what is working and what is not, and more often than not we see the signals for what is working and we ignore the signs for what is not. This selective filtering of reality is what exhausts us, ignoring obvious truths takes a lot of energy. So life ramps up the intensity and frequency of the signs, and we ramp up the denial as we cling to the myth.
Letting that go isn't failure, it's success, IF you can then see clearly and learn the truths time gifted to you. And that letting go is absolutely essential to leveling up, you can't pass thru the gate until you let go of some of the crap you're clinging to. You literally can't fit thru the gate.
I don't have any clue what exactly you're supposed to keep and what you're supposed to shed, but I would bet a lot of my own money that YOU know, if you just pause, take a rest, and assess your life honestly.
Here's another thing I know: collaborating, sharing the work and the effort and the glory, is exponentially more rewarding than going it alone. Consider trading in and trading up, two geniuses means half the pain and twice the payoff. But it also means you gotta compromise, negotiate, and flex. I wonder if that's where your real work lays. That's true for most of us, so take heart.
Note: I am not a lawyer, and the above is not legal advice. 😊
@@TheHouseofKushTV Thanks for sharing Gregory, your insights resonate with my own path. I feel you Zac, like part of me is still there but another just keeps surrendering forward.
@@TheHouseofKushTV thank you for this
@@TheHouseofKushTV you need to make a video about your response to this comment - this is some next level Yoda ish. Brilliant.
@@TheHouseofKushTV This has to be the greatest response to anything I have ever read!
Watching this at midnight, feels like eating a premium quality chocolate
Indeed! It's not called After Hours for nothing, love the way he talks in this subdued late night soothing voice. I wish we could have a new one every day for bedtime, no better way to find peace to go to sleep than some new fine knowledge about how to make things even better tomorrow to contemplate on and integrate with your own experience and sometimes misconceptions.
are you sure the appearance of TayZonday didn't subliminally influence your choice of words here? ; )
Weird.
Oh yeah!!!!!
@@prototype8137 but wonderful
That lamp brags to other lamps how he bought a House of Kush.
Gotta say, I wasn't expecting to see you here.
And so glad I did
Whoa. When worlds collide holy molly ITS HIM!
I'm not surprised you're here
holy fuck
You're literally the only guy on all these audio channels who doesn't "scream" at me the whole video. Love the content - keep going!
Thanks! And still, there are no shortage of trolls complaining that I'm whispering for no good reason. People! 🤦🏻♂️
@@TheHouseofKushTV Haha, so true...People with a POPPING P!
I love listening to you, your way of explaining things, directing my/our senses to new and different points, the whole tone of your voice and being, the love for music & sound....and the HUGE plus being on top of it all, the music you use in these lessons is good and interesting and biutiful. I'm sure you can relate when i tell you, i watched hundreds of videos, trying to learn more about recording and mixing....but the god awful music ruined it for me completely.
I really don't get, why such an overwhelming majority of music production videos, exclusively use the most bland, boring, overused and uninventive music in their examples.
Okay, back to getting lost in your soothing teachings... .. . . . . . .
You're right. Sylvia Massy would be another great example of sweetness ;)
The House of Kush It's good to see audio production videos where care has been taken over the sound. So many people on TH-cam unironically talking about sound quality through their phone mic.
Dan Worrall.
Man there's just something so soothing about being taught how to record music by Owen Wilson and Shaggy's love child.
You're welcome!
And the step-brother of Kevin Parker (Tame Impala)
@@thomasaustin8477 He gives me more Alan Rickman vibes in all honesty
Nah, more like a wholesome version of Bob from Twin Peaks
@@stiflingluxury Hey, who you callin' wholesome??
“Don’t believe or trust anything I’m saying other than using it as a basis for your own inquiry.”
That's some Buddha-level wisdom.
This is why Greg and Nathan are the best tech advisors on the interwebs!
For those that don't know, Greg and his colleague Nathan Daniel did over 150 podcasts about pro audio, and they hold seriousness and foolishness in the same container, which is also some Buddha-level shizzle.
www.ubkhappyfuntimehour.com/
“Be lamps unto yourselves.”
Something else I’ve discovered over the years is that it doesn’t matter what mic / EQ / compressor / amp / guitar pedal etc. you play through if your song sucks. 👍🏼
One of the most painful lessons to learn, that 😁
That's the golden fucking ticket right there. Gear means shit. It's all about the talent.
@@theshizon exactly! There was never a viral song that didn't go viral just because it didn't benefit from the most expensive gear out there. Gold in -> Gold Out. There's no crap turning into gold if ran through expensive gear.
