A few recording related ?'s from a budding beginner.

[Strays Dave]

1st and most important, on a MacBook, what is the notification that sound a bit like a horn, and how do I silence it ? It's an octave and a half above middle C..... an F#.  I heard this same sound on a political podcast I follow,  and also recently on PBS News Hour remote interview.  I've googled how to silence it but the advice didn't work.  I'd hoped my Presonus 1810c interface would prevent it from sounding when I was recording,  but no. 

 

2nd and less important.  I have a 14"  djembe and want to experiment with it as a "foundation" percussion part.  I have 2 AKG  C414 mics (not matched).  Also a Shure SM81.  I'd like to capture that "ring" in the djembe.  I watched a YT video and I gather there's often a mic at the bottom hole of the drum and one near the drum head.  

 

Also Craig,  I purchased your Studio One Tricks and Tips virtual book.  Very nice.  I've tip toed into punch in recordings and duplicating a section of a wave form. 

[Strays Dave]

Maybe I should mention that I also have a Rode NT4 , an X/Y  mic.  I've only used the NT4 for acoustic piano up to now.   So, which would combination would (the collective) you use  ?

[KuruPrionz]

2 hours ago, Strays Dave said:

1st and most important, on a MacBook, what is the notification that sound a bit like a horn, and how do I silence it ? It's an octave and a half above middle C..... an F#.  I heard this same sound on a political podcast I follow,  and also recently on PBS News Hour remote interview.  I've googled how to silence it but the advice didn't work.  I'd hoped my Presonus 1810c interface would prevent it from sounding when I was recording,  but no. 

 

2nd and less important.  I have a 14"  djembe and want to experiment with it as a "foundation" percussion part.  I have 2 AKG  C414 mics (not matched).  Also a Shure SM81.  I'd like to capture that "ring" in the djembe.  I watched a YT video and I gather there's often a mic at the bottom hole of the drum and one near the drum head.  

 

Also Craig,  I purchased your Studio One Tricks and Tips virtual book.  Very nice.  I've tip toed into punch in recordings and duplicating a section of a wave form. 

On the bar on the very top of the screen over to the right there is a symbol that looks like the side view of a speaker with 3 curves radiation out to represent "sound".

When your Presonus is plugged in, select it there and that should mute the internal sounds of the computer. Also go into your DAW and make sure the Presonus is selected there I can only tell you that in Waveform Pro I go to Settings > Audio Devices and switch Output from Built-In Output to my interface (Presonus for you) and also switch Input from Built-in Microphone to my interface (again, Presonus for you). 

 

If none of that works (it should) then try going to System Preferences > Sound > Sound Effects and turn down the Output. Of you can just go into System Preferences > Sound > Output and turn the output sound down. 

 

I am assuming that you are using monitor speaker and/or headphones driven by your Presonus interface. If not, you should do that so you can turn off the audio from the computer. Hope that helps!!!

 

As for your djembe, start with a single mic. Try a variety of positions, bearing in mind you don't want the mic to get in the way. Use this mic on the top side of the head and play with it until you find the best sound. You should try all of your mics and see if any particular one of them stands out. That's the one you want for the top. It may very well sound better if it's not so close or you may prefer to put it close. Mic'ing nearer the edge or center of the head will make a huge difference, experiment. 

 

Next, same thing on the bottom or up inside the drum. Leave the top mic off and play around until you find the best sound on the bottom side. And that's your bottom mic. 

If you record them both and notice any phase cancellation (the top and bottom of a single head should be exactly out of phase with each other) then see if your DAW has a phase reversal feature - most do. Reverse the phase on the bottom of the head, the two mics together should sound bigger. To really tweak it, zoom into those two channels and line up the peaks (farthest points either up or down) since they might be just a bit off due to different distances from the head. There's your setup, it will be time consuming and maybe a bit difficult to duplicate so play a bunch of stuff!!!! 😃

 

You also may find that you want to EQ the tone. My first guess would be to reduce the low mids a bit for clarity without losing the bottom end. If there is an obnoxious peak (some peaks are cool!!!!) then zero in on it and reduce that as well to smooth out the sound. 

 

It's an art and a science recording drums (or really, anything). The more you do it, the better you'll get at it. 

[KenElevenShadows]

I have recorded a djembe without the bottom microphone, but that was including the djembe in an ensemble. If it's a solo djembe, then you could throw in a dynamic microphone at the bottom to taste.

 

To me, part of the cool part of the djembe is also how it sounds in the room, so when I recorded it, I have the microphone along the skin like you might record other things, and then I had a room mic farther away to blend in as I saw fit. I was surprised by how much of the room microphone I ended up working on because it just made the djembe sound natural and blend in with the other instruments better.

 

I used condensers (I'd choose the 414s if I had your selection) and used some sort of Beyerdynamic microphone similar to an SM 57 for the bottom hole. I hope this helps.

 

 

[Strays Dave]

Thanks much Kuru.  I was indeed able to go to System Preferences and change the output to the Presonus 1810c.  Now it sounds in my headphones, but that's OK. Much better than it honking out loud during a recording.   

 

I've recorded a piano part (of what I'm currently fooling with) and some vocal parts - 3 voices in harmony.  So next I'll start fooling with the djembe. I've been thinking about ways to create a percussive groove - that hopefully don't just sound like someone playing along with a tambourine.  I'll try to do a foundation groove on the djembe and then try to come up with some complimentary percussion parts. 

 

And thanks Ken.  I actually have a 45 year old SM58 and also a 7 year old Sennheiser dynamic mic I used for singing.  I'm thinking about maybe creating separate tracks for the djembe with different mics to see what I like best.

 

I hope to create some sort of bass kick drum substitute with the djembe and then attempt some percussion to compliment it.  Jake Blount's band (below) creates a percussive momentum that moves me rhythmically.  I'm also thinking about plucking a repeated note on my baritone uke for a percussive effect. I've also got various maracas, shakers and bongos.  I'm trying to construct that groove.   And I do need to learn a bit about EQ. 

 

 

 

 

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[KuruPrionz]

Thanks Dave, here is a thread I just started regarding setting your recording up for success. I'm certain there are other ways to go about it but it may be helpful. 

 

 

[Strays Dave]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:46 PM, KuruPrionz said:

Thanks Dave, here is a thread I just started regarding setting your recording up for success. I'm certain there are other ways to go about it but it may be helpful. 

Thanks Kuru. I just read the first few posts. I'll read more later.  

I recorded the djembe twice - once with the SM81  and once with the C414....I preferred the C414 , so I deleted the SM81 track. Then I did a single line uke part. Just trying things to see if they work. 

 

I'm going to look into what you said about  "EQ the tone. My first guess would be to reduce the low mids a bit for clarity without losing the bottom end."....I have an Obedia lesson on Friday. I'll ask about this.  Thanks guys.  

 

On 2/5/2023 at 12:46 PM, KuruPrionz said: