Help with editing/recording vocals on Garageband

[jmgao]

Hello all!

I am having trouble recording/editing my vocals on Garageband. I have a Shure MV5 and Audio Technica Headset, I've been told that the MV5 has a built- in interface, so it doesn't require the same device, twice. The sound echos and bounces back, once I start singing the loudest part in a pretty small bedroom.

I'm also having a difficult time editing vocals, I've played around with EQ & reverb - even looked up tutorials on Youtube.

Feedback and thoughts would be much appreciated!

-Juliette

 

[thewitt]

There are two GarageBand channels that you will find extremely helpful. They are GarageBand and Beyond, and The GarageBand Guide. I have nothing to do with either, but I learned a great deal from them when I was using Garageband for mixing. I moved up to Logic Pro X for mixing, but we still use Garageband for recording as this is done in another studio.

GaragebandandBeyond

YouTube's longest running and most trusted channel dedicated to Home Recording tutorials, home recording equipment & guitar reviews + MORE! Learn how to use ...

www.youtube.com

TheGarageBandGuide

GarageBand Tutorials, Gear Reviews and Q&A's. Everything you need to master GarageBand.

www.youtube.com

The Sure MV5 is fine.

You have no options for applying processing to incoming video, as you would with a hardware interface. You get what you get.

Set the channel volume low when you are recording. Believe it or not, you want -18db as the signal level for mixing. Do not attempt to record anywhere near 0db. Increase the channel volume after the fact with a gain control if necessary, though you can certainly turn the fader up as well after recording.

We record at -8 to -12 as I cannot persuade my singer to record lower. I then lower the gain before mixing...

Your wave form should look something like this:



NOT like this:



Clipping - the squaring off of the waver form, should never occur. That is an actual loss of data that you will never be able to correct.

Hope this is helpful.

-Tim

PS We try to produce 2 music videos a week, recording in Garageband, mixing in Logic Pro X and editing video in Final Cut Pro. So far I think there are 70 videos on the channel since starting last March.