Exactly, you can’t polish a turd.
Indeed. I have never in my entire life heard someone exclaim "Wow this song is incredible! But the sonics are bit lacklustre they should have used better gear. PASS!" However I hear the opposite every day "Sonically it sounds like a million dollars but this song is just awful. HARD PASS!"
The craziest thing I've done with a vocal is after having this girl singer do about 30 takes over 2 days with 8 different mics and finding that no one was happy with any of the takes, I started playing with saturations and eq's and compressors like normal and nothing, I mean nothing was working. After various experiments I took a duplicate of one of the takes from the Warm 251 and reamped it like I would with a guitar track. I went through 3 different guitar amps before loving this old Gibson Skylark tone. I had the Skylark mic'd with a 121 and a 57, the same thing I always use for guitars and once I blended them like doing parallel compression we had a golden ticket. Her voice came alive and she had goosebumps. Don't give up on ideas. Our job as producers and engineers is to serve the song and artist, it's their dime. I know I learned something that day and it opened my eyes to making sure I was open minded to, like you said, mics aren't good or bad, they just sound different.
Here's a crazy thing I once did for a song-recording: recorded the vocals several times through different mics, besides two very different pro types also several very lo-fi ones, like an old crystal mic and then some. The in the mix I would altenate between them, for sentences or even wordsa or a full verse, sometimes mix'm and pan left right etc. Made for a very intersting very alive soundscape, especially because I also mixed in an old tube radio scanning inbetween stations from time to time on the transitions and sometimes mixing with one of the mic-episodes.
Badass engineering right there. ☝️
Could you record vocals with multiple mics at the same time, or would you get feedback or interference or something....??
The best thing to do for vocals with a Warm 251 is to plug it into a Warm WA12 (or WA12-500) preamp and press the magic "Tone" button. :-)
@Noah Farver No, it was more like a dialed-down Evanescence type of rock. The girl can sing the paint off walls but she didn't have the grit she wanted. She's very clean-toned. But she wanted some weight behind her and the end product worked. It makes me wonder if that group ever released that record. (ha! "record" That just shows how old I am)
This is a man who knows how to TEACH, not just how to DO. Having both is a really valuable skillset.
that off-pitch headphone issue, i really thought it was just me, thanks!
I personally haven't really had that problem, but I must say it does make a huge difference hearing your voice and the music in the room as opposed to the headphones. Will definitely try this, crazy I haven't yet, considering I usually record my vocals with a dynamic stage-mic up close. If it works on stage, well, why wouldn't it in my home-studio really? Of course it's going to cause some bleed, and it will add some probably interesting acoustics, that can be manipulated with some creative use of monitor placement, blankets and pillows if need be.
@@Erudotic Also try Open Backs. Or semi-open. 770s say, w LDCs can maybe be swapped for 990s or 880s with a SM7B or RE-20. Play with the levels. Performance trumps mic bleed though no matter what.
I think it also has to do with you hearing your own voice in the space, which is what you're normally used to adjusting your pitch with. But yeh, that advice is great. I have felt the difference myself, how somehow the feel is always better when I record without headphones but I was still shy to really go for it and to use that method for final vocals but I will definitely be more daring with it after watching this video
I've struggled with this myself in the past. My remedy ( if you have to use headphones) is the same as lots of singers. Pull one side off. Concentrate on the sound of your voice in the room. Just use the one side if the headphone to get timing and the pitch in relation. It helps a lot. But he is right if you can hear your voice in an open space it usually corrects the pitch issue and makes you feel more connected.
@@thelapgods7374 i do this as well, take one headphone off, or alternatively, just say fuck it and accept a bit of mic bleed from my speakers lol
I like that you're not compulsively trying to sell us stuff. Thank you for the honesty.
I'm just really, REALLY lucky/blessed because I don't feel like I *have* to do that. I'll always welcome more subscribers and users of Kush gear, and I love that people are discovering my music because of this channel, but yeah, that's not the point nor will it ever be. Life has always been very generous with me, I feel obliged to pay it back wherever I can. Thanks for your support and for digging what's what here :-)
Sounds like microphones are like wands, which choose their owners, and not vice versa! :)
Thanks a lot for the interesting video!
This guy is an engaging communicator.
"Theres no such thing as a good or bad mic..." dude. you continue to blow my mind with each episode. Question; Any tips for mixing dense songs with a lot of different tracks and sounds and layers going on at once so it still sounds big but not overbearing?
I could literally just watch these videos for their intros- smooth af
He's got that 'I'm about to fuck yo wife' energy with every vid.
