daJungKI

is there ever a time where you wouldn't want to tune your vocals? i wonder if tuning is mainly for the purpose of saving time recording retake after retake, or if it's simply impossible for anyone to always sing on pitch. i'm sure some people's ears are more sensitive/finely-tuned than others', but unless someone is wildly off-pitch, i can usually enjoy a person's performance and often focus on other details.

thanks for the link, timaeus! the only problem is i have no idea what any of it means. looks like i have some reading up to do...

thanks for the advice, guys. would you happen to have any links to good tutorials on how to mix vocals, which settings to use, etc?

happy new year, wonderful people of ocr! hope your 2015 is starting off well so, thanks to your help, i've finally acquired some equipment--a lil blue bluebird and a scarlett 2i2. i installed reaper and, despite not knowing what the hell i was doing, managed to set up the mic and test it. success! so, i know i should definitely read/watch some reaper tutorials because it looks pretty complex. but just for vocals, what are some things i should be doing? would love to start collabing with some peeps here! one thing i noticed: i bought a pop filter from auphonix which had some sexy reviews. i haven't tested it much, but it didn't seem to be making much of a difference. could it be defective, am i using it wrong, etc? does it not reduce "s" sounds?

hi everyone, hard to believe almost an entire year has passed since the last post. i won't make excuses--despite expressing interest in recording, i've done very little to actually move forward in that process. this year, to put it mildly, has probably been the worst in my life, and i find myself turning to music for creativity, reflection, and relief. i now have much more time to dedicate to pursuing music, and i plan on finally taking the plunge i apologize for again necro-ing the thread; i just want to hear one more round of opinions in case recommendations have changed, holiday sales are taken into consideration, etc. also, i am including a very poor recording of my vocals should it help select a mic. i apologize in advance for the unrefined, unrehearsed mess huge thanks to all who have already contributed, and i look forward to getting (bad) stuff out there soon! edit: also, recommendations for interfaces would also be helpful, since apparently i'll need one of those too! bad recording is bad

hey dudes, sorry for the thread necro; had some financial issues and wasn't able to save up enough for a mic. sweetwater is having a black friday sale right now, and one of their offerings is the blue bluebird for $100 off (from $300). i've heard good things about the mic. think i should grab one?

thanks so much for the input guys! sweet setup there, theshaggyfreak. XPRTNovice, would love to hear how the SM7B performs! any other recommendations for cheap, good mics available on amazon?

hey guys, just traded in a ton of textbooks and i'm looking at around $500 in amazon credit. what mic would you suggest within that price range? i want to have enough left over for an interface as well. the Shure SM7B and Audio-Technica AT4040 look pretty impressive, but what do i know

thanks for the advice, Darangen! i think i'm gonna try that. i'll update you guys once i get everything set up and you can hear how terrible my voice is

definitely! i might start by doing what --hangs up a thick blanket in the room.

thanks Sixto! that looks like a pretty nonintrusive and portable setup, but the price tag is still pretty steep. i might just try to make something myself and see how that sounds. for example, . probably could be a lot better, but it's cheap and gets the job done.

not sure if this is the right thread for this; if not, i apologize. for remixers who record vocals/live instruments, what kind of setup do you have? i'm hoping to record and was advised to create a good recording environment first. any input (or pictures) would be greatly appreciated!

SnappleMan, thanks for the input! so my first priority should actually be to set up a good recording environment. this...will be difficult, because my room is small and cramped. what does your setup look like? also human brains are amazing

guys, thank you so much for your input! my actual budget is...well, unlimited in a sense. if i can't buy a good mic now, i'll save until i can, so i'm more interested in quality than pricing. of course, i don't want the super high-end stuff that the pros use, but something that'll last me a long time and sound great. speaking of budgets though, can i skimp on interfaces at all? will i need an expensive interface to complement an expensive mic?

did a little searching before creating a new topic; found some mic threads, but they're all from last year. hope you guys don't mind this new one. looking to record vocals, possibly with acoustic guitar. i've saved a fair bit of cash, so i want this to be an investment and not just a budget mic. also, have no idea what interface i should buy. need your help and expertise! i have a high baritone voice, not quite tenor. looking to sing all styles of music, maybe rap, no screamo thanks guys some suggestions from previous threads: -behringer c-1 -presonus audiobox usb -samson c01u -shure sm58 -digital reference drv100 -guitar hero mic

you should absolutely check out the soundtrack if you're down with the 8-bit grooveness. nobuo uematsu is known for his work on the final fantasy franchise; coincidentally, he did this one as well (with kenji ito of saga fame). hopefully more remixers will harvest the goldmine that is the FFL2 soundtrack.

dude, thank you so much for remixing FFL2. not only does it have one of the best gameboy era soundtracks, but the game itself still stands up pretty well--i pop it in once a year or so. back in the day (and by that i mean nearly a decade ago) when i was really into videogame MIDIs, i was exceedingly sorrowed by the criminally lacking FFL2 section on VGMusic.com. and so as an ambitious young lad, i vowed to get every single song off that sweet soundtrack onto the site. suffice it to say i never did achieve my goal, as i became old and lazy (and my MIDI skills were laughably nonexistent), but that soundtrack still has a special place in my heart. i'm glad talented remixers such as Ziwtra are shining this gem in the spotlight where it belongs. the original track has a very epic, adventurous feel. in contrast, this remix feels very "remixed"--in the DJ sense, which i actually dig. it gives a different dynamic to the song without taking away its power--it's just mellowed out a lot. i like the orchestral elements combined with the funky bass and hip-hop drums. good stuff. oh, and for the sake of full disclosure, i am most definitely not "DK" on VGMusic.com, and under no condition should anyone download any of his/her tracks. seriously, that sad individual did not know what he/she was doing. A for effort, though!

i think i shall do exactly that. thanks sixto! by the way, brad, it'd be nice to see a remix from you sometime this year.

man oh man! been almost a year since i started this thread; sadly, music-wise, i don't have much to show for it. basically, shit happens and i had a lot of life stuff goin on. but now things have settled down and i'm gonna try and give this another...try. here's where i am now: i have enough dough saved up to buy something in the $300 range, like fl studio, but i really don't want to if i can help it. can free/cheap daws like REAPER use kontakt and the other goodies in komplete 5?

