Ever felt less than enthused about posting your home recorded arranger playing? Ever wondered why something sounded great while you played it, but fell a bit short on playback? Here’s a few tips to help you post something you’re proud of...

Probably the #1 problem I repeatedly hear with home demos is the lead sound utterly dominating the backing. Naturally, we all want to hear what we actually PLAY nice and up front so we are sure what we play is correct and easily heard, and in a real live band or studio recording situation there is a monitor system to localize that volume where you hear it best, and hopefully no-one else does!

But that’s not how arrangers work... Even the TOTL ones with a couple of extra line outs can’t put a different mix of everything on both pairs. Most of the time, the direct out Jack’s lose the effects, both send effects and usually the inserts too. So you can’t use these to jack up your own sounds for a monitor mix. No, you have to hear your playing WITHIN a mix.

Now, there’s a couple of ways round this. First and easiest but hardest to get used to is to simply record the full mix, listen back, and if the lead is swamping the backing (listen to a well mixed record for comparison), turn down the volume of the lead sounds, store the registration, and try again. Keep doing it until the overall balance sounds professional. You’ll be hearing yourself far less, but hopefully by then you’re playing comfortably well enough to not need to...

Another way is to deal with this afterwards. We’ve all pretty much got MIDI recorders in our arrangers that will record the entire piece, so record your demo with the lead as loud as you like 🤯 and then go into the sequence edit afterwards and turn the leads back down until comfortably sitting IN the mix, not ON it. Pretty easy, pretty effective, and it also gives you the option at this point to adjust effects levels a bit. We always tend to want a bit more reverb while we are playing because it gets ‘masked’ by the backing, but playback usually exposes this overabundance.

But there’s one weakness to the ‘fix it afterwards’ approach, and it concerns my #2 problem I hear with many home demos... Timing.

If you swamp the backing, you swamp the drums. And hearing the drums loud and proud, right in your face goes a LONG way to getting you in the groove, sitting in the pocket, swingin’ with the rhythm section..! So, all in all, why not try as hard as possible to play as quietly as you possibly can and really concentrate on the drums and bass? Here’s the opposite strength of the ‘fix it afterwards’ approach. If, to lock in with the drums you end up TOO quiet in the mix, running the sequencer while you play gives you the chance to bump up your solos a hair louder to get that ‘perfect’ mix.

I’ll come back to some other techniques in a bit, but I hope that some of you can benefit from this, and feel better about posting music you are proud of!

Any other hints and tips? Got anything you like to do to polish up a home recording? Let us know...

Thanks Diki
I would like to post material from time to time, but have to admit that I am lacking in recording skills. I use to send camcorder performances to YouTube some years ago, but had mixed results due to it being live.

I would welcome further tutorials on the subject, including delivery methods to the media,

The real trick is to keep at it. Try to figure out WHY you aren’t happy...

Was it a flubbed section? Was it about part of the mix being too loud or too quiet? Was it too much reverb on your voice? Was it too long with one lead sound? Was it a poor choice of style for how you wanted to play?

And, in the end, also decide whether you want to simply post a recording of you playing, warts and all, or whether you want to spend a bit of time to push it a bit (or a lot!) further towards a pro recording. Usually, the solution presents itself once you decide on the end result.

If it’s a live warts and all demo, but you aren’t happy with the warts, practice more, figure out what the warts are, work on them until gone. If you’re singing, and you aren’t comfortable, try the transpose button and move it up or down a step or so, see if that makes your voice sound better ON THE RECORDING. Don’t decide while you sing... nothing sounds the same when you hear it on playback. Sometimes something you thought sucked while you sang turns out to have magic when you listen back. And vice versa!

But if you want to go to the next step, recording the performance to MIDI opens up the world of perfection. You can adjust the mix, fix flubs, edit drums to have less repetitive fills, replace less than stellar sounds with other keyboards or VSTI’s, the sky’s the limit. And then overdub your singing afterwards where you can concentrate on it fully, or comp different takes together.

But the main skill is recognizing what needs improved in the first place. And comparing to pro recordings usually helps pinpoint that. Don’t get discouraged when you do... It’s a process, not a destination!

One if the things I’ve done for years is take a portable digital recorder (I use a Zoom H4n these days) out on gigs, or when working at home on new tunes. On the gig, I turn it on at the start of the gig, and just let it run until the end of the show. It’s only data, so it doesn’t matter if you record the breaks and talking. You can edit those out super easy afterwards. But one thing you get, especially if you have an arranger with a mic in is a completely accurate take on EXACTLY what your audience is hearing. Not what you THINK they are hearing! The truth is, we never hear the truth until we play it back... Our mind isn’t on listening. It’s on creation, on singing, on the pretty girl in the front table...

But tape don’t lie!