One of my favourite new youtubers with such 'call out the bullshit on the internet' advice. I think this is the stuff all the gurus save for their paid courses and Gregory shares it for free
Indeed!
@@DDRMR this doesn’t even scratch the surface of what him and nathan talk about in their ubkhappyfuntimehour podcast. I’ve learned so much about the entire process from those two men, it’s nuts
@@colliemon thank you so much for the recommendation brother. Will DEFINITELY check it out now
This guy is the Bob Ross of music production
Pearls of wisdom, dropping slowly, and hypnotically, from the mind of Gregory Scott. Just had a listen to some of those HD tracks, I love the way the vocals surround and caress the listener from all sides. Wonderful.
This is is very intelligent advice. A moped can go on routes that a race car is too big for. But you need to know how to ride it.
I've always recorded vocals with one earphone off so I can hear the track for guidance, but I can hear myself as well.
I know im late to this comment. But just wanted to say I do this myself
I've used that exact EV microphone for years as a vocal microphone, acoustic guitar microphone, and a drum room mic. It's great in the studio.
This intro is a straight up ‘01 Bourbon Commercial 🥃
I’ll look for your tunes. Thanks for another awesome episode!
When researching what mics were used for those '60s shows like Ed Sullivan Show or Hollywood Palace, this mic appeared in the results. The Mamas and the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, and others used this mic for their live television gigs... in the days when they really did sing live. I wondered how it was they sang directly into them while producing no plosives. Now, I know why.
Love your videos, brother. Well done and thank you.
These videos are so damn good. So insightful, it’s easy to tell you are always talking from experience. That end quote too is golden! Audio engineering is a process, and the most important part of that process is experimentation and exploration!
Maaaaan, from 8:20 on gotta be one of the greatest takes on the gear thing on the whole net! It's so encouraging! Loving your content Kush! It's all great man, it's all great
Just discovered this channel and love it. Advice without an agenda or snobbery...perfect
Dude I’ve been stressing this for years. My buddy had 2 RadioShack mics as overheads for his drum kit and it fit his playing style like a glove. For my vocals I’ve been using a Samson C02 for years. I’ve tried many expensive beautiful mics and something about that Samson just works for me.
I encourage you all to experiment and forget about price tags or brands.
This!! I’ve been using a cheap-ish broadcast mic for alternative music vocals lately to great effect. Sounds boring straight in but when you compress & saturate- it just comes to life. Then add any “room” sound totally in the box.
I recently got the SSL 2+ interface, which has analogue circuitry in it, activated by a "4k" button. I can't believe what it did to an old 58 in my less than ideal room. The sizzle without the crickets outside. I also think there is something to be said about holding a mic on the psychological level. That act is so connected to the performance of singing for most of us--I recently did an internet project singing Radiohead's "Nude" that way and I think anything, no matter how small, that takes me out of the "I'm a person recording music that will be judged" mode is a good thing. I think I will record it again with the monitors and let all the inner Thom come out. Thanks, Greg!
@@aarongrubbs8311 I guess it also helps a lot in dynamics, it's so much more intuitive to bring a mic up close when soft and away when loud, fade-ins and puts and all those tricks you can use with a handheld mic to make it sing right, then it is to have to move your head to and from the stationary mic. Great suggestion, I recall having done it a few times, way back I don't remember when; will definitely put this in the toolbox for my future-recordings. Especially since I'm using a Shure dynamic stage-mc for my vocals anyway. (not SM58: BG-3.0, more or less comparable, I believe it's like a budget version, no idea I got it second hand so long ago...)
gabe roth at daptone records often uses radioshack mics allegedly
Hey! I just want to say thanks for giving your time to do this show! I really love it! It helps me a lot. And you're an interesting person, give us new producers that vibe we need to get the job done! Thanks!! 🙏🙏😍😍
Yeah. I’m digging these vids. You are hypnotic in clarity and you make all this complicated stuff still complicated but more inviting in its complexity. Thank you. Mix Minister Kush
That's an interesting comment about headphones and pitch. I've been pulling one phone pad partway off my left ear for years to hear myself better when I track vocals.
It's our existential question: Does audio quality even matter any more? Get yourself a bunch of average to budget stuff, and simply record, and your music will not only have unique character but also it will actually be DONE and out in the world... and consumed mostly by people who are listening on laptops or cellphones, or who simply don't care about any hi-fi kind of audio quality... but only about melody, lyrics, and beat, and vibe. I think we may all need an intervention and to finally wake the hell up. Your video here is helping to illuminate this. Thanks for all the great tips, Gregory. Wow, I'm gonna try that monitoring using speakers thing.
