Vocal Computer

Want to record your band or solo project at home to make a cd for friends, family, or maybe just a jam band project? You have a computer already and have decided that you would be better off to get the equipment to record from your computer. You are reading the right article then, my friend. I have recorded music at a home studio for 15 years now and have used all different types of recorders from DAT machines, to Hard-disk multi tracks, to computer workstations.

Some typical questions that are asked when making the decision are:

What about effects?
How do I connect my guitar or mixer to my computer?

What software will give me the best sound?

What hardware should I buy to make it work?

Is my computer compatible?

Would I be better off getting a cheap 4 or 8 track recorder?

To record from your computer, your typical setup will be like this:

You will need your amplifiers or you can just plug your instrument in for that matter; Microphone for vocals, acoustic guitars, etc.; good instrument cables; audio interface or sound card that has interfacing capabilities; powered speakers; and headphones.

How to setup your recording studio at home:

It is recommended for recording vocals and acoustic guitars to use condenser microphones that are phantom powered and can be purchased typically for under $100. These reproduce the absolute best sound-quality. With them though, background noise has to be kept to a minimal as they will pick up a pin drop in the room.

There are two ways to record guitars and bass guitars. You can set up your live rig putting a microphone in front of the speaker cabinet and playing your heart out. Now before you disturb the neighbors, the best way to achieve the sound that you are looking for is setting the microphone to the inside lower corner of one of your top speakers(half stack) or the same way in between the two speakers(combo) amp either straight on or at a 20-45 degree angle. It is best to put them straight forward to control phasing issues.

You should have the microphone plugged into a mixer with the headphones on or a good monitor that can allow you to achieve the sound that you are looking for without having to crank the amp up very loud. You would basically want it at the same level you use in a live setup. Just loud enough to feedback but not loud enough to be heard without a power amp. You can also put a blanket over the amp cabinet or put the cabinet into a closet or bathroom for controlling the sound.

The second way to record your stringed machine is to plug into a preamp or processor and go direct to the computer via the mixer and interface. This also has a good sound quality to it and with the right computer software, you can manipulate the sound to almost any amplifier. Also, many effects processors today have amp simulation built into them that is ideal for this situation.

When you record your vocals and are using a condenser microphone, it is essential to have a pop-screen in front of your microphone. This will control the popping of the vocals when you say the letter “p” or “t”. Also, it is a good idea to actually set the microphone in a closet and record in a closet that has a lot of clothes in it. That is the closest to having the ‘dead sound’ that you will hear in a vocal booth of a recording studio. The reason for this is simple, it cuts all background noise including the hiss that is picked up from the open air. It also allows you to use your effects and plug-ins on your vox later.

No matter how you record your instruments and vocals, when you arm the track and press the start button, you are committed to the track. And if you use effects in the wet signal to the computer, you can’t change it. You have to re-record the track! If you mess up, you have to stop, delete the audio off the track, and re-record it. And if you have to re-record and don’t do it the same day then you have to reposition everything the way you had it before to make it sound the same. You may have a nightmare trying to get the tone back in the sweet zone!

If you record the signal clean and use the plug-ins, you can virtually change everything on the track except the notes. You can change amps, effects, microphones on the cabinets, mic placement, and levels. You can even save the parameters of your plug-ins after dialing them in so they will be presets for you in the future! The flexibility of changing amps and manipulating the sound is virtually endless with the right software. And if you think that the software can’t sound like tubes (and yes it does a darn good job of emulating them!), use a tube preamp.

There are different programs to use, you have to choose the one that best suits you. They are priced from free to thousands of dollars but the bottom line is, you have to find what meets your needs. If you spent $300 on a multi-track recorder, and was very limited to what you could or could spend the same amount for an interface and software and found endless possibilities, which would you choose?

You want to record your guitar, make your own riffs, music, etc. You want to plug your guitar into your computer? How to connect the guitar to the computer the right and best way? What software? Which audio interface? What about your favorite guitar effects? What computer? Where to start? It can be overwhelming. The recording guitarist’s computer setup should be something like this:

• Guitar (*GTR with 13 pin connection recommended)
• Microphone for recording Acoustic guitar, vocals etc.
• Quality guitar cable
• Audio Interface-Firewire (recommended) or USB
• Guitar/midi interface
• USB/Firewire cables
• Computer (Mac recommended or PC)
• Extra external/internal Hard Drive (recommended)
• Audio recording/sequencer software
• Plug-ins: effects- reverb, compressor, delay, chorus, etc
  • Dedicated guitar effects/amp simulation
  • Sampler/synths (for 13 pin guitarists or guitarist who can play keyboards)
• Quality cables to speakers
• Powered Speakers
• Headphones (so you do not disturb the wife an kids at those late weekend sessions).

-Setting up your whole live rig and putting a microphone in front of the your cabinet, playing at loud volumes so you get the amp to sound right, push the speaker enough, putting your speaker in a closet, using a blanket to damping volume, etc. -You could use a load on you speaker and record direct. -Use a preamp that is compensated for direct recording as the front end. You can plug this into outboard effects or add plug-ins -You could record from your pedal board or any outboard multi-effects you might own. You probably end up with a direct type sound. Some multi-effects have amp simulation that might take the edge off the direct sound. With any of these scenarios you are committing yourself to the recorded track. If you record with effects, you can’t change it later. You would have to re-record! And if you do not re-record on the same day or you have to come back and have to set up the rig again, hopefully the knobs setting were written down, place the speaker in the same place etc, etc…. If you get into the recording other instruments or mixing the song and you want to change the guitar sound, tone, effects, etc, — you have to re-record! With a guitar with a 13 pin connection, either internally or a pickup installed on the body, you get 100% use of your software. You can record your guitar sound and get access to any software synths or samplers that come with the software or as a plug-in add-on. With a software computer base system, you can change almost everything after you have recorded–amps, effects, mics, mic placement and more. You do this with plug-ins. You can save all your presets, sounds, etc. You could have multi-guitar tracks with different settings all from recording one track. The flexibility is there! Yes, there are purists out there- “software can’t sound like tubes”. Well, the software is getting pretty close!!!! There is a lot of software out there. You do not have to spend a lot of money AND it is always improving. You buy a box. (i.e.hard disk recorders, and others mentioned above), you have bought a box. You usually can’t upgrade without buying a new box. People use computers every day at work or home- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel Power Point, etc) Email, Internet. Use it to record your guitar and music!!

The most successful rap artists in the business work with the most gifted and talented producers, programmers, musicians, and recording engineers to help them bring their vision into reality. A new talent on the scene has some challenging decisions to face. Should you spend a lot of cash and hours on expensive equipment or focus on finding rap beats online? The fully produced royalty free rap instrumentals from the net can be a very cost effective option, especially if you are just putting together a demo to showcase your talent.

This online option takes a very small investment and you end up with a great sounding beat which you can upload to various wav. files or mp3.If you have never heard of meaning non exclusive, what this means is you have just about complete ownership of the instrumental for your own desires. If you confront a site that has exclusive right then make sure to read carefully what those right are. For the most part an exclusive site is more expensive because they allow the user to remove the instrumental from the net so the producer is the only one with access to the beat.

If the make beats on computer is your desired choice and honestly it should be for the money then your only responsibility is to check on the quality of the demos offered by the site you are looking at. Are the make beats on computer pro sounding?Is their a demo for the make beats on computer and if so do they sound good? How will the make beats on computer create your beat i.e. what format? Will you have the tools necessary to convert the file into some other format if you needed to? Just a not sometimes the producer who made the beat is a poor music engineer.

Also it is important to say that just because a producer of make beats on computer is in the top ten searches doesn’t mean their the best. Often these top ten are the best but it doesn’t hurt to listen to make beats on computer further on to see if their is a talent untapped so listen to a variety of demos on various sites. The reason being that someone further in the query maybe a great producer but awful web designer.

Most likely you will encounter a make beats on computer site that gives you unlimited instrumentals for an initial joining cost. This is actually the best option just make sure to listen to the quality of the site.What good is it to have access to thousands of rap beats, if the audio quality and production is not up to industry standard?

So now that you make beats on computer are decided on you then need to figure out your choices on audio software to record your vocals. You don’t need to invest in a big name software like Sony when you can get away with some budget alternative microphones just do some research and find one that fits your budget and requirements.

