Punching in issues

I have an issue with punching in vocals and wanted to know how I can treat this problem in the future. I will notice during play back that from where the previous recording and the punch in starts that it will have a click noise or it’ll sound like two different people. How can I prevent this?

I try to give the artist some space before that phrase being punched in begins and tell them to sing/rap along to the verse before punching in. However, most times I’ll get a “clip noise” or it’ll sound indifferent, and sometimes it’ll be just fine.

What could I be doing wrong or not noticing what the artist is doing wrong during this time where we need to punch in?

Btw I’m using Logic Pro X

Thank you!
 
A couple things to consider, you might be doing this already though. You should get in the habit of editing out spaces of silence, the click from where the recording starts shouldn't be an issue because you should be editing the clip so the silence (which is not actually silence, it's whatever hums and buzzes are going on as well as light breathing noises etc.) isn't there. Most of the time, when you're recording modern music you'll want to leave in the breaths right before phrases, possibly turning them down a bit, and then editing out all of the other dead space that's past a reasonable length.

As far as the problem with the artist not sounding the same... that's a tricky, but common, issue. The first thing is to try to and keep the setup the same. The mic should be in the exact same spot in the room with the artist standing the same distance away and the level set the same as the earlier recording. Beyond that, it's on the artist. Having them sing/rap the phrase before like you're doing is a great start. Don't rely on it too much, but if you have them do some doubles on some words right before or after the punch in, it'll obscure the difference. That works pretty well with rappers, but you gotta make sure it won't sound weird to have doubles in that spot. Of course the best solution is to do a whole verse in one take, but some people just aren't up to it. It's actually pretty sad how common that is.
 
In addition to the excellent advice above, I would add:

1) "X Marks the Spot"-- Put a tape X or some other marker where you want the talent to stand, then have them stand in the same place for fixes/punches, etc. (assuming that you haven't moved the mike or changed anything else)

2) Always, Always, Always (whether analog or digital)-- Punch in and out on a downbeat. Meaning a bass drum hit if possible, or a snare backbeat, but one of the major beats "1,2,3,4." This will hide your punch-in sound. If you get a dropout or a click, and you are
in-the-box, you can always edit the clicks later as TFJ mentioned above (^^^^). If you are having trouble eliminating all of the click, zoom down to pixel level and make sure that you've got your edit-point right on the zero-crossing (on the line, not on a pixel above or below, as that will render an audible click). If you're working with tape, you can clean tracks on a multi-track machine _very, very_ carefully.

GJ
 
A couple things to consider, you might be doing this already though. You should get in the habit of editing out spaces of silence, the click from where the recording starts shouldn't be an issue because you should be editing the clip so the silence (which is not actually silence, it's whatever hums and buzzes are going on as well as light breathing noises etc.) isn't there. Most of the time, when you're recording modern music you'll want to leave in the breaths right before phrases, possibly turning them down a bit, and then editing out all of the other dead space that's past a reasonable length.

As far as the problem with the artist not sounding the same... that's a tricky, but common, issue. The first thing is to try to and keep the setup the same. The mic should be in the exact same spot in the room with the artist standing the same distance away and the level set the same as the earlier recording. Beyond that, it's on the artist. Having them sing/rap the phrase before like you're doing is a great start. Don't rely on it too much, but if you have them do some doubles on some words right before or after the punch in, it'll obscure the difference. That works pretty well with rappers, but you gotta make sure it won't sound weird to have doubles in that spot. Of course the best solution is to do a whole verse in one take, but some people just aren't up to it. It's actually pretty sad how common that is.

Thans for the quick reply. I do edit spaces of silence out and fade in/out parts breaths in-between, but only after the fact that everything has already been recorded. I'll try to implement this however the next time I come to this point and have to punch-in vocals.

Also, I'm pretty sure I had the same set up when recording the vocalist as far as mic volume, mic placement. ..ect. I think maybe that it was the vocalist not paying attention to his own level of the previous recording and actually recording into it.

We'll be recording again tonight so hopefully I can get this right.

Thank you!
 
Thank you for the extended advice. I like the little tip on marking a place for the artist to stand. I think that would help greatly. Also the advice on punching in on the down beat!
 
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