It doesn´t really matter that much what those people are gonna listen through right? If you know you can do better and you want to keep chasing certain sounds?
To me the most important thing seems to be making it sound how i want it to sound.
@@delievegoedesint well yes, agreed, especially if your main job or only job is as the engineer or producer. But if you're also the artist? And everything else that you need to do, like all the business and management, etc? You really can get sucked into an extreme time commitment... In general, the chase for perfection is what's to be careful of, ESPECIALLY if you're wearing tons of hats like I do. See, since music is a competitive industry, this demand for perfection can take you all the way into the rabbit hole and beyond, and that rabbit hole includes the world wide web which is vast... and when you come out on the other end many years later having finished MUCH less music than you could have, and feel like sh*t about it, and then you watch someone like Gregory Scott here tell you that you can get by on an $85 mic and it actually gives you the character you're truly looking for, then, well, you may wonder if you had spent your time wisely all those years. I can say personally that I've worn too many hats and have gone too deep and guess what I've discovered? A lot of things really don't matter. I mean, like, AT ALL. Most of it is hype, companies needing to sell things, people needing to keep relationships in tact with those companies - when you watch them reviewing stuff, they don't really tell you the absolute truth... For instance, all these plugins? eh. Perfect preamps? eh. All kinds of different mics? eh. All not necessary to make great music. Just be very careful with how you use your time. Time is limited.
Great advice Mike, thank you.
@@MikeBrayton Finished is better than better.
Yes, audio quality does matter. It won't save a garbage performance, but it does matter. If you use a phone or laptop to record, people will notice even if they use cheap earbuds vs. a quality (or even budget) XLR mic. Maybe you want to have lower audio quality on purpose for a given project, but that doesn't mean audio quality suddenly doesn't matter at all and we should throw it out the window. High quality equipment exists because audio quality DOES matter.
You are my favorite source on TH-cam for new ideas. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, and for being humble about it. I've used the idea of cutting large moves in half to make a bigger picture and it's been working wonders. Thanks man!
Wow, I'm really loving your videos. So unlike all the other mixing tutorials on youtube. You give people a chance to discover how things work for themselves rather than prescribing stock "advice". This is so important for artists. Thank you so much for what you are doing.
"For reasons I can't even begin to explain". Proceeds to give highly detailed explanation
Ha! That kinda nonsense happens when you improvise shit at 4am... 🧐
I had some huge problems tracking vocals on one of my favourite tracks years ago. Headphones. Pitch stuff. Turned on a small pair of crappy speakers and tracked it live, very quiet. Nailed. It was opened up, I was singing around the beat freely instead being bombarded with meter dictator in my headphones. So many mic myths abound...
Much love man, the algorithm recommended this channel. Fits me well as I am building recording studio 2.0 one of the things I definitely need is a vocal mic.
Sage advice and a refreshing change from “you MUST do this”. Great teacher and a true artist 😻
My first inclination was to contradict the notion that there does not *exist* such a thing as a 'bad microphone' . .
Then I remembered that the band Cake purposely use old beaten up instruments for their unique sounds.
. . . and it works
Yes yes yes - finally a professional who knows that the music industry has loads of BS attached to it.
I have worked for years and years from small projects to big ones (bands, singers, Film, ADR, Foley, Sound Design) and in all that time there is only one persons judgement I fully trust - mine!.... that doesnt mean I don't listen to advice and ideas - but I make up my mind based on what I know or do - not on what I heard.
For years I would record voices with the SM58 - purely due to the fact I couldnt afford to buy other mics - and even now I will often pick it up and use it on a vocalist because it sounds right - you work with what youve got and then you learn how to make what you have aound as good as you can.
Hey buddy, next time you are in the UK the beers are in me, cos you know your stuff!!
the beers are in you? how selfish of you
@@WiihawkPL hee hee - bloody typo!!
Thanks Greg. Your videos and your podcasts cures both my audio engineering ignorance and my insomnia. May you all always be well.
I appreciate the transparency and real talk. Refreshing. Thanks!
So...I checked out Sneaky Little Devil...fan for life, man...
everytime i come on this channel im like this dude, like most musicians, overdo it with the fashion but you know what? your hair is actually pretty good.
I mean, it's possible for both thoughts to be true 😁
I am so glad that I discovered your channel! You speak a lot of truth with no hype, no sales pitch, and none of the usual internet/TH-cam BS. Thank you!