Disclaimer/Forward/Whatever

This writing is simply my observations of analogies in computers and life. My observations can possibly be un-intelligent or incorrect. If you seriously want to learn about computers or life, seek the appropriate manual.

Chapter 1
-Psychical Similarities-

A computer is made up of many different hardware components that make it function as a computer, such things as the video, sound, network, or modem card. And also the mouse, keyboard and monitor (and possibly a joystick if desired). The human body is much the same way using many different components to make a complete human body. Such things as the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, etc. And the external components such as eyes, ears, hands, arms, legs, etc. Now just like changing a cord in your computer a body part may be transplanted. But just like a computer you must make sure the parts are compatible. You can’t put a network card for a Macintosh computer into a PC, just like you can’t transplant a kidney for an A blood type to a B blood type. So computers are our bodies to a certain degree, have generic changeable parts (but I don’t recommend getting your parts changed, it is generally not a good thing).

Now for in depth on external features. The devices that I just spoke about are inside or cased where you cannot see them, they also work in ways that you do not understand (unless you’re a hardware engineer, then you’d understand the computer parts, or if you’re a really smart doctor then you’d might know how the body parts work). But external parts are the things you interact with everyday, you understand what is going on through them, you also communicate through them. In computers most external devices can be considered an ‘input’ device or an ‘output’ device. Input is where you tell the computer to do something through that device. Such as typing, using the mouse to click, or recording something with a computer mic. These are all examples of input, since you ‘put’ something ‘in’ the computer. When you hear the speakers, or look at the screen you are using output devices because they communicate ‘out’ to you what is going on in the computer. So if you understand input and output then you would surely notice the human input and output device. To soak in information we use our ear to get audible information, our eyes for visible information, and our skin to get physical information. These are all input devices because they are how everything outside of our body communicates to us.

Now the cool thing about out bodies is the input devices also work as output devices. Every external port of the body can communicate and therefore acts like an output device like on a computer. But the main output device is our vocal speaking, along with our body language and tone of voice. Now an important difference that I must make clear is that what a computer puts out is based exactly on what is put in. It is programmed to do certain things when certain input is given, it can do nothing more and nothing less. A human on the other hand can do many things on a certain input or stimulus that the person receives. We can decide a course of action whereas a computer cannot.

Chapter 2
-Operating System and the Self-

Every computer has an Operating System or OS (say each letter please, don’t say “Auz” use the same rule that you would for FBI or CIA). Just in case you are not aware, Windows is an OS, and in case you are wondering, windows is not the only OS, there is also Linux (there are many distributions of this one), Free BSD, OS/2 (IBM’s), SunOS (I’ve never seen this one) and all the versions of Mac OS with their latest and coolest Mac OS X. The Operating System takes what you’ve told the system and converts the commands to the hardware. The kernal of the Operating System is the software that actually talks to the hardware. The Graphical user interface or GUI (you can call this one gooey). The GUI talks to the kernal, but it also communicates with you or the user, as well So you talk to the GUI, the GUI talks to the Kernal and then the Kernal talks to the hardware in your computer.

We are a lot like an OS, we have a kernal, or inner person that has thoughts and ideas so complex that we can’t always express fully. The hardware our kernal talks to is the body or the brain. Our personality towards others would be our GUI. Sometimes you’re very ‘user friendly’ and sometimes you’re not. And just like on Windows XP you can adjust to allow certain people to know private information or you can completely deny them.

Chapter 3
-Family and Networks-

Now I am using network concepts that I have learned in CNA (Certified Network Administrator), that is a Novell program so sorry Microsoft. Take the basic structure of a small network:

Root:

Container:

Leaf Object1

Leaf Obeject2

Leaf Object 3

Now the family structure:

Parents:

House:

Child1:

Child2:

Child3:

This concludes this article, more about social networks and conditioned reactions will be written in the next
article “Life to Computers Part II”

DAVID WILLIS – Singing Teacher to the STARS!

