Recording advice

[jackofall]

I'd really appreciate some advice from someone experienced in recording. I am making a CD of my Ukulele tracks for a publisher. I have done about 17 tracks so far in a recording studio. I have listened to the result on CD in their raw, unmastered state. Although it was recorded with a very good quality microphone, prior to mastering, to my ears, the sound isn't incredibly better than what I can do myself on the Boss machine. It's different - more like a guitar, but not vastly better. I've got a few more tracks to do  and these are the 'advanced' ones! My feeling is that I want to record them on my Boss machine without any pressure to finish it on time, and then take my unmastered tracks to the studio for mastering. Do you think this would be a workable idea? Digital is digital and I reckon that no matter how brilliant the mic, there's only so much that it can do for a ukulele. I'd like to know if this has been done before with a good result. Thanks!

[SdC]

From an audiophile point of view, saying "Digital is digital" is just plain wrong.
Most professional recordings are done at a much higher sampling rate than BR's or CD. (CD = 44KHz, but most recordings are done at 48 or even 96 KHz). This gives the engineer the headroom to use effects and filtering without introducing audible artifacts.
It won't make much difference perhaps for your type of music and over regular/average hifi sets, but with higher end equipment, the difference is startling (compare to MP3 vs. WAV)

"It's different - more like a guitar," That is just the reflection of the engineer's point of view.

[jackofall]

Thanks, that helps. Could you also tell me why my CD that I've created from the boss machine won't play properly on the computer. It plays fine on a CD player but on a computer the tune seems to be playing multiple times in a mish mash of sound! I don't understand! Will this make my CD unusable on the mixing desk? Help!

Tony

[jackofall]

FORGET THAT!!! I had two media playing devices running at the same time! Technology really confuses me. I'm from the days of record players and cassettes. I remember the amazement of watching colour tellly for the first time! This old dog is having trouble with his new tricks...

[OsCKilO]

We need henny for this one....

[henwrench]

If you felt comfortable in the studio, I'd suggest you carry on and finish the project there. There is nothing 'wrong' if you want to record on your Boss, and have a go at tweaking the recordings in a 'mastering' process, but the studio recordings will be better. Do you happen to know what mic they used? If it was a high quality condenser, such as an AKG 414, Nuemann U87 or Calrec Soundfield which all have precious metal diaphragms (usually gold), the conducting properties of the microphones are unsurpassable....
  Don't worry too much about your uke sounding like a guitar. At the end of the day, the two instruments are virtually the same....one big, one small. Your uke doesn't have to sound small.... the bigger the better. Many people who don't know I use a uke have presumed they are listening to a high strung or capo'd nylon Spanish, Classical or Travel guitar. I really don't care what they think they are hearing....
 What uke do you use?  Solid wood or a plywood 'toy' (one as I have)? What size is your uke? Soprano, concert, tenor? That there Jake Shimmy-what-ever uses a tenor, and there are plenty of his recordings that 'sound like a guitar' until you know the score.....
    What do the studio record on to? Do they use compressors? If so, are they high-end valve beauties such as TLA Audio or Drawmer. Do they have an Aphex Aural Exciter, a wonderful little processor that will 'pull out' natural harmonic overtones? So many questions.....!!

                                                                     henwrench

[Scorpios]

SdC and Henwrench bring up good points here.  The studio recordings will be better as far as the equipment used compared to a Boss in a home recording setup ...but I have seen plenty of high end studios... or I should say the engineers, really just not understand the sound that is desired and pretty much screw things up.  Digital is not simply digital, there is a difference in sample rate,

In a situation like this with a not so common instrument being used, it's really possible the engineer is just treating it like a guitar. Either way, it would only cost some extra time to record it yourself and try to get the sound you want to achieve and at least have something to give the engineer to "explain" the sound you are looking for. It's a win win situation as you will just have the track better rehearsed... a good engineer should be able to hear what you mean and have the right mic and preamp to use to get that sound and improve it.

I am not sure what boss machine you are using, but if it's the microbr still, there is an advantage of it being very portable, and you can consider where you are recording and where it's placed, which is basically mic placement.  You can get a lot of different results by what type of room you record in and what room acoustics you have. 

Honestly, if I felt I could record something almost as good as the sound of a studio I went to, I would save my money on the studio and treat myself to a new mic or preamp for the price I saved on a studio.

On that note, I totally understand what Henwrench is talking about in regards to high-end equipment, but really a recording should sound like you want it to sound, and in my experience it's either trial and error or an engineer who functions almost like a siamese twin.

[Geir]

Getting a large diaphragm condenser mic (wouldn't have to be a Telefunken U47 to sound good ) and a valve mic-preamp (or a BR800 ) wouldn't cost you more than a couple of hours in a studio. Maybe well worth it !!! OK a studio would have the possibility to sound better, but it will be highly dependent on the engineer and you getting in the comfort zone. If you have the equipment yourself, and the portability the BR recorders offer, you are in control of the environment and the time.

[jackofall]

I appreciate all the advice here. It's been very helpful and interesting. In the end, the sound engineer couldn't use my home recordings. He said that the gain was set up too high and it really did sound absolute shite through the mixing desk. I managed to record all but one track in the time I had and I might just drop the last track as it is so difficult.

It was amazing how much I 'cheated'. I had single wrong notes grafted from here and there and patched up. There's still some tweaking to do on Thursday and then I'm sending it off with my fingers well and truly crossed.