Advice for an opera singer who is a recording noob

[operaman]

Hello all, I am a professional opera singer in Germany (Lyrico Spinto Tenor, think Pavarotti), and have a question concerning recording with software plugins for compression/limiting, EQ etc.

Will a Liquid Mix be usable in real time if I am recording through a Saffire Pro 40 into Cubase on my Macbook Pro? I do have a separate firewire card so that they each have their own bus. Previously, I have simply watched the levels when recording a soprano or myself so that I do not clip the sound, and would up the levels later, but find that the noise floor would also rise.

I do not yet have a liquid mix, and since I also have a UAD-1e on my main Quadcore Mac Pro system, I am wondering if it would be a benefit to add the laptop version for my Mac Pro and run plugs that way. The ones that come with it are quite good, but am aware that the quality is quite good. It just seems that the plugins are rather expensive, and my uses are only for classical recordings where I would be recording the piano in stereo, mic on the singer up close, and then a pair of mics in ORTF at a distance to get a stereo image of the performance. I also sometimes record Orchestra with ORTF just straight up. That is it. Mics include: TLM103, Blueberry, AT4050, 2 X modded MK219's, 2X modded MXL 604's, and 2 AKG C3000's. The DAW is Cubase 4 right now, and I am looking at Logic, though Cubase does what I need and THEN some. I want to record as present as possible without killing the meters. So really this is a simple question for you guys.

So it comes down to this: Liquid Mix, uad laptop card, or some other plugin in real time? I am trying to avoid outboard gear other than perhaps a single channel pre in the future (Grace m101 or something equally nice) in addition to my Saffire Pro 40, as at that point I would simply take my work to the big boys and let them do their thing(some of you guys). I just mainly stick to singing my high C's :-)

[butterfly]

I suspect the forum you want to post this in is the remote one, where most of the classical guys hang out. My only advice is that if you are recording voices with huge dynamic range, if you're a spinto then it gets loud above the passagio, then you either need to probably ride the input on the preamp, assuming you're not just setting the levels to record yourself, or if you are, be content with a low level on the lower notes, you can probably just ride the vocal track a bit after the fact. I suspect if you want to use limiting or compression or limiting you need something very transparent. Don't know how accomplished software is at this but there are certainly nice hardware comps like cranesong etc which will accomplish this better than most but compression is not something I associate with classical vocals ulness it's crossover.

[tINY]

If you aren't working the mic a bit, and you insist on huge dynamic range and low noise floor, then you really need to choose your mic carefully.

A good compressor / limiter can help here too. While you should try to set your gain so the unit doesn't limit (or compress much), the safety net is nice to have.

Safesound makes a unit called the P1 that is nice.




-tINY

[operaman]

Originally Posted by tINY

If you aren't working the mic a bit, and you insist on huge dynamic range and low noise floor, then you really need to choose your mic carefully.

A good compressor / limiter can help here too. While you should try to set your gain so the unit doesn't limit (or compress much), the safety net is nice to have.

Safesound makes a unit called the P1 that is nice.




-tINY

That looks to be precisely what I want. I have seen a ton of your posts in reading through these forums for a while now. I am not sure how you know of so many off the beaten path items, but I'll be damned if you didn't find exactly what I was thinking of getting right off. Thanks.

[Teddy Ray]

is this Andrew?

Originally Posted by operaman

Hello all, I am a professional opera singer in Germany (Lyrico Spinto Tenor, think Pavarotti), and have a question concerning recording with software plugins for compression/limiting, EQ etc.

Will a Liquid Mix be usable in real time if I am recording through a Saffire Pro 40 into Cubase on my Macbook Pro? I do have a separate firewire card so that they each have their own bus. Previously, I have simply watched the levels when recording a soprano or myself so that I do not clip the sound, and would up the levels later, but find that the noise floor would also rise.

I do not yet have a liquid mix, and since I also have a UAD-1e on my main Quadcore Mac Pro system, I am wondering if it would be a benefit to add the laptop version for my Mac Pro and run plugs that way. The ones that come with it are quite good, but am aware that the quality is quite good. It just seems that the plugins are rather expensive, and my uses are only for classical recordings where I would be recording the piano in stereo, mic on the singer up close, and then a pair of mics in ORTF at a distance to get a stereo image of the performance. I also sometimes record Orchestra with ORTF just straight up. That is it. Mics include: TLM103, Blueberry, AT4050, 2 X modded MK219's, 2X modded MXL 604's, and 2 AKG C3000's. The DAW is Cubase 4 right now, and I am looking at Logic, though Cubase does what I need and THEN some. I want to record as present as possible without killing the meters. So really this is a simple question for you guys.

So it comes down to this: Liquid Mix, uad laptop card, or some other plugin in real time? I am trying to avoid outboard gear other than perhaps a single channel pre in the future (Grace m101 or something equally nice) in addition to my Saffire Pro 40, as at that point I would simply take my work to the big boys and let them do their thing(some of you guys). I just mainly stick to singing my high C's :-)

[operaman]

Richard Carlucci actually. You can check out my site if you like. Richard Carlucci - Richard Carlucci

I also have Richard Carlucci - Richard Carlucci but is not as updated as my German site. Weird. The first is my .de and the second is my .com

[MBishopSFX]

If you are recording classical vocal music only, I'd suggest a much simpler setup. You don't need any plugins. You should NOT be compressing or limiting classical vocal music! You want a wide-open signal chain capable of wide dynamics without overloading. This is achievable without compression and excessive gain-riding. I've done it hundreds of times.

I suggest a good ORTF sub-cardioid pair such as Schoeps MK-21 mics; the Grace preamp would be fine (I like Millennia) and you could record straight to a Korg MR-1000 or MR-2000. The preamp in the Korg isn't too bad, either - the mic is more important. The files can then be loaded directly from the Korg into your computer for editing. I would think the Korg would be a lot easier to manage than a computer when performing AND doing the recording - a lot fewer variables. That's especially important if you're a noob.

.

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by operaman

Richard Carlucci actually. You can check out my site if you like. Richard Carlucci - Richard Carlucci

I also have Richard Carlucci - Richard Carlucci but is not as updated as my German site. Weird. The first is my .de and the second is my .com

I Thought you were Andrew Richards, an Operatic Tenor friend of mine( an American Ex-Pat living there)..sorry about that!

[butterfly]

You should NOT be compressing or limiting classical vocal music! You want a wide-open signal chain capable of wide dynamics without overloading

...............................there you go, couldn't have said it better myself!

you could record straight to a Korg MR-1000 or MR-2000. The preamp in the Korg isn't too bad, either - the mic is more important. The files can then be loaded directly from the Korg into your computer for editing. I would think the Korg would be a lot easier to manage than a computer when performing AND doing the recording - a lot fewer variables. That's especially important if you're a noob.

..............................yeah but he's already got a laptop, so he could save some cash, and put it to some nice mics and preamp.

Fantastic singing by the way Richard, listened to E lucenvan le stelle and Di rigori armato on your site.