I think, on hard drives all over the house, I’ve got almost everything I‘ve done for at least ten years or more..! I make a point of listening at home to each one at least for tops and tails and balances. If anything is not close to perfect, that’s the beauty of arrangers... I can make small adjustments to mix, effects, overall volume, whatever, and then next time I perform it, I can compare the old to the new and see if my changes fixed it. Sooner or later, you get an ear for what something that sounds great from the audience perspective sounds to YOU while you perform it, and get accustomed to it.

For instance, in general, if you can hear the vocal reverb well while singing, it’s too loud. Your ‘head voice’ changes the balance (the audience can’t hear that!). If you can hear your piano comping, it’s probably too loud (comping should be part of the rhythm section, not out front).

Just stick to it, be methodical attacking the problems, pretty soon your show, or your home recordings sound really ‘pro’...!

Never experienced that problem, probably because my lead was my vocals and I rarely performed instrumentals. Just lucky, I guess.

All the best,

Gary

There are a lot of gems here that, I believe, are of crucial importance to anyone trying to up their game. Some are easier said than done, but, as you say, it is a work in progress. I shall revisit this thread as I dig into the elements.

During this period of inactivity, we have time afforded us to get into areas we had no time for when busier. I, for one, think that this time should be useful in preparing for our " rebirth", so to speak.

Thanks Diki

Bernie, as I read your posts, I keep coming up with the same thought;
I never realized that this guy is so smart. (smile)

Good health my friend, John C.

I just record myself on my phone, to get an idea how I sound. It can be very revealing, in a "cringey" sort of way.

If I want a recording to sound more professional I hire someone. There lot's guys all over town with home and remote studios and they charge very reasonable prices. I guess I'd save some money learning recording technology on my own, but I keep busy enough just learning my instrument.

Also I don't really feel like anyone cares enough to listen to my music enough to go through all hassle of recording. YouTube is overflowing with demos as it is. Give someone your CD that you worked so hard on, and it will likely be in the trash before too long.

John
Oh hell, I have always known Diki is very smart. LOL

Montuno, I wouldn’t recommend the phone’s built in microphone as a way to judge how you sound... You’ll always get the room sound accentuated, and they are anything but flat, no matter how close to the speakers you put them. Speaking of which, they also tend to distort or at least artificially compress the sound, so you aren’t hearing the truth at all!

That is, unless you have a cheap Lightning or USB-C audio interface...

Me, I use my arranger’s headphones output while my mains go out to the speakers (QSC K10’s, these days). As long as you aren’t overloading the recorder’s inputs, you have a 100% reliable record of what’s going to the PA.

Now, that doesn’t mean after I’ve recorded it, and heard what the audience hears, I won’t tickle the recording with some minor mastering to bring up the level and smooth it all out if I’m going to post it online, but I want that balance as close to perfect before it gets the mastering. That way, my speakers need next to no EQ to sound full, and I can use what little EQ correction the K10’s have to compensate slightly from a dull or over-bright room.

You would be surprised, especially if it’s just you and you have an arranger with a mic in how close to pro you can get everything without needing to hire someone. Plus, of course, all that work pays off in your day to day live sound, not just your posted videos or demos...

My Roland BK-9’s mic in is pretty good, but it lacks compression and delay, so I use a TC VK-Perform to do the initial mic compression and EQ, plus whatever delay I want (there’s a nice easy to use tap tempo button to sync it with each song). But the addition of this one small piece of gear allows me to go direct out from the Roland to the speakers, and forgo having to set up a mixer, making for a very quick and easy setup!

Try either an interface for the phone if you MUST use it (and don’t forget to turn off the phone and text functions!) or just get a real cheap pocket recorder, and perhaps you’ll cringe a bit less, and maybe even save on hiring an engineer. One of the advantages of taping EVERYTHING is that, sooner or later, you are going to have a magic night where everything clicks... And you will have it recorded well enough to use proudly for anything!

Thanks Diki, good advice as always. What kind of recorder do you connect to your keyboard's headphone jack?

Ironically, some of my best recordings have come from the keyboard's onboard USB audio recorder, which seems to now be standard with most Yamaha arranger keyboards. The quality is excellent, and while there is no editing available, you can download a free copy of Audacity and edit everything - it's an incredible program.

I use a Sennheiser E855 mic and Marantz MPH2 headphones, both of which do an outstanding job. Now, I used to strictly use a headset mic when I was performing on stage, a Crown CM-311A, which is fantastic, but since my retirement, I sold all three of them, including one to Paul Blood. The headset mic give an arranger keyboard player the freedom to maintain great eye contact with his audiences, glance at the laptop when needed, and not worry where the mic is or whether it is in the right position.

While I have used the keyboard's onboard vocal harmony processor, I found the TC Helicon Harmony M provided better clarity and no delay when triggered. I fire it through the arranger's line/mic input so everything comes out of the keyboard's main, audio outputs. Works for me,

All the best,

Gary

I use a Zoom H4n, but just about any cheap pocket recorder will work if it records at standard cd quality.

