I want you guys to check this out.
"Pros to scripted lines:
- Easier to record for singers - you only have a few lines, which means less time is wasted recording the whole song, and more time can be spent perfecting it, with minimal effort.
- Not so much brain power required from mixers, i.e. the mixer doesn't have to listen to everything and think what blends with what and how to mix it.
Cons to scripted:
- If it's done badly, it can result in really really bad blends.
- Apparently, less lines doesn't always necessarily mean people spend more time singing them right =_=
Pros to reverse-mixing (letting the singers sing the whole song, and the mixer picking out good parts):
- Allows the mixer to decide the best blends possible, including thinking about microphone quality, and who sounds best singing solos, things like that.
- For singers, it's a good way to feel like you're singing a whole song rather than being only a small part of it
Cons to reverse-mixing:
- Using whole solos almost always means impossible to break up lines properly - people take breaths at different places, people do slightly different rhythms etc.
- Very very very very tiring on the mixer...and their CPU!
- A LOT of people halfass their lines when they're expected to sing everything with the thought of "If it's bad the mixer can just cut it out" leaving the mixer usually with a whole lot of mediocre lines."
And this is why I don't really like reverse-mixing. Also, now you know some problems people make, whether reverse-or-lines, so watch out.
Project Kaze
A six-man team of awesome is coming your way! ♩♬♯ Choruses we're working on: Mr. Music ♪♥♭ Upcoming choruses: Glow
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
ZOMBIEEES AAARGH
Additionally... Remember what I said, about it being okay for the fan to blow at you?Well, if you can do it (I know I can) turn the damned thing off.
Or, at least, make sure you do your best to stand in its way.
PUFFS AAARGH MY BANE OF EXISTENCE
Or, at least, make sure you do your best to stand in its way.
PUFFS AAARGH MY BANE OF EXISTENCE
♥
Being Unstupid (aka Smart).
Here are some steps to being a smart recorder!
1. Close the door.
2. Close the windows.
3. Close your sibling's mouth (just kidding).
4. Make sure everyone is outdoors...
5. ... Or at least unable to hinder you and make you nervous.
6. Because even if you think you're not afraid of singing when others are around, there is a difference. You definitely sing better alone - and more importantly, you sing louder. Choir members will know what I'm trying to say: you can project your voice to sound less like you're singing under your breath to yourself while doing dishes, and more like you're singing.
7. Don't mumble. It's... A waste of effort lol.
1. Close the door.
2. Close the windows.
3. Close your sibling's mouth (just kidding).
4. Make sure everyone is outdoors...
5. ... Or at least unable to hinder you and make you nervous.
6. Because even if you think you're not afraid of singing when others are around, there is a difference. You definitely sing better alone - and more importantly, you sing louder. Choir members will know what I'm trying to say: you can project your voice to sound less like you're singing under your breath to yourself while doing dishes, and more like you're singing.
7. Don't mumble. It's... A waste of effort lol.
♥
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Deadlining.
You can submit your seriously done lines anytime - if, like, you suddenly think "OMG! I've learnt it all, I feel inspired to sing right now, and I happen to be free!" tomorrow and record the thing for me, go ahead! Additionally, if you want to deal with the impending MYEs first (like me) you can submit it later. Now, I'm actually going to impose a deadline on all of you. I want them latest by the middle of the September holidays, convenient by late June. HOWEVER, do not force yourself to record thinking that you're late when you are
a. in a bad mood/uninspired
b. with a sore throat
c. anything else
because you'd just sound like shit and nobody wants to hear shit and you don't want to let people hear you sound like shit. Muahahaha. So, yeaaahh. We do actually have a deadline, people. Remember to save as WAVs and not MP3s.
Optimally, if everything goes smoothly, I can complete mixing by the end of the September holidays.
a. in a bad mood/uninspired
b. with a sore throat
c. anything else
because you'd just sound like shit and nobody wants to hear shit and you don't want to let people hear you sound like shit. Muahahaha. So, yeaaahh. We do actually have a deadline, people. Remember to save as WAVs and not MP3s.