I discovered your channel yesterday and I'm amazed by every single video I've watched so far
Greg, for a future episode idea... what are top 5 or 10 albums you'd recommend listening to for mix references or gaining insight into great mixing? (You could also have a bit of a click bait title with this to get some more viewers which you deserve)
Awesome idea, noted!
@@TheHouseofKushTV YES! How to pick (or what makes a great) reference track. May I ask a related question? Is it any advantage to find mix reference songs available as (bass/vocal/drum/guit/etc) stems, and mix your song to those?
This would be legendary.
I exposed the Produce Like a Pro Mix Academy to the Sneaky Little Devil 96k wavs and everyone in chat immediately grabbed them for future references. I'm so glad you're going to up your videos, Greg, thanks for all you do! I will ponder a question that could be useful to everyone rather than babble on as I am wont to do. Have a great day, Teacher.
@@aarongrubbs8311 Are those files available somewhere (for a not-member of Pro Mix Academy) ? Would love to check them out.
I set up to record a scratch vocal last night. I didn’t feel like setting up my tube mic, so I grabbed my “go to” for live performance, a Behringer XM8500. It’s basically a knock off of an SM58, but you can buy 3 of them for the price of one SM58.
In the back of my mind, was this video. I’ve watched it several times. I stepped up in my vocal booth, without even bothering with a pop filter.
Upon playback, I discovered that my “scratch vocal” was a pretty damn good delivery. So again, with this video in mind, I decided to apply the same EQ/FX treatment to the channel, as I normally do when using my tube mic.
I’m stunned. Everything you said is true. At first it felt a bit dead, as opposed to the lively response I’m used to from the tube mic. But as I started to adjust the frequencies, what I discovered was how much less room ambiance I was getting, and how much more of my natural vocal tone came through.
Thanks for your videos. I’ve been a follower for over a year now. I applied many of your techniques in production of our last album, “WILD DEUCE-On The Loose”. I’ve just started production on a follow up EP, and now I’ve employed this.
I don’t know that it will apply on every track, but it’s another tool in my production tool box, so thanks for that. ✝️💟☮️🎵
I love this guy. Clear and concise! I’ve been arguing this for years but not as eloquently! Subbed!
Just found this channel and been binge watching as many episodes as I can. Really cool stuff!
Man, I'm so early it might still be business hours wish UBK
laughed more than I should`ve lmao
hahahahaha that got me xD
This guy always has the best advice - audio production G___UR--U
Man, I really learn a LOT from you. Your show is great. I have no enough words to say how precious your insights are for me. Thanks a LOT.
You have some seriously great insights. Thankyou so much for all your ace content!
Yep. I recall spending a whole day in a decent studio singing into a serious Neumann mic (can’t remember which one but it was a huge silver expensive thingy), then we a/b’d with my demo vocal done on an sm58. Sm58 went on the record
This is such a common story, and as or more often I think it comes down to the vibe and mojo of the perfomance, which has little to do with the tech used to capture it!
I knew I wasn't going crazy. Whenever I record my demo vocals with a dynamic it always has this distinct character that I always want to recreate on post once I recorded the real thing with a condenser mic.
My new favorite channel! Thanks man, I love your videos!
Best tutorials I've heard in regards to music production.
Your finished music productions from top to bottom speaks for itself. You are definitely a dude who knows his stuff and should be listened too.
I appreciate that!
Great ideas Mr. Scott. My mantra: it don't matter how you get there, just get there
Amen to that.
I have had an EV 635a since the late '70s. And I still use it, it's flattering on acoustic guitar too, as a drum overhead in a good room or a room mic. The whole idea of having a few mics in your collection is to give you access to more colours from your palette. Sometimes a cheaper mic will give you what you need.
You have seriously changed my engineering /mixing/recording out look and for that....THANK YOU! I am a singer song writer mixing my own demos. I usually use Smith Curry up in Nashville for tracking and then I add my own vocals and mix it my self. I will continue to search out for all your videos, I love your style and sense of humor... and of course all your GREAT information. Thank You!
I've watched a couple of videos of yours atm (all are good), this one just made me subscribe and like, damn there is a whole lot of wisdom here
i recorded my first album Opium Scented on a Samsung galaxy s5 and drag and dropped mp3 files into FL studio. Yep lol it took ages. BUT, one important thing i learnt after buying a real mic is that the sound quality is not really any better, just different. I also learnt a fair bit about how to EQ my voice through the challenges + this also gave the album a different sound
Peace. Love your content
Finally someone who doesn't follow the masses. I have used all sorts of "top" microphones from Akg to Nuemann to Groove Tubes and i always end up using my cheap £20 Behringer XM8500. When people hear it in the mix they think it's ultra expensve and it is so forgiving!!
