As singers’ websites take center stage in our ensemble of promotional materials, having a few incredible recordings of yourself to post has become indispensable. Even if many opera companies no longer require a CD submission, everyone from general directors to agents to fans listen online to singers they are interested in.
If a professional recording is currently out of your reach, you’ll have to go it alone. Jeremy Gerard, chief recording engineer for Gurari Studios, is not only your go-to guy for your professional recording but is also the Classical Singer Convention’s returning speaker on doing it yourself. Here is a taste of his invaluable advice for the classically singing DIY recording artist.
The first question most singers come up with is “What equipment should I get?” What do you suggest?
Let me preface this by saying that even with the wide array of consumer recorders, software, and equipment, they should never replace your need for a recording done by a professional audio engineer. The years of knowledge and sheer expense of top-of-the-line equipment can never be matched in consumer or “do-it-yourself” recordings. You can, however, make a quality reference recording that in some instances may be used as a demo or as website examples. Most singers will most likely also use the equipment to record lessons and coachings.
The first piece of equipment you will need to consider buying is the recorder. The standard these days are handheld flash recorders—no more mini-disks or cassette recorders—and there is quite an array to choose from [see sidebar]. They are all pretty easy to use, even for those who are technically challenged.
Alesis makes a really cool unit called ProTrack, which is an iPod recorder dock with stereo microphones that turns your iPod into a recorder. I particularly like the Sony PCM-D50, Tascam DR-100, and Samson Zoom H4n—they are the best because the mics are adjustable (from 90 to 120 degrees, so you can vary the stereo field). The Tascam actually has cardioid and omni-directional mics, and the Sony has slightly better preamps than the others.
All of the handheld flash recorders have one inherent problem: they all have noisy preamps. This means your recording will contain a high-end hiss—and with classical music, because it tends to be delicate, this can be annoying and disruptive to the listener. To eliminate this and bring your recording system to the next level, you’ll want to purchase an external preamp/AD converter and microphone. Two external preamps I highly recommend are the Sound Devices USBPre and the Core Sound Mic2496 V2. These are both totally awesome and will produce nice, quiet recordings for you. There are a few external stereo mics I recommend [see sidebar].
In terms of software, you’ll need some basic editing software, such as GarageBand or Pro Tools LE for Macs and SONAR Studio or Sound Forge for PCs. You can also do basic editing in Nero. In addition, you’ll need some sort of burning software such as Nero, CD Architect, or Pyro Audio Creator.
OK, you’ve got your fancy devices. Now it’s time to throw it down over at your church . . . or your teacher’s studio . . . or your school’s concert hall . . .
The number one problem that gives people trouble when recording on location is reverb. Singers must understand that just because a venue is comfortable to sing in does not mean it is going to yield a satisfactory recording. Many churches, cathedrals, and even large rooms contain way too much reverb. As a result, this can muddle up your words, creating diction and a myriad of other problems such as unnatural brightness in the voice, a muddying of the accompanying instruments, indistinguishable notes in coloratura passages, etc.
The optimal amount of reverb time for recording classical music is one to two seconds of “tail.” You can test this out yourself very easily by clapping your hands forcibly once and counting the reverb tail. There are a host of other acoustical problems that the microphones will most likely hear that maybe your ears won’t, such as flutter echo. Flutter echo is a recording nightmare and is caused by 90-degree angles in the room—such as where walls meet in corners or where walls meet ceilings. It sounds like a metallic ringing and is a result of standing waves bouncing back and forth. You will notice that most of the great sounding halls in the world do not have 90-degree angles. That is why opera houses tend to be circular.
On the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want the hall to be too dry. This will not show you off in your best light, and it will sound like it was recorded in your living room.
Next, is the venue quiet? There is nothing more disruptive than extraneous noises in your “perfect take.” If you can, go to the venue before your session and sit for a few minutes, listening for any noises such as birds, cars (especially low-end mufflers), elevators, etc. It will save so much time and money in post-production if the venue is dead quiet to begin with. Most churches, especially in Manhattan and most major cities, are nightmares to record in for this reason.
If you are using a piano, go ahead of time and try it out. Make sure it is a quality instrument and everything is working well on it. I’ve been hired to go on location many times only for the accompanist to find out certain keys are not working or a string is broken, etc. If you are not comfortable or qualified to judge the quality of a piano, have your accompanist or someone who plays try it out beforehand. Do whatever you can to avoid panic!
OK, you’ve got your recording device, microphones, venue, and software. So, how do you do this? Here are Gerard’s top ten tips for making your recording sound good.
1: Set the recording levels to peak no higher than -3 dBFS.
2: A good starting point for microphone placement is half the width of your performing area. You should always start with this distance and modify as necessary. For example, if you feel you are capturing too much room in the recording, then move the mic closer, and vice versa if the opposite is true.
3: Turn off any compressors on the recorder, but keep the brick limiter on.
4: Set the recorder to record at 44.1 kHz/24 bits, or 48 kHz/16 bits if synching to video.
5: “Slate” multiple takes by announcing what you are singing and what number take it is for easy referencing later when editing.
6: Transfer to computer and edit. Leave half a second at the beginning of the track and a few seconds at the end for fades.
7: Use your software to add tonal shaping and reverb. Check mixes on multiple speakers (stereo, car, headphones, etc.).
8: If recording level is low, then the recording must be maximized or normalized.
9: For CDs, process your mix at 44.1 kHz/16 bits, and for MP3s, process no lower than 192 kbps.
1): Use high-quality CD-R media such as Taiyo Yuden, Sony, Mitsui, or HHB.
Recommended Equipment
Handheld Flash Recorders
Samson Zoom H4n, Edirol R-09HR, Sony PCM-D50, Tascam DR-100, Alesis ProTrack, M-Audio MicroTrack II
External Portable Preamps/AD Converters
Sound Devices USBPre, Core Sound Mic2496 V2
External Stereo Microphones
RØDE NT4, Audio Technica AT825, DPA 4061s
Editing Software
Apple GarageBand, Digidesign Pro Tools LE, Nero for Macs, Cakewalk SONAR Studio, Sony Sound Forge, Nero for PCs
Burning Software
Nero, Sony CD Architect, Cakewalk Pyro Audio Creator
Jeremy Gerard (chief recording engineer at Gurari Studios) is a Grammy-nominated audio engineer that has been recording and producing singers and musicians for over 20 years. He has recorded and produced music for TV (HBO, Lifetime, etc.), film (Lions Gate Films), and radio with some of the biggest names in the industry. Jeremy has worked with thousands of singers from around the globe and is consistently one of the most sought-after engineers in the world for the recording of opera singers.