Optimally, if everything goes smoothly, I can complete mixing by the end of the September holidays.
♥
Your 2 Documents and 3 Soundtracks.
Just finished finalising and polishing up everyone's coloured lyrics.
Starting on everyone's 2nd document, which includes individual tips for sounding+recording better.
3 soundtracks are all prepared: Harmony, Karaoke, and Original.
Skype me the email account you want me to send them to.
EDIT: You'll be receiving 1 document, not two, because all that I wanted to tell you guys in your second documents are in this blog. Just read and remember all the tips.
♬
Starting on everyone's 2nd document, which includes individual tips for sounding+recording better.
3 soundtracks are all prepared: Harmony, Karaoke, and Original.
Skype me the email account you want me to send them to.
EDIT: You'll be receiving 1 document, not two, because all that I wanted to tell you guys in your second documents are in this blog. Just read and remember all the tips.
♬
Important Notice~
Guuuys, please take note to record your harmonies+"Hey Mr. Music"s (the ones where Yuki does her dialogue) in a seperate recording. Which means, first you record your solo+chorus track, not singing the harmonies+YukiBackups. Save it without the karaoke, remember that~
After saving that take, close everything extra in Audacity, starting again. Open up the original Vocaloid-sung version, and then record your harmonies+YukiBackups by singing along with the Vocaloid-sung version. Then send me the harmony track too.
That way, you won't be finding yourself dying while attempting to switch from on-pitch (chorus and solo) to purposefully off-pitch (harmonies) in between lines.
Also, please make sure you know your lines. Haha. Faltering is highly hearable, darlings.
Here's the dealio: mouse clicks are very easily picked up by your microphones. Mouse clicks? Really? Tchah. That's what you might think, but the truth is, if we have 1 person clicking 4 times (once to open the document, once to scroll, once to scroll again, and possibly to position the document), we'll have masses of 24 ungodly clicks. Srsly, sounds like crap. Also, it's distracting to hear a click while someone is singing.
Now, especially since Mr Music starts immediately after 3 drumstick taps, you'll be clicking the red record circle, quickly maximising your document, maybe dragging it around to get it the right size so that you can see both your recording and the words. That sucks, distracts you, and makes click noises.
The trick is:
Max your Audacity (i.e. fullscreen) with your karaoke track inside and whatever.
Open your document. And here you're probably thinking, Duh, I would've done that. But remember that with Audacity in full screen, opening the document then pressing Record will make the document go behind Audacity. Pwned. Document gone.
So, open your document. Then, see the picture? Gee wow! How do you do THAT? Well, there's a thin ridged portion beside the "taken out" section. Clicking that once will make it float. You can drag it over to your document or wherever, and now, when you press Record, the document stays there, PLUS you can see your spectrogram.
Oh, by the way, you don't have to open your document that fat. =_= That would be stupid. Just to the end of the sentences or something like that.
You can put the tray back to where it should be by accessing View>Dock Control Toolbar.
That's the end of yet another lesson! That's all, folks.
Remember that if you do the overlapping thing mentioned in "Too Close For Comfort", save each individual recording as "Name1" and "Name2" and so on so forth.
Here's an example: For Ahika, it's "Ahi1" and "Ahi2". First three letters of the name. Then, "AhiHarmo". If there are more than 1 (which is highly impossible unless you breathe really slowly) you use your common sense and name it "AhiHarmo1" and "AhiHarmo2". Hope you remember all this: it'll help you, the singer, not just the mixer.
After saving that take, close everything extra in Audacity, starting again. Open up the original Vocaloid-sung version, and then record your harmonies+YukiBackups by singing along with the Vocaloid-sung version. Then send me the harmony track too.
That way, you won't be finding yourself dying while attempting to switch from on-pitch (chorus and solo) to purposefully off-pitch (harmonies) in between lines.
Also, please make sure you know your lines. Haha. Faltering is highly hearable, darlings.