Definitely some of your best work here. I think that’s saying a lot bc your posts are always top notch!
Wow, thank you. I almost didn't air this one because I wasn't sure it worked. Friggin' artists!
Great channel to get real deep stuff from a guy with experience who loves to talk. Glad I found you.
Honestly can you please read a story book and make an audio book. Your voice is so warm and laid back and I’ll be checking out your music as it sounds pretty chill and relaxing. Thanks for your channel
🤜🏽🤛🏼
I’m curious if you have any general tips and/or tricks when mixing bass lines. And also, I know you probably do a lot of live drums mixing, but I think a lot of us here probably resort to MIDI/smart drums. It’d also be nice as well if you have some tips for bring those to life/making them sound more professional.
Thank you for your time and insight 🙏🏽
i just discovered your videos and they are amazing, thanks for doing these!
I love your reference to your Work With sneaky Little Devil !!
I love your Sound and the Emotion and Atmosphere in your Songs !!!!
Thanks so much
I'd love to get your thoughts on drum overhead and room mic placement. There's a lot of schools of thought and techniques out there, and obviously different approaches are necessary for different sonic goals, but would definitely appreciate your thoughts on when to go mono vs stereo, which techniques fit best with which styles of music, panning decisions etc.
Dude! Your videos are super helpful now I've had a stupid amount of time to record at home by myself. I decided to learn how to use the stuff I've got to record, mix and master with. (My really old laptop, budget mic ect) they have served me well so far and your videos make me feel a hell of alot better about my progress especially trying to navigate a lot of online nonsense.
I actually learnt about the microphobes issues you said here when I was in a studio working with a producer. He knew the info but didn't really put it into practice. I'd like to hear of examples where engineers ect dont practice what they preach.
Excellent video, newly subbed but will keep a close eye on your upcoming videos. :)
Right on, welcome to the game my man!
So glad someone is bringing this to people's attention!
Most of the advice online is "if you want to sound pro, use a large diaphragm condenser".
I am in a band with a vocalist who has very pronounced diction and quite a bright and sharp attack to their voice... Once you chuck a condenser in front of them, it just brings out a lot of detail that doesn't sit well in a mix.
I like to have a beta 58 on him as it dulls some of those elements just enough, yet is still bright enough to achieve that modern pop sound.
Literally every vocalist is different, so it's good to hear someone recommending that people find what works for them!
So glad to see Mr Scott’s channel taking off.
*Learning to use your equipment is the most important thing.*
Said every pubescent human that ever existed 🥳
Hi Gregory, when it comes to a "nearly finished" mix, do you or would you ever ride the Stereo bus fader for some subtle overall dynamic automation? Or is this a no-no, set it and forget it fader?
Love your work, and again, my one-on-one lesson with Nathan Daniel was super helpful too.
I absolutely do this, on almost every major transition. BUT, the move is tiny, up 0.2dB, down 0.2dB. The master fader automation isn't creating a dynamic, it's reinforcing it. All the real work is done inside the mix, on the channels and busses and fx.
I super dig the vibe of your channel. I've had a ton of experience in audio throughout the years but am just finally building my own studio. It's slow moving but I'm trying to get things right. I'll be paying attention to your channel from now on. Thanks for sharing.
thank you for pointing these out so easily! soo helpful in the simplest way,
Mad respect for this man
Here it is I thought I was the only one who experienced pitch problems when singing with headphones and the music turned up. I ALWAYS turn the music down and remove one can from my ear so I can hear myself and stay on pitch lol! Thanks so much for the advice!
Excellent! good advice; I will try that.
I've never heard that before; how using headphones, can possibly cause a person to sing off pitch. I have the feeling, and going by what I've seen in in the past in regards to recording studios, that if I was to suggest doing a vocal using monitors only, the engineer would look at me as if I had 2 heads. Now certainly not all engineers, but some of them seem to think that they are God. It's their way or the highway.
If Gregory Scott lived in my hometown, or even state, I would make a beeline to his studio.
He seem to know what he is talking about; besides, common sense gives credence to what he is saying. I wonder if part of his profession, involves mixing music for other people?
Also 1 finger partly plugging 1 ear under the head phone. For me it depends on the song.
The one cup off ear is very popular and always has been. Hearing yourself in the room is a good way to hit the pitch.
hi Greg! i love these videos, they're amazing and your intuition based teaching is great (: thank you for taking the time to make these!
You're very welcome!
Dude I loved the episode, I hadn't seen the channel before but as soon as the segment had finished, I the hit the subscribed. Now Im just going to troll through your back library. Thank you.
