* Karaoke

I get a fair amount of karaoke recording business so I thought I'd provide some information and observations about the subject. 

* I have a karaoke deck and TV monitor here for clients that need to see the lyrics to the songs. We can shift the pitch of the song up and down to match your vocal range. 

* I don't have a library of karaoke music. You will have to provide your own CD's.

* Stereo headphones are normally worn during the recording session. We'll spend some time adjusting the balance of the headphone mix so you can hear the music and your voice in proper relationship. If you don't feel comfortable wearing headphones, then the alternative is to play the music through monitor speakers into the room and you can sing along with whatever is coming out of the speakers. The only problem with this method is that some of the music will bleed through into the vocal mic and onto the vocal track. It's not a disaster but it makes it a little harder to mix down.

* The microphones we use to record with are not the usual hand-held karaoke style microphones. These are high-quality vocal condenser recording mics. You don't handle the mic during the session. The mic is mounted to a stand and a pop-filter is positioned in front of the mic. A pop-filter is just a round hoop with mesh material stretched across it to reduce the airflow from P's and T's and other hard syllables. A lot of people see this stuff for the first time and aren't quite sure what to make of it. Some have commented that they felt funny not holding the mic in their hand. Karaoke singers are used to holding the mic while they sing so it's a bit strange at first to just stand there. The reason we don't handle the mics in the studio is to eliminate the handling noise. It's that simple.

* This is a standard multi-track recording process. The music and the vocals are recorded onto separate tracks and then mixed together to create a single stereo track which is then burned onto a CD-R. By recording the vocals and the music onto separate tracks we have better control over the balance of the recording during mix down. Also, this makes it easier to go back and fix things (if need be). It's rare that a singer can sing a song perfectly from start to finish. Usually, there are a few weak spots that need fixing. By isolating the vocals onto a separate track, you can go back and punch-in (re-record) over the weak sections. When I mix the tracks, I try to blend or balance the vocals with the music so it sounds like a professional commercial recording. Some clients like the vocals a little higher (louder) in the mix. Some prefer the vocals a little quieter in the mix. Some like a lot of reverb, some like it drier sounding. It's a personal decision really. 

* Mixing songs that were recorded from many different brands of karaoke discs poses a slight problem sometimes. The problem is that not all karaoke discs are created equally. Some companies take the extra time to make sure the audio is perfectly recorded and mastered. Some companies don't. There will usually be volume and EQ issues from one brand to the next. I have to deal with these differences when I'm mixing and mastering. When you put all these songs together on a CD to take home, you generally want all the songs to be more or less the same volume level. You don't want to be reaching for the volume control all the time.  It's a bit of a juggling act to make sure that the entire project has the same overall volume level and sound quality. 

* I remember one time a client brought in some karaoke discs that sounded like they had been recorded from vinyl records. I could clearly hear pops and clicks in the music (which sounded like old-fashioned vinyl LP noise). Weird. One client brought in some discs recently that had a little bell sound in the background at the start of each verse. The bell sounds were mixed pretty low in the song - you could just barely hear them. He asked me if I could remove those bell sounds from the final mix. My quick answer was no. It's difficult to remove sounds from a stereo mix without affecting something else (usually..., it depends). There are various editing tricks I can resort to but these all take time. Sometimes, a lot of time. In the end, the results may not be what you hoped for anyway. 

* Which leads me to MP3's. MP3's are the bane of my existence. I have no real issue with MP3 as a simple, yet effective, method for sharing music over the internet. Or for casual listening in your iPod. An MP3 which was created with loving care can sound great. The problem is that most of the karaoke MP3's I've heard don't fall into that category. And that goes for a lot of the MP3's that rappers and DJ's are now using. My issue is that too many clients bring that crap in here and expect to walk away with a mixed song that sounds like a normal commercial recording. Sorry. I've almost reached a point where I don't even want to do a recording session that involves MP3's.

* Give some thought to the track order before you come in. That'll speed things along. You might want to also read the FAQ section on mixing and mastering. I go into a lot more detail on the subject there.

* It would be a nice touch if you could print out a list of the song titles that you plan to record and give that to me before the session so I don't have to guess. They don't need to be in the correct order. You can record them in any order you want.

* Which reminds me... inevitably someone will ask if I can remove vocals from commercially recorded CD's. For example, the client wants to record a song that hasn't been released on karaoke disc yet. The easy answer to this question is no, I can't remove "just the vocals" from a standard commercial audio CD. The harder answer is yes, it can be done. Sort of. There are techniques whereby you can sort of, kind of, remove the vocals from a CD. You might have seen these ads in the back of magazines for example. Some sort of little black box you can buy that will magically remove the vocals from pre-recorded music (here's one). It works, and it doesn't work, all at the same time. You can't remove "just the vocals" from a stereo music track without damaging the music in the process. The amount of damage ranges from not so bad to horrible. I won't get into the mechanics of how this works (it has to do with the science of phase cancellation). All I can tell you is that at best, you'll still hear some of the original vocals and at worst, the music will be so damaged as to be unusable. If you really need to know more about this process, click here.

* No, I do not have a magic tone box that will make you sound like Garth Brooks or Mariah Carey or Celine Dion or Elvis. I can, however, correct minor pitch problems with Auto-Tune or V-Vocal. These tools do a bang up job fixing pitch related problems but the irony is that you need to actually be able to sing relatively well for these tools to do their job. I'm not a miracle worker :-)

* I suggest, when picking songs for your upcoming Grammy-award-winning karaoke album, that you pick more songs than you actually think you will need. The reason for this is simple - many times a singer will attempt to sing a song that for whatever reason isn't sounding so good. What you think sounds good in front of a room full of intoxicated bar patrons doesn't always hold up under the scrutiny of a recording session. Too often people bring in these scratched discs and they won't play in the player. All I'm saying is give yourself a little insurance policy by picking a couple of extra songs in case one or two of your primary songs don't pass muster.

* If a client wants CD booklets and labels and duplicates, then you need to supply the photos or artwork or whatever you plan to use. See the FAQ section on CD duplication and artwork.

* In case you're wondering, I don't make illegal copies of karaoke CD's here. Don't even ask. I do, however, maintain an archive copy of the project data (along with the original karaoke song in WAV format) in case the client wants to come back to re-record a vocal or do a remix or whatever.

* Dress casually! You will be more comfortable.

* Bring along some bottled water or whatever you normally drink to keep your throat clear. Some people like that glycerin spray. I can provide hot water if you drink tea or whatever.

In closing, most people find the recording process enjoyable. Bring a bottle of wine. Loosen up. Have fun. Don't get discouraged if you don't hit the right notes the first time. Try again. It usually takes a few minutes to get in the swing of things. Once you get that momentum going, things usually go like clockwork and you are more relaxed. That will show in the final recording too.

Back to LnL Recording FAQ