Over the years, David Willis has made quite an impact on Australian EDUCATION and the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. An accomplished pianist, singer and actor, David is the founder and owner of the Australian Talent School, teaching professionals and amateurs of all ages the art of Singing and Presentation, whilst nurturing their passion for Music and Performance. David is proud of his SUCCESS STORIES including STARS from TV and Stage! To find out more about the Australian Talent School and the specialist Singing and Acting Classes expanding around Australia from 2009, log onto

As a jingle singer myself, singing on numerous commercials such as FOX TV, UPN, O’Charleys and many others, and as a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency booking many a household name artist, I have concluded that there are many reasons to strategize in background vocals as opposed to an actual artist career.

The reasons are many, but mainly because, like many of us, I like creature comforts. I like knowing what bed I am sleeping in, or the comfort that I am watching TV at night sitting on my own sofa. Sound shallow or superficial? – I don’t know, but what I do know, is that I have enjoyed a career in background vocals since my early teens when I started singing radio spots and continue enjoying session work to this day.

As you begin to ponder while reading this article, trying to figure out your own singing career blueprint, try to stay not only focused, but open to new ideas thinking outside the box. I will try as best I can in the next few minutes to discuss, outline, and offer suggestions that you might try, as you not only figure out where you want to go with your career, but how you’ll go about doing it.

If you’ve read any of my past articles, which can be found at , you will notice a certain theme that permeates through most ideas and “how tos” that I’ve written, and that is attitude. I’ll say it again, that attitude is everything. Ever meet an individual, at a store, gathering of some kind, and they are just as kind as they can be and are authentically caring and not a “taker,” – You want that. Superimpose that onto your singing career. When individuals meet you, they know that you are not a pushover, but a kind and easy to work with kind of talent.

Let’s start with being honest about your singing abilities. To be a background singer, you must be incredibly flexible. One minute I’m singing a real smooth lead spot, and the next they’re wanting a gritty sound and then a mixed black/white sounding choir backing up a lead singer for a commercial of some kind. How flexible are you? That will determine the amount and scope of work available. Now don’t fret. There are plenty of singers out there who specialize in a particular style, simply because they couldn’t sing a smooth spot for anything – But keep that in mind as you look at a career in background vocals.

How good is your demo? Let’s rephrase – How really good is your demo. There is too much competition out there to be kidding yourself about a career in BGVs if you don’t have a master quality demo. Don’t be fooled by “My buddy has a computer and a couple of mics and keyboard and can do my demo for free,” deal. Your demo has got to sound like you’ve already arrive, been doing this work for years, and that your already an insider as a background vocal singer. That’s the quality of demo that you need to be sending out.

Your next line of business is to look at the packaging of the material that you are sending out. Don’t be putting cheesy artwork or half baked pictures of yourself on the front. Again there is too much competition and you need to look like you’ve already been singing national commercial campaigns. Invest in a nice photo of yourself – black and white vs color is merely preferential in nature. Make sure that the date is on the front of demo along with your name – i.e. John Doe – Fall 2006. Include on the inside cover a listing of all commercials or song demos that have been used along with contact information.

You will want to pass this CD out and mp3 to any and all individuals that you think can help you in your endeavor to become a session singer. Jingle houses, record producers, industrial music houses, ad agencies, etc. You will want to incorporate a number of demos over the course of time. You may want to email or mail out another CD and this might be labeled John Doe Spring 2007. This way you can keep getting your name across the desks of individuals who might hire you. You will want to attend artist showcases and mail congratulations to individual writers who win awards for their commercials that they have written.

Keep a detailed log of everyone you come in contact with and note date and time of the conversation, contact numbers, scope of conversation and follow up info. You must treat this like a business, because it is a business and can be very lucrative in time. You will want to develop a low cost web site devoted to your career. Include a page for contacts, gig info, mp3 samples, links, bio and photo page. Websites do not have to cost very much at all. It might cost $5 – $10 a month to maintain – not a big deal.

In closing, if you really feel like you have the talent to break into the jingle singing and background vocal market, then follow some of these ideas. Go to Starbucks, grab a cup of coffee, and write down your goals starting with today, this week, this month, year and then 5 and 10 year goals. This is an important step in your career to help you visualize some of your goals already accomplished and then a blueprint for success to help you push towards other goals. Don’t get discouraged. Be honest with yourself about singing abilities and your demo. Your demo is your business card and you can not afford to spend all kinds of time pitching your demo if it is not up to par.