Now, especially since Mr Music starts immediately after 3 drumstick taps, you'll be clicking the red record circle, quickly maximising your document, maybe dragging it around to get it the right size so that you can see both your recording and the words. That sucks, distracts you, and makes click noises.
The trick is:
Max your Audacity (i.e. fullscreen) with your karaoke track inside and whatever.
Open your document. And here you're probably thinking, Duh, I would've done that. But remember that with Audacity in full screen, opening the document then pressing Record will make the document go behind Audacity. Pwned. Document gone.
So, open your document. Then, see the picture? Gee wow! How do you do THAT? Well, there's a thin ridged portion beside the "taken out" section. Clicking that once will make it float. You can drag it over to your document or wherever, and now, when you press Record, the document stays there, PLUS you can see your spectrogram.
Oh, by the way, you don't have to open your document that fat. =_= That would be stupid. Just to the end of the sentences or something like that.
You can put the tray back to where it should be by accessing View>Dock Control Toolbar.
That's the end of yet another lesson! That's all, folks.
Remember that if you do the overlapping thing mentioned in "Too Close For Comfort", save each individual recording as "Name1" and "Name2" and so on so forth.
Here's an example: For Ahika, it's "Ahi1" and "Ahi2". First three letters of the name. Then, "AhiHarmo". If there are more than 1 (which is highly impossible unless you breathe really slowly) you use your common sense and name it "AhiHarmo1" and "AhiHarmo2". Hope you remember all this: it'll help you, the singer, not just the mixer.
♥
Good For You.
Everyone, make sure your mic volume in the toolbar of Audacity is 0.4 full.
Everyone, I say. Remember to sing with energy, okay? YumeNiku, your practice runs are awesome, and I understand that they are practice runs so you sing quietly (u-unless you did put energy into them? orz), but remember to sing with energy in the real recording! This goes out to everyone else, who I have been unable to accurately receive specs from due to sucky mics, unconnecting headsets, and... Lack of Audacity? lol.
Additionally, remember to drink water and be hydrated earlier on in the day, because... You know how sometimes, when you haven't drunk any water for 2 days, and you're mumbling, you can hear your words being, uhh, sticky with saliva? Do I have to record that for you lol.
Sorry if Shichi-sensei sounds fierce in this one, she just woke up.
♠
Everyone, I say. Remember to sing with energy, okay? YumeNiku, your practice runs are awesome, and I understand that they are practice runs so you sing quietly (u-unless you did put energy into them? orz), but remember to sing with energy in the real recording! This goes out to everyone else, who I have been unable to accurately receive specs from due to sucky mics, unconnecting headsets, and... Lack of Audacity? lol.
Additionally, remember to drink water and be hydrated earlier on in the day, because... You know how sometimes, when you haven't drunk any water for 2 days, and you're mumbling, you can hear your words being, uhh, sticky with saliva? Do I have to record that for you lol.
Sorry if Shichi-sensei sounds fierce in this one, she just woke up.
♠
Showtime Time!
Practice and everything is fine and all - sometimes your mom is yelling from the kitchen, sometimes you're playing an FPS and we can all hear your TAKTAKTAKTAKTAKKing keyboard.
But would you want to have that in your real recording?
Hell no. HERE ARE TIPS:
Remember to close the door.
If your fan is a standing fan, you can still let it blow at you, but if it's convenient for you, don't let it blow at the mic. A good way is to stand in the "windpath". Your mic is not hindered while your smexy butt still gets all the wind!
Remember the mic distance, for God's sake. View some of the older posts.
To Ahika: Remember your mic lever. 2/4 full.
To Yume Niku: REMEMBER EVERYTHING LOL.
To EMU EKUSU: If Afiqah botches your recording BOTCH HER. ﾋｿﾋｿ( ﾟ∀(・－・)？
To Secret Guest: Just follow every bit of advice from all the posts and you're optimised! ｍ（．＿．）ｍアリガト
To The Only Male: Get a better mic. Like. Srsly.
To Shichi: LOL.
♥
But would you want to have that in your real recording?
Hell no. HERE ARE TIPS:
Remember to close the door.