"da black market" is one of my favorite mixes. never fails to put a smile on my face and get my head bobbin. i've been listening to ocr for over a decade, and at the time it was a new thing--vocal arrangements were scarce and hip-hop moreso (dct's "memories frozen in time" was posted earlier that year, and the excellent "niggaz 4 life" the year before). i went in not knowing what to expect and liked it instantly. the beat is simple, yet groovy and catchy--at just the right laid-back i-don't-give-a-fuck kinda tempo; but, the real draw was the lyrics and execution, both which impressed me and had me laughing at the same time. to think that i still regard the piece highly five years since its creation is testament to both the quality of the arrangement and clever execution of the lyrics. despite sounding incredibly "white" you guys had some nice rhymes and flow, and i really, really dug the fact that you portrayed ness and co. as this group of hardass mofos, which in a sense, they were ('cause giygas sure as hell wasn't messin around). and flik's verse is just sick, incredibly sick. white or not, those kinda lyrical acrobatics take talent. so sorry it's five years late, but...joe, mythril, d-lux, flik--thank you for such a kickass mix. well, now that i've established myself as a fan (i come in peace!), i've gotta say--not diggin this mix quite as much. i definitely respect all musicians involved and the spirit through which the piece was birthed; i think that in the end musicians should make music they enjoy and just have fun with it. i don't particularly object with the fact that it was posted or the method thereof--not my calls to make, anyway. ocr has posted far far worse stuff in the past, most of which has since been removed after its new submission guidelines came into effect, but "everclear hangover iv" is certainly produced well and has a decent beat. it's not quite my stylistic cup of tea--i prefer more melodic and funky beats to dirty south/crunk type beats, but it gets the job done. my main beef is with the lyrics--not because they're offensive or anything like that, but they're just...empty. lacking purpose. not explicit or profane enough to offend, not intense or stylish enough to impress, not humorous or witty enough to make you snigger--it is exactly as lame as the subject matter itself; namely, getting drunk off your ass and letting your dick get you in trouble. i don't think vocal game mixes' lyrics need to be about or even reference the game, but that was one of the elements that made "da black market" great. it took an ordinary kid with a striped shirt and baseball cap and threw him into a world where he was a badass with a posse ready to fuck pokey up. not only did the lyrics make some great reference to the game but they were clever, and the rappers did a bang-up job. so once again, i'm all for having fun and all that, and i'm glad you guys are still doing your thing. ocr may be serious guideline business but good to know that these types of mixes make it through once in awhile. but, i would really, very really much like to see another mix along the lines of "da black market". this mix feels like a small step back. which, to be fair, is understandable since you guys weren't exactly priming it to be the best mix out there, but as a fan, this makes me want more, 'cause i know what you guys are capable of. and i'll be damned if i won't wait another five years to get it. till then, keep it realz yo

thanks for the input sirs. a laptop certainly has advantages over a desktop, but i think at this point i want a main mean machine that can crank out the tunes with little trouble. i'm not much of a tech guy but i know that adding lots of ram to a laptop is difficult as space is limited. mr. prophet, i don't speak computerese but you sound like you know what you're talking about! will continue this in pm. thanks.

thanks zircon! quad-core and 4gb ram...i had no idea sound tech was that intense. i mistakenly assumed laptops were more popular since they comprised the majority of pics in that one "everybody's setup" thread. by "prophet" you must mean prophet of mephisto? well, i hope he graces us with his presence soon.

hello respected and admired musicians of ocr, awhile ago i made a thread about my new keyboard and how to use the thing. many helpful comments were made and acknowledged, but several months later here i am with little progress made. why? computer troubles. once again i am here to ask for your sage counsel, this time about, well, computers. i have an old hp laptop, bought brand new in 2004, now considerably aged and on its last legs. as laptops go there isn't much you can do about the hardware since you can't just rip out everything from its proper place. so, i'm thinking it's about time to get a whole new rig altogether. so, initial thoughts: i want my computer to essentially do two things. one, be able to run all music-related programs smoothly (komplete, cubase, etc); two, be able to run starcraft 2, the only future pc game i'm looking forward to. obviously, the former is much more important. i'm looking at a price point of around $1000...and here's where the questions begin. would you recommend a desktop or laptop? it seems most music folks around here use laptops, and for good reason...they're small and portable. however, the downside is you can't really upgrade them with anything once you've got em. i'm pretty clueless about the system specs and requirements that sound technology has, so if you can give me some advice, that'd be greatly appreciated! what kind of features should i look for first when considering a dedicated music production rig? once i get this issue out of the way, then i'll really be able to start making some tunes. promise.

thank y'all so much for the sage advice, and bgc especially for the comparison chart (ya don't do anything by halves, do ya?). i shall obey your commands and dick around with cubase ai for a bit before making a decision. hell, i'm still a newb, so it'll probably be awhile anyway. i am so incredibly excited to enter into a community of some of the most creative and talented musicians on the planet. as the japanese say, "yoroshiku onegaishimasu"; in other words, please take care of me, o great vgm-senseis.