Studio Time for Recording vocals?

ICEN

ICEN

Punchline God
Hello, I was wondering how long/fast it would take to record a full rap song with 3 verses 3 choruses, basically I want to know how long I would need if I was only recording one track at a studio. I have been buying equipment for myself to record at home but I've been looking around locally and there is a few studios that pay like $35-$45 an hour which seems low to me because it says they have 3,000 microphones?

Anyways I am a rapper so I was wondering lets say I payed to record in a studio. If I was just recording a regualr track how many hours would it normally take to record at a studio?
 
The studio business is really competitive. a Lot of studios that are considered good have had to under value themselves to get business.

Normally for a rapper who is practised and knows his lines, maybe 2 hrs. Including adlibs, overdubs and any creative changes during the process.
 
It really depends on your ability and just how good you want it to sound. If you are really good and just doing a mixtape, and your engineer is pretty fast, you could possibly knock the whole thing out in an hour and a half. If you are going for a major label type sound, it will obviously take much, much longer.
 
As an emcee... I always had my material uber-rehearsed and I knew every single ad-lib and voiceover I was going to do. Literally.. everything. There were no surprises... i thought of everything I wanted to do.

I normally knocked out 3 songs max within a 3 hour block of time. It also give the engineer time to do some moderate mixing and present me with a useable song, professional quality.

If you don't have everything perfectly mapped out in your head... then what everyone said above is accurate. The only thing that takes a lot of time is if 1) you can't perform you take correctly as per your original vision... or 2) if the engineer takes forever mixing your stuff.
 
I don't know ... how good of a rapper are you? If you suck, it'd take all day... if you're good, maybe an hour.

I just got done tracking someone last night who said he was a first take kind of guy, and he couldn't even play to a click track... I had to punch him in bar by bar ... because he got nervous being in the studio environment, so keep in that in mind.

If you've never recorded before, being in front of the microscope may make you fold up
 
I have a pretty decent studio with a U87 and an Avalon 2022. I charge 50 an hour two hour minimum and assuming the artist is well rehearsed they should leave with a CD. This only applies to rap though I comp all singing so I usually require 4 hours for that. If I could give a tip never book a 1 hour session.
 
well lets just assume I don't suck, well I know I don't suck but since you guys have no idea if I am good or bad lets just assume I'm good.
Like I usually remember all my verses within a day or two of making the verse. I can flow and remember all my raps perfectly without messing up because I have them all memorized so I don't need to look of a paper.

The only thing I could say would be if I got nervous being in a professional environment that MIGHT make me take a little longer to come off 100%. Anyways when you say you can make a song in like 1-2 hours is that mixing included?
 
The mixing depends on the engineer. Some are better than others.

I never booked less than 3 hours. At least u know that'll be enough time for 1 very good song.. even if worst case scenario u can't nail ur verses w/ the right attitude or if it times him long to mix. 1 good song for a little over a $100 bucks should still be worth it if its good.
 
I can get a decent mix in a few hours .... between getting the overall balance, basic EQ and compression, automation, and a few extras like your reverbs and delays ... just depends though.
 
CPhoenix said:
The mixing depends on the engineer. Some are better than others.

I never booked less than 3 hours. At least u know that'll be enough time for 1 very good song.. even if worst case scenario u can't nail ur verses w/ the right attitude or if it times him long to mix. 1 good song for a little over a $100 bucks should still be worth it if its good.
Click to expand...

I tracked over 1000 artists
and one thing that is important is
1.getting sleep
2.making sure you ate
3.bring bottle water
4.I say not being high(subjective as some say that's when they flow the best)
I'm stone cold against drug use/abuse
5.rehearse period
6.come with energy(perform)
it's good when you're in a vocal booth where no one can really see you
the artists I tracked loved that
I would say make all the crazy faces you need



it's also important to be comfortable with the tracking engineer
so if you get along with the engineer and they do decent work
continue to use them over a cheaper studio

and I remember reading your post about your microphone
I suggest building a DIY vocal booth
investing in a single channel preamp that in over that $700 mark at least

as you're just tracking
the vocal chain is the most important focus of your home studio
this should be your vocal chain

1.environment

2.you(performance)

3.Microphone

4.Preamp

5.A/D of interface

6.tracking the vocals in correctly(not too hot not too low where you get alot of noise

7.the editing of the vocals
cutting out the silent parts


then once you got this done send off to your mix engineer

-Coach Antonio
 
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How important exactly is the mic pre amps? The mic I got was the MXL 4000 but what I want to know is since pre amps make your vocals sounds better, will a pre amp only make your vocals sounds only so good?

Okay for example, if I bought a pre amp for $700 would my mic even be able to get the full use out of that $700. Its kind of confusing what I mean because I don't know how to type it, like what if you don't have a $1000 mic will the $700 be a waste if the mic I have cannot fully be at its best because its not a $1000?

To keep it simple because it sounds confusing what I am trying to say, I want to know with my MXL 4000 if I bought a $500 pre amp over a $700 pre amp would it make any difference since my mic is not $1000 to even use the most out of the pre amps?
 
^Nah we get what you're saying.

The preamp should bring out the full potential of your mic... regardless of the price of the mic. So... I have absolutely no knowledge abotu the MXL 4000 lol... but I do know that if you get a very good preamp... you will be able to hear how good your MXL 4000 really can be. Now... with me not knowing the MXL 4000, I don't know how good exactly that may be.... but... at least you can be confident that you're getting the most out of your mic with a very good preamp.

When I make that step to an external preamp soon.. I know my first choice will be a clean one. Something like the Grace Designs M101. Either that or a Great River NV1 if I have the money... which I hear is very clean but you can also drive it a little and get a nice character type sound out of it.. if I remember correctly (i haven't looked at the reviews in a few months). But yeah... it would be a good idea to get a nice clean preamp first.. and then dirty up your sound if you feel you need to. But most of the time... a clean sound sounds better than a dirty sound anyway lol.. despite the whole "Tube, drive, warmth, harmonics, amp"-craze going on lol. I'd rather have crystal clean clarity when recording, so I can make the character decisions later.
 
Well the MXL 4000 seemed pretty decent for $250 it said retail price was $799 if that even matters I'm sure theres youtube videos but being I paid 250 for it I was wondering if this mic even can use the extra money put into the preamps. Like you said it will bring the BEST OUT OF THE MIC but I'm just wondering there has to be a point to where I am throwing money down the drain if I spend $700 just for the mic to not even be able to have specs high enough to get the use out of a $700 pre amp compared to a mic that would benift better because a more expensive mic would sound better on a 700 pre
 
Since a good micpre is always a good idea, you could also just grab a good clean one on blind faith... and if it doesn't work out w/ the MXL, upgrade your mic later. You'll probably want the preamp anyway.

There's a good chance it will though.
 
I think most would agree that mic is definitely number one when buying a chain. But in your case since you've already spent the money on the mic, I agree with phoenix, just grab a great sounding pre amp and then upgrade the mic after if you feel like the sound still isnt good. But take your price range and really do the research. There are lots of reviews and thoughts shared on this forum and others, and you can even search by price range which is really cool. It sounds like you got the mic for a great price, so if all else fails you could always sell it for break even, maybe even a little profit and get a better one.
 
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