If your fan is a standing fan, you can still let it blow at you, but if it's convenient for you, don't let it blow at the mic. A good way is to stand in the "windpath". Your mic is not hindered while your smexy butt still gets all the wind!
Remember the mic distance, for God's sake. View some of the older posts.
To Ahika: Remember your mic lever. 2/4 full.
To Yume Niku: REMEMBER EVERYTHING LOL.
To EMU EKUSU: If Afiqah botches your recording BOTCH HER. ﾋｿﾋｿ( ﾟ∀(・－・)？
To Secret Guest: Just follow every bit of advice from all the posts and you're optimised! ｍ（．＿．）ｍアリガト
To The Only Male: Get a better mic. Like. Srsly.
To Shichi: LOL.
♥
Too Close For Comfort.
Let's say you have something troubling going on:
You can't sing
kimi ga kureta nukumori de boku wo tsutsunde Keep On Groovin'
which comes after
Hey Mr. Music odorasete yo
Because you're a hyperventilating nervous freak who can't breath fast enough before charging into the next line (... srsly though, don't do that.)
WELL.
HERE'S THE REMEDY, but it's rather complicated - unless you pay attention.
Just click about two inches before "Hey Mr. Music/Odorasete yo" - click, and if you've done it correctly you'll see a single black vertical line, NOT A HIGHLIGHTED GREY PORTION - against the blueness of your first recording, and record again by pressing the red button, which makes a second recording! Hooray, now, the time you get from the two inches lets you breathe like a King Kong, and sing the next line in time! Just remember to send Shichi-sensei both of them seperately. Don't know how to do that? Oh God you're annoying. Jkjk. Just select the box that says Stereo, 44100Hz and the two levers - some empty space there - and the box should gray out, like the bottom one in the above picture. Then, go to File>Export Selection as MP3.
Now, additional help.
When you record yourself talking, you might see this:
What you want to do is make it bigger:
By zooming in. There are six icons under File, Edit and View. You see a cursor, a magnifying glass, a pencil, an asterisk... What you want is the magnifying glass. Click on it, and click on the OMFG-AWESOME-BLUENESS and woah, it grew big! Remember not to make it too big that you can actually see individual lines. DO NOT click and drag, because you will die a fiery death saying sorry to me.
Don't forget to CLICK ON THE CURSOR ICON ABOVE THE MAGNIFYING GLASS ICON after you've zoomed in.
Now, it's comfortably bigger - you can see your vocal nuances.
Let's import a Karaoke in:
BOOM! And suddenly it turns super tiny!:
Yeowch. What do you do?
Zoom in again, duh:
And don't forget to go back to the cursor pointer. オメデトウ ( ^ _ ^)∠☆PAN！
Now, remember, get the bar - the one in between the sea of blueness and the gray box containing the - and +, the L and R - the one with the -0.5, -1.0, whatever.
If you don't have what Shichi-sensei has in the pictures, YOU SUCK. No. You use the same method for zooming, only this time you click on the numbers and not the blue hospital patient heart rate lines. Left click for goin' in, right click for goin' out.
Make them look similar to/the same as mine.
You'll realise that you're actually making YOUR recording life easier.
:> That's all, folks. Over and out!!
♥
You can't sing
kimi ga kureta nukumori de boku wo tsutsunde Keep On Groovin'
which comes after
Hey Mr. Music odorasete yo
Because you're a hyperventilating nervous freak who can't breath fast enough before charging into the next line (... srsly though, don't do that.)
WELL.
HERE'S THE REMEDY, but it's rather complicated - unless you pay attention.
Just click about two inches before "Hey Mr. Music/Odorasete yo" - click, and if you've done it correctly you'll see a single black vertical line, NOT A HIGHLIGHTED GREY PORTION - against the blueness of your first recording, and record again by pressing the red button, which makes a second recording! Hooray, now, the time you get from the two inches lets you breathe like a King Kong, and sing the next line in time! Just remember to send Shichi-sensei both of them seperately. Don't know how to do that? Oh God you're annoying. Jkjk. Just select the box that says Stereo, 44100Hz and the two levers - some empty space there - and the box should gray out, like the bottom one in the above picture. Then, go to File>Export Selection as MP3.