While using a keyboard’s built in audio recorder is a good option for small one off jobs, one of the problems they have is in recording an entire nights worth of music. At least on Roland’s, every time you finish a song the recorder interrupts your performance to ask you if you want to save the file, and give it a name. Obviously, that’s not good when you are out performing!

And, at least on the Roland arrangers, how full or fragmented your memory stick is can lead to dropouts in the recording process, and also it cannot playback an MP3 backing track and record one at the same time. Other brands may do this better, but for the sake of conveniently recording a whole nights worth of music, and to avoid the drop outs, I simply use an external recorder and that way my performance isn’t interrupted all the time. I just turn it on at the start of the gig and completely forget about it until the last note.

To a certain extent, not feeling the “red light pressure“ helps you perform better, And as digital recording is so cheap, you can afford to record every night every gig every performance, every song, until you get one that is what you consider you at your best!

I think the purpose of recording your performance is important in determining method and amount of fine tuning necessary. I recently bought a Zoom Q2n camcorder for YouTube demonstrations for prospective venues. As mentioned, I had some showing myself and others in a spontaneous setting. Unless I want to rehash ten year old clips, I can't very well duplicate that during our pandemic situation. In the area of personal improvement, there is no question that the above posted methodology will be of great benefit. I will use this to eventually to create some video, "warts and all", It will not be a live scenario, but, will give them some idea of what to expect.

I watched a young man play guitar; an eight-year-old girl play piano. Both were exceptionally gifted. We are gifted at different levels. If you have been highly gifted or your if gifts are few, there is one thing we all share; the love and enjoyment of playing music.

Learning, and adding is good, but it should never come before enjoying our music. I love to learn and improve, and add new ideas; it is my nature, but I limit the learning and improving. I spend the larger part of my time playing what I feel inside. There are times when I play the same song many times searching for what is inside of me. ENJOYMENT!

I’m just saying, (Got that from a friend I know), John C.

Diki, not a problem with Yamaha's onboard USB recorder. Everything is recorded directly to the USB drive, as a .wav file, it is automatically saved to the drive when the recording ends and I have recorded entire performances with no drop-outs.

The main reason I used this was critique my performances while I was driving home from the jobs - great device and produces incredible, high quality recordings that can easily be edited using Audacity.

Gary

Following on from this I’m reposting this from another Forum. Though it’s food for thought. I actually use this when balancing sounds and styles.

Basics of mixing

My reference point for adjusting style part volume has always been 100 (in the scale 0-127).
This means that I have always set all parts to 100, and then adjusted all up or down in relation to this.
I had chosen this value for two reasons:
1: Analog mixing indicates the highest possible value before distortion occurs, to avoid hissing and noise.
2: Style Works uses 100 by default.

This number is far too high.
Why?

Because mixing on a keyboard does not take place analogously, but digitally.

What does the number 100 mean?

This is based on the scale 0-127, which starts at -64 and ends at +63.
This means that the actual zero point (center value) is 64, and not 100.
With 64 as the zero point, you can adjust the same amount both ways - 64 down and 63 up (64 + 63 = 127).

The weakest instruments thus get the maximum opportunity for reinforcement, while the strongest get the maximum opportunity for minimization.

Many people have probably noticed that the voices of the right hand often do not get enough reinforcement, and this is due to incorrect center value for style parts.
If this is set to 64, you will never experience problems with the right hand voices becoming too low.

If you study Yamaha`s internal styles, you will see that they have an average center value of 64.

64 is a standard that is adopted if the true volume is not known or may cause problems, and as it is half way allows great flexibility for adjustment.
Apart from Panorama or balance etc. . (Although technically they are still 0-127) then the full 0 (No sound) to 127 (Full volume) is used for all voices, it is not -64 +63.
Styles use 100 for the same reason that sounds use 64, as it makes sure that the style sounds are not too loud for the manuals while at the same time not being dwarfed by the manuals.

Bill

Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but there’s absolutely no truth to those mixing levels advice. For starters, MIDI volume has zero relation to digital zero at the D/A converters. On the whole you can set everything to 127 and you won’t hear any difference to if you set it to 64 and just turned up the master.

In fact, there’s resolution to be lost by turning down your parts. Hit the D/A too low, and your 16 bit converters are now down to 8 bit!

Be careful where you get advice from... on the whole, you’ll find your arranger’s design team have already figured out the optimum gain staging for you with the factory ROM styles and presets.

Thing is, if you are struggling to hear your lead or swamping your backing using factory presets, a lot of the time the culprit can be tracked down to how hard you are playing, in the case of velocity sensitive sounds, or not using an expression pedal in the case of no velocity sounds (usually organ sounds).

Being the bastard stepchild of home organs, a lot of arranger players came from organ or accordion backgrounds and tend to play very lightly, whereas a lot of piano players tend to not use an expression pedal much. Both can mess with the factory balance...