The importance of a good quality vocal recording is paramount to getting a great-sounding mix. There are a number of ways of ensure that you result in a good vocal recording at home, with limited equipment. The most common mistakes made when recording vocals are recording them either too softly or too loudly. If your recording is too soft, you will end up boosting noise and room ambience in the mix. If it is too loud, you will end up recording distorted audio that is irreparable in the mix. The secret to overcoming this? Record vocals with a compressor. This will help to control the dynamics of the human voice.
SABC's lecture theater
A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to be able to attend the Commonwealth broadcasting association, Sound on Sound, Prism sound & SADiE African tour hosted by SEGMA (South African Distributors of SADiE, Prism sound and ADAM) at SABC’s beach road studios. Those that attended where treated to theory lectures and practical demonstrations by world renowned Audio Engineer Hugh Robjohns and BBC producer Peter Nash. Peter Nash presented a fantastic demonstration of the the new SADiE native DAW along with a product showcase of SADiE’s LRX2 high end location recorder. Highlighting workflow innovations specific to the SADiE DAW. And in an industry where time is money, any workflow innovations are always welcomed. Read more »
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In case you missed it, the Cape Audio College Live and Direct party took off last weekend at none other than Cape Towns new Zula Bar. Although a huge venue to fill, the crowds packed themselves in to enjoy our annual college party. On offer were 5 Bands, 7 DJ’s, promo girls, Disco Marv and the now legendary Kill or be Killed MC battle. The bands were great! The night kicked off with Llevado, a four piece rock outfit from Read more »
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Every now and then we get the opportunity to let some of our students loose in a working studio to gain a little experience of the outside world. As we all know, Audio Engineering is not something you can learn from books alone. This creative field requires a lot of time in the studio and without the right exposure, it becomes difficult to know the direction you should be heading in. This is why we find it so important for our students to Read more »
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Last year the Cape Audio College had the privilege of being visited by Sound on Sound Magazine’s technical editor Hugh Robjohns and BBC programme creator Peter Nash while they where conducting their world wide Mic to Monitor tour. The purpose of last years SA visit was to promote the incredible Prism Orpheus interface and the new Native version of the hugely respected audio software and hardware from UK based high end audio masters SADiE. Students had the opportunity to chat to Hugh and Peter and came away from the demonstration with some valuable insight from these high profile engineers.
This year Hugh and Peter are returning with the Great Prism Sound SADiE/CBA Africa Tour. The pan-African tour will comprise three Read more »
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There has been a lot of hype surrounding one of our side projects. New York based Rapper Whosane has been involved with the Cape Audio College for some time now. Bringing in some serious beats, serious artists (Mos Def & DJ Kallisto from Wu-Tang Clan) and some pretty serious lyrics. Its no joke, Whosane is the “Real deal” and he has been getting some real notice over the last few weeks. The latest track, Pardon the interruption is a stylish mash-up of some pretty well known Hip Hop Tunes from around the globe. After its upload and distribution around some of the more looked at internet websites, pardon the interruption began bringing in hits from some very influential people. Nas (MTV’s #5 greatest MC of all time) has been hyping the track since listening to it. Since then hip hop fans from all over the world have been tuning in to listen to Whosanes new track.
The track was recorded by Cape Audio College student Lyle Bennett. Its great for one of our guys to get some experience with an artist of this caliber. Not mention the excellent exposure this could give Lyle. Whosane is being flown back to New York next month for talks with some major players over Read more »
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Its nearly time for the Cape Audio College Annual Live and Direct party, so get ready for an awesome night featuring 5 Bands, 5 Djs, 2 Floors, 3 Bars, promo girls…the works!
On the 29th October we’re going to pack the new Zula Sound Bar at 98 Long Street with a massive line up of crazy party madness and two massive JBL rigs. The line up for the electronic dance floor consists solely of Cape Audio College students and graduates, and will be primarily playing a mix of Electro, Dub-Step, and good ol’ Drum and Bass. We will be starting the night with Django, followed by Fun Toy and then Callan Maart. You’ll then have to pardon the interruption for the first Cape Audio Kill or be Killed MC Battle (open to all – enter on the Cape Audio blog page). There will be a legendary Telefunken M80 vocal mic up for grabs (sponsored by SEGMA South Africa) and the event will be hosted by the one and only Whosane. The floor will then be handed over to the epic DJ Mezzanine who will keep the dance floor jamming till we’re all kicked out the club. There will also be a band stage hosting a line up of 5 amazing local live acts, all in one way or another affiliated with Cape Audio College. We will be kicking off with Llavado, followed by the lovely Chantal with her band LA.VI. 7th Son will then be bringing in the ska-ness, followed by the amazing Captain Stu, and ending the night with the party machines, The Rudimentals! Read more »
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Students watch in interest.
Yesterday our students from the Higher Certificate course where treated to a group band recording in our main studio here at the Cape Audio College. With some of the best gear in the business one and all got a hands on demonstration of how to record a live band using a large format recording studio. Our main studio houses an Audient ASP 8024 36 channel analogue console and the stellar iZ Radar recording interface. With some of the best pre-amps and converters around students have the opportunity to use the kind of equipment that would be fitted in a high end recording studio anywhere in the world. Read more »
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We were recently treated to a custom microphone demonstration by none other than South African music legend Tully McCully. Tully has been hard at work for the past “5 years” bringing the world his own brand of high end vintage styled microphones. And man are we blown away! These mics sound fantastic. But dont take our word for it. Recently Tully has received orders from Steve Vai, Crosby Stills and Nash and Kevin Shirley. In fact the TUL G12 guitar mic was specifically designed for Kevin Shirley for the recording and production of guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa. And is on its way to becoming a “modern classic” that other mics will be compared to for years to come. Read more »
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The Cape Audio College live and direct party is on its way and is going to be bigger than ever. With big name industry sponsors providing giveaway prizes on the night. We are giving away prizes from legendary audio masters Shure. In the form of microphones, headphones and more. So don’t miss out! Its going to be massive. The prize winners will be drawn from a hat on the 29th of October at Zula bar Cape Town so in order to collect your prize you need to be there on the night.
Prizes include – Shure SM58 Dynamic Microphone, Shure SRH440 Headphones and Shire SE215 in earphones.
All you have to do to enter is.
- Fill your details into the box on the right of this text.
- Mention in the messages box what prize you are after.
- Be at Zula bar Cape Town on the night of the 29th of October where the prizes will be drawn. No show, no prize.
- Have a good time.
Please click on the “read more” link below to get all the info and details. Read more »
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The importance of a good quality vocal recording is paramount to getting a great-sounding mix. There are a number of ways of ensure that you result in a good vocal recording at home, with limited equipment. The most common mistakes made when recording vocals are recording them either too softly or too loudly. If your recording is too soft, you will end up boosting noise and room ambience in the mix. If it is too loud, you will end up recording distorted audio that is irreparable in the mix. The secret to overcoming this? Record vocals with a compressor. This will help to control the dynamics of the human voice.