Now, additional help.
When you record yourself talking, you might see this:
What you want to do is make it bigger:
By zooming in. There are six icons under File, Edit and View. You see a cursor, a magnifying glass, a pencil, an asterisk... What you want is the magnifying glass. Click on it, and click on the OMFG-AWESOME-BLUENESS and woah, it grew big! Remember not to make it too big that you can actually see individual lines. DO NOT click and drag, because you will die a fiery death saying sorry to me.Don't forget to CLICK ON THE CURSOR ICON ABOVE THE MAGNIFYING GLASS ICON after you've zoomed in.
Now, it's comfortably bigger - you can see your vocal nuances.
Let's import a Karaoke in:
BOOM! And suddenly it turns super tiny!:
Yeowch. What do you do?Zoom in again, duh:
And don't forget to go back to the cursor pointer. オメデトウ ( ^ _ ^)∠☆PAN！
Now, remember, get the bar - the one in between the sea of blueness and the gray box containing the - and +, the L and R - the one with the -0.5, -1.0, whatever.
If you don't have what Shichi-sensei has in the pictures, YOU SUCK. No. You use the same method for zooming, only this time you click on the numbers and not the blue hospital patient heart rate lines. Left click for goin' in, right click for goin' out.
Make them look similar to/the same as mine.
You'll realise that you're actually making YOUR recording life easier.
:> That's all, folks. Over and out!!
♥
Recording with Karaoke-kun.
Okay, students! Meet Karaoke-kun, Shichi-sensei's newest boyfriend.
So, about Karaoke-kun - when you sing along with him, make sure the music isn't so soft that you can't "feel" his upbeat tempo! Remember to sound like you're having fun, or at least, not zombie-singing with him. But remember not to OVERLY blast him (unless you're really hearing-impaired, and can't help blasting) because when you do, your mic may even pick that up.
（￣へ￣）
Do it at a comfortable volume.
....
Did I just tell all of you guys to have *** with Karaoke-kun?!?!!!
♥
So, about Karaoke-kun - when you sing along with him, make sure the music isn't so soft that you can't "feel" his upbeat tempo! Remember to sound like you're having fun, or at least, not zombie-singing with him. But remember not to OVERLY blast him (unless you're really hearing-impaired, and can't help blasting) because when you do, your mic may even pick that up.
（￣へ￣）
Do it at a comfortable volume.
....
Did I just tell all of you guys to have *** with Karaoke-kun?!?!!!
♥
Harmonising.
Please remember that although harmonies are supposed to back up a main singer's voice, you don't have to sing softer!! Continue singing the song at a constant volume as you do harmonies. Harmonies will be softened by the Harmony God, Shichi-sensei.
Okay, over and out.
♥
Okay, over and out.
♥
Friday, April 15, 2011
Recording and Instructions.
Make sure your mouth is a good distance from the mic.
Aka, make sure you're not so close to the mic you're about to eat it. If you have a headset mic, put it to the slight side of your mouth, instead of directly in front, to avoid "boom" sounds caused by breathing into the mic.
Additionally~
You know how your lines are coloured according to Harmonise, Chorus, and Solo?
Sometimes you'll see a line that should have two people singing that is coloured Solo.
Is that wrong? NO. There's no mistake - it's that you're supposed to sing solo-style. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ
Trust the mixer.
♥
Aka, make sure you're not so close to the mic you're about to eat it. If you have a headset mic, put it to the slight side of your mouth, instead of directly in front, to avoid "boom" sounds caused by breathing into the mic.
Additionally~
You know how your lines are coloured according to Harmonise, Chorus, and Solo?
Sometimes you'll see a line that should have two people singing that is coloured Solo.
Is that wrong? NO. There's no mistake - it's that you're supposed to sing solo-style. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ
Trust the mixer.
♥
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