An audio comparison of the same performance between the two microphones would be cool.
It would also be impossible, because the dynamic is held right up to the lips, which would completely alter (by physically blocking) what the LDC, 18" away, would hear. Also, a HUGE part of the "sound" of the dynamic isn't the sound per se, it's the performance, the feel and groove that are made possible because you can move around, sway, dance... if you park yourself in front of the LDC, you lose that. 😊
Thanks for a truly great "real world" treatise on mics. I'm a retired TV broadcast engineer, and audio has always been a passion of mine. The first TV station I worked at had a bunch of 635A's, and I used them on everything. I really got to know that mic well. As my career progressed, I had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of world class mics, from vintage ribbons like the RCA 77DX to outrageously expensive condenser mics from Germany, Austria, and Japan. To this day, I regard the 635A as one of the most versatile, cost effective, and underrated mics on the planet.
Over the years, I've put together a modest personal collection of some of the favorite mics I've worked with. In addition to a couple of 635A's, I've got a pristeen EV 655C, a superb omnidirectional dynamic with response that its ruler flat to 20kHz. I thought about that mic when you mentioned how one of the most desirable characteristics of an omni dynamic is its lack of proximity effect. There is no better example of that than the 655C.
Years ago, I had an RCA 74B ribbon in my collection. It looked like a "baby" RCA 44BX. But I thought it sounded awful, so I got rid of it. Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that legendary jazz recording engineer Rudy VanGelder used a 74B as a bass drum mic on some of his early recordings. I guess that's proof of your assertion that mics are tools, and there is no such thing as a "bad" mic or a "good" mic, only a "right" tool or a "wrong" tool for a given application.
Thanks once again for an outstanding video.
Nice! The AEA R84, which I thinnnnnk is partly inspired by the 74B, is one of my favorite kick mics, esp in conjunction with something more papery like an re20. Ribbons on kicks have such lovely, slow, deep subs.
@@TheHouseofKushTV I acquired my 74B from an AM radio station I worked at when I was a teenager. I found it tucked away in a storage closet at the station, and asked the chief engineer about it. He had retired it many years earlier, and he told me to take it if I wanted it. It looked so damn cool, I couldn't resist the offer. I tried using it on a couple of recording projects, and found it to be utterly useless. I eventually ended up giving it away to a fellow audio enthusiast. Here's a link to some info on the 74B: www.coutant.org/rca74b/
Due to the nature of the TV work that I did, I rarely had the luxury of fully mic'ing a drum kit. I did a fair bit of music recording on the side, and a couple of times, I used an EV 666 on the kick drum. It worked like a champ. I frequently used the 666 on acoustic bass, and it worked very well in that application. The 666 was a high-end dynamic cardioid that EV sold in the 60s and early 70s. It exhibits a pronounced proximity effect, so it has a really warm sound when used up close. I believe its characteristics are very close to those of the RE20.
Greg doing marvelous things over here, there are too many technical knowledge!
one of the my favorite analog gear the fatso jr. upgraded by kush audio. finally i hope end of this year i ll get one of this diamond!
thank you! you really so cool
Super stoked to have stumbled across this channel. Big love and thanks x
Welcome!!
There's an old trick for recording vocals while music is on the monitors: flip polarity on one monitor, and make sure the mike is equidistant from both. That way the music cancels itself out in the recording to some extent (you can get up to 20 db of cancellation I think). The problem is that not all people are comfortable hearing music that way (my head hurts when I hear low frequencies counter-phase, for example).
I've done shootouts like that between $300, $1,200 and $50 mics, and more often than you'd think, the $50 mic (MXR 2001) had exactly the right vibe and sat perfectly. Not always, it's noisier and it's gritty, but in a nice way.
Best yt channel for audio stuff! Thanks man!
Been loving the show for a while but only just checked out your music. Wasn't sure what to expect musically but knew it'd sound nice just going by your attitude and vibe. You remind me of a couple of guys I've been fortunate to work with along the way. Great that you share your insights, always cool to look at things in a different way, especially for those who haven't had the luck I've had over the years. Keep on!
Thanks man, I can relate to feeling lucky, that's actually a big part of what motivates me to share what I've learned. 🙏🏼
airwindows has a plugin that is called VoiceTrick,it lets you record vocals while monitoring over speakers with minimal bleed on your mic through phase cancelation and filtering, for everyone interested
Interesting, I'll check it out! I'm verrrry wary of plugins that mess with my phase, but I'm always open to being shown the light!
