Recording live....

[Peter Squire]

The Dave Grohl vocal sound? Not sure what he's doing, but his voice always sounds good. No particular track, just generally.

I think, by my sore ears, its chorus and compression.

Droog gave me heaps good tips, but is anyone able to qualify that Foo sound for me?

Sorry to be a pain.

 

[Droog]

The Dave Grohl vocal sound? Not sure what he's doing, but his voice always sounds good. No particular track, just generally.

I think, by my sore ears, its chorus and compression.

Droog gave me heaps good tips, but is anyone able to qualify that Foo sound for me?

Sorry to be a pain.

Which album? There is a big difference between the first Foo Fighters album and what he is doing now. Maybe I'll get the new one tonight and listen to it in the car, got a 2 hour drive tonight.

 

[Petebass]

The Dave Grohl vocal sound? Not sure what he's doing, but his voice always sounds good. No particular track, just generally.

I know what he's doing. I just wonder if he does it live - and if so, how often does he lose his voice? Don't get me wrong, I like to Fooeys, but all that grrrrrr must take it's toll on his vocal chords.

Interestingly if you listen to "Learning to Fly" or any of the earlier stuff, he wasn't singing that way back then.

Page 15 this month's of Audio Technology magazine (Issue 41) has a short about the Soundelux Elux 251 tube mic. They used it extensively for the latest album "In Your Honour", primarily for vocals.

 

[Peter Squire]

I know what he's doing. I just wonder if he does it live - and if so, how often does he lose his voice? Don't get me wrong, I like to Fooeys, but all that grrrrrr must take it's toll on his vocal chords.

Interestingly if you listen to "Learning to Fly" or any of the earlier stuff, he wasn't singing that way back then.

Page 15 this month's of Audio Technology magazine (Issue 41) has a short about the Soundelux Elux 251 tube mic. They used it extensively for the latest album "In Your Honour", primarily for vocals.

Thanks for all the help guys. On the live DVD, Dave Grohl doesn't scream anywhere near like he does on the albums, so I guess he has to tone it down to keep his head from exploding

Droog, yeah, I know he sounds different on lots of his albums, but I guess just generally he always gets a good recording sound.

BTW - I convinced our singer to let me mix him on a track the other day, and used those techniques you told me about, Droog. He sounds so much better with that kind of processing. I didn't use the "tricky" compression stuff you mentioned, but just a fairly tight compression across the track. Very interesting results, and now I can't wait to play around more!!!

 

[Droog]

Thanks for all the help guys. On the live DVD, Dave Grohl doesn't scream anywhere near like he does on the albums, so I guess he has to tone it down to keep his head from exploding

Droog, yeah, I know he sounds different on lots of his albums, but I guess just generally he always gets a good recording sound.

BTW - I convinced our singer to let me mix him on a track the other day, and used those techniques you told me about, Droog. He sounds so much better with that kind of processing. I didn't use the "tricky" compression stuff you mentioned, but just a fairly tight compression across the track. Very interesting results, and now I can't wait to play around more!!!

Right on! Glad it helped.

I bought the new Foo album, liking it quite abit actually. I think you are right as far the chorus goes. You hear it during certain phrases, chorus/verse stuff. Also a lot of harmonies, a lot of varying reverbs and compression.

A point about effects. What works for one singer may not work for another, don't get discouraged. Try to really listen to the song and vocals and decide what best works for the vocals. Chorus works for Dave but may suck for what your vocalist is doing. I don't hear a lot of delay on Dave's stuff, but Chino from the Deftones is some times loaded with it, so do whats right, not what is cool. Remember its about the song and not about the effects.

Oh, what did your singer think of what you did with the vocals? Be carefull not to let him rely on your studio trickery. He'll get lazy, the vocals have to kick ass on there own too.

 

[Peter Squire]

Oh, what did your singer think of what you did with the vocals? Be carefull not to let him rely on your studio trickery. He'll get lazy, the vocals have to kick ass on there own too.

Yeah, he liked what I did, but it was fairly mild effects-wise. He is studying audio production at the mo, so he gets a bit precious about anyone else engineering...meh.

I fully understand what you mean about songs and singers being the key to sound quality. I don't think our singer really benefits from a great deal of chorus, but the reverb and compression stuff I tried is good.

Experimenting with the ideas you gave me made me also realise that the guitars and drums are sorely lacking in quality. The bass sits nicely in the mix (thanks 'Ray 5!) but the drums sound clangy and hollow.

Our band has only just started recording, so its a bit of a journey for us, but thanks to this forum, I'm getting some great advice to help me along.

 

[Droog]

The bass sits nicely in the mix (thanks 'Ray 5!) but the drums sound clangy and hollow.

Ah, welcome to world of making cheap recordings. Drums are a bitch with out a good room, good mics, and knowledge on how to record them. Guitar is easier but I think a lot of players have either crap tone, or just inapropriate tone and that makes it rough for an engineer.

Embrace your Indy-ness!