@@TheHouseofKushTV i hope you will find it usefull, any feedback would be great...and man your channel rocks.... your are from the true ones
This channel is the best learning tree to sit under.
Love the image!
These videos are pure gold - thank you!
Man, you are seriously one of the few on TH-cam giving lessons/tips that communicates the "why" of things and not just a follow-blindly recipe-like "how". Sincerely so valuable. Thank you kindly.
I appreciate that!
I would love to see a video comparing all the different Kush audio compressor plugins. There’s a quite a number and I’m not sure where to use each one in my mix
I feel like I've met you, you popped out from behind a cactus and imbibed me with mescaline and regaled me with soothing tales of outboard gear
Love those videos, thank you so much for sharing your experience!
Wow this was really helpful. I am working on a project now and have a bunch of scratch vocals from a beta58a that I use for live shows. I have been so frustrated trying to get a “proper” take with headphones on a condenser.
It literally never occurred to me to just use the dynamic mic and lose the headphones for the “real” takes. The condenser was great in the treated room I was in before but is so challenging in my current setup in an empty room above a garage with lots of street noise coming in. This is such practical and useful advice - thank you!!!
Find the a mic that every body hates, and when a famous music comes out , using it, every body will ruch to buy it. Every tool can can be used too shape your sound. Like a sculptor or a painter who would use his finger or an expansive knife. I think that every characteristics can be interesting depending on when, and how you use it . It might not be the color we want now, but it will be, at some point.
Truth. I learned the hard way, and from a mentor finally explaining to me, to never sell my mics. Sell the comps, sell the preamps, but keep the mics, even the ones I never use because there'll come a time when I want that color. I've sold a lot of gear in my day and the only thing I truly regret selling (because I can't find them anymore) are the mics.
@@TheHouseofKushTV I see that your experience has also proven the point. I guess, every unique gear is priceless. As long as we have the room , it seems wise, to keep it. Once it has desapeared, no amount of money can buy it.
I know you've talked about your vocal chain before, but can you please make a video for us showing everything in detail? How you sound so good, so far away from your mic?
Oh, great suggestion! Truthfully, so much of it has to do with the room. My room sounds really, REALLY good, very tight and dry but not dead or boxy. That allows me to put mics 2, 3, even 4' away from a source and it still sounds close & intimate, not swamped in ugly resonances or blurry reflections. That said, I do a fair amount of processing to bring it from 'nice' to 'very very nice', and it's a great idea to share all of this with everyone :-)
@@TheHouseofKushTV Always wondered how u have a great vocal sound..You really do hear the deadned room sound...
@@TheHouseofKushTV hey kush, quick question on rooms. I know it can be subjective, but I have heard that rooms with a angled ceiling, like the shape of a roof can be very problematic. I’ve been setting my personal studio in a new space that has this kind of ceiling and I was pretty worried about issues that might come up, but I’m actually surprised that it sounds pretty good with a few acoustic guitars and vocals I’ve tracked. I haven’t recorded any drums in it yet, so is there anything I should look out for with that room shape?
Here’s some more details of the space: It’s a longer rectangular room, maybe 30 to 35’, and 12 to 15’wide. The two long walls go up about half way before the angle starts, where the two angled walls meet in the center about maybe 12 feet up. One end of the rectangle room, there are book shelves built into the wall from floor to ceiling, but with a window in the center. There’s books, mics, hand percussion instruments, and other gear kept in the shelves. Along the perpendicular walls to that, I have a few pianos, amps, a guitar rack, a couch, and a few cabinets to store gear and supplies. Basically, along the parallel walls there a lot of things that reflects sound and prevents slap back echo. The floor is always carpeted. Due to this, I haven’t actually put up any sound absorbers anywhere.
A video on treating common and uncommon room shapes and sizes would be awesome!
Every single high end control room I've ever been in has an angled ceiling. If you're talking about a vaulted ceiling, that's still very workable and preferable to a flat, low (7' or 8') ceiling. For mixing, it sounds like you've got a lot of good stuff in place, my guess is you'd really benefit from an OC705 cloud over your mix position, to suck down resonances and reflections from overhead.
If you can scrounge any kind of budget at all, I highly recommend working with Jeff Hedback, he can take any space to the next level and he works with ALL budget levels, including DIY. He's a genius.
@@TheHouseofKushTV That would be amazing.
Thank you for permission to do what I already believe in. It is a reminder i needed to hear. I've always been a fan of $50 guitars and often get caught up in the endless pursuit of better/more expensive gear. If it sounds good .. it is good. Looking forward to more ideas from you. Thank you.