Recording with Blue Yeti

UkingViking

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Hi,

I have been using my Blue Yeti for recording for the Seasons of the Ukulele here on UU for a while, but I am not sure I am getting the best results that the mike can deliver. Lately I have found that when I raise the level of the tracks to match the sound level of other youtube videos, the sound gets distorted.
So a few suggestions would be welcome.
I know that I could get a real setup rather than a USB mic, but I really want to get the best from what I have.

My setup:
I use a tabletop PC with Audacity and a Blue Yeti USB microphone.

Recording style:
I want to record vocals and ukulele simultaniously, to sync into my video. Recording one track at the time has advantages, but I have little time to do it, I don't play very tight so it often sounds a mess, and the video recording would require a lot more work also. So I stick with both at the same time.

Current modus operandi:
Audacity is entry volume is set to 7/10.
Blue Yeti gain is set right in the middle
I record in Stereo mode.
I set on a stool with the mike on the dining table. The ukulele, my mouth and the mike forming a triangle with 1,5-2 feet sides. At least I try to accomplish that.
With these settings the graphic indicators in Audacity on the screen show response without going nuts.

I have read recommendations for stereo mode for stringed instruments, but also recommendations for cardioid mode for all recordings. I dont know how much the effect depends on how close you are to the microphone. If I record one thing at the time, being able to place the uke just e foot from the mike or less, I guess that cardioid will be clearer and you dont get any stereo effect from the room anyway. But how about with my setup, where I am further away anyway?

And how to turn up the volume - gain, input level, or adjusting it in Audacity afterwards?
 
This is my main acoustic mic as well for awhile now and I think it can be used to get at least semi-professional results.

If you're getting a decent level recorded without clipping, that's the most important step, and there is a lot you can do afterwards to improve it. I haven't really worked with Audacity so I don't know what all effects it is capable of, but in Reason, I will take out some noise first. There are dedicated noise reduction plugins available but even a simple high pass filter can work wonders. Next I'll often use a compressor and/or limiter to raise the overall level, again without introducing clipping which is probably where your distortion is coming from.

Recording and editing/processing are skills just like playing and singing, and it takes practice and trial&error to figure out what works for your environment.
 
So what I get here is that I should raise the volume with a more clever function than just the volume slider for the track.
And if there is some clipping, that I just can't hear untill I crank it up, I guess I must turn down the gain.

Any Audacity users who has a simple standard procedure out there?
 
So what I get here is that I should raise the volume with a more clever function than just the volume slider for the track.
And if there is some clipping, that I just can't hear untill I crank it up, I guess I must turn down the gain.

You can use the volume slider but the problem is you can't push it any further than the loudest point is quiet, if that makes sense. In other words, say the loudest recorded point goes up to -5db. You can boost the volume slider by 5db without having that loud point clip. But the rest of your track might still be down around, I dunno, -20db. You can't make that part louder with the volume slider without clipping the loud point.

There is a feature call Normalize or Normalization in most audio editors that essentially does this for you. It boosts the level of the clip so that the loudest point is at 0db. If you want to go further, you're gonna have to use a compressor.

Google "how does an audio compressor work" or try this as a starting point:
https://www.uaudio.com/blog/audio-compression-basics/

To your question about turning down the gain, I assume you mean the gain on the mic. You need to do that if the recording itself is clipping. You can see that in the waveform on screen. If it is "topping out" and it sounds distorted at that point with the volume slider at "0" (i.e. "unity"), then yes, you need to back off the gain or sit further away.
 
Just found time to study a bit more, I must try these things next time I record.

So I can normalize
Do conscious editing like removing noise etc.
Listen if the volume is all right
If not compress and normalize again

Or something like that.
 
As Jim says "practice and trial and error". I find that getting the track right in the beginning is more successful than "Noise Removal". I almost always use normalization after recording a track, but if I have done a lot of clipping I just record again or just record over the problem areas.
 
Oops, tried to submit a post and accidentially made some kind of report. How do I take it back?

I have no clue what I clicked for that to happen.
 
Oops, tried to submit a post and accidentially made some kind of report. How do I take it back?

I have no clue what I clicked for that to happen.

Don't worry about it. I figured out what had happened when I saw the report.

You'd be surprised how often it happens. I've probably done it myself.
 
I listen to most of your recordings Mikkel, and for what it's worth I think you're getting a great live sound. I haven't noticed any distortion, but I'll pay closer attention in the future to see if I can hear any and let you know!

I've used the Blue Yeti mic for a lot of my SOTU live recordings. I record directly into iMovie, which has very few editing features. I try to spend most of my time before recording getting the hottest signal I can get without overs. The best way to do this is put on a pair of headphones and turn up the gain to the point of distorting and then backing it off a bit. The only thing I do afterwords is normalize and that does seem to help tame the highs and bring the lows up.

I believe Jon uses audacity and he could probably give you some pointers there. It obviously allows tons of editing features, including EQ, compression, reverb etc. Near the top of my to do list is to learn how to record my live videos simultaneously into in Logic Pro, where I can tweak them and then line up the mixed & mastered audio with the video again.
 
Thanks Kevin,

The first many recordings I didnt notice any distortion on, but after a few recent bad recordings I started this thread.

From what I understand Normalizing just turns the volume up to the maximum level possible without clipping, right?
So that will only get me so far. But the compression trick should do the trick.
I only made one recording with this technique, since I have either been ill or busy at work. Forgot to make a control sample to see what would have happened without compression.

I hope I will get on my feet in time to record something for your SotU theme, but I am down with something.
 
Omg, did it again, in the same thread!

The UU forum is not good for smartphones, with fingers so big and the reply and report buttons so close that I have no idea which I clicked untill there is no post where it should be.
 
I listen to most of your recordings Mikkel, and for what it's worth I think you're getting a great live sound. I haven't noticed any distortion, but I'll pay closer attention in the future to see if I can hear any and let you know!

I've used the Blue Yeti mic for a lot of my SOTU live recordings. I record directly into iMovie, which has very few editing features. I try to spend most of my time before recording getting the hottest signal I can get without overs. The best way to do this is put on a pair of headphones and turn up the gain to the point of distorting and then backing it off a bit. The only thing I do afterwords is normalize and that does seem to help tame the highs and bring the lows up.

I believe Jon uses audacity and he could probably give you some pointers there. It obviously allows tons of editing features, including EQ, compression, reverb etc. Near the top of my to do list is to learn how to record my live videos simultaneously into in Logic Pro, where I can tweak them and then line up the mixed & mastered audio with the video again.

Thanks Kevin.

I didnt notice problems with most of my recordings either. But after a few bad ones in a row I started this thread.

You say that normalizing for you brings up the lows and tames the highs - I though it just turned the sound up as much a possible without clipping?

I only made one recording utilizing the compression and normalizing effects. Forgot to make a control without compression, must remember to try that.

I hope I will be on my feet to record some for your SotU theme this week, but I am down with something :-(
 
Near the top of my to do list is to learn how to record my live videos simultaneously into in Logic Pro, where I can tweak them and then line up the mixed & mastered audio with the video again.
I'm not sure if my technique will work with your setup, but what I've been doing rather than try to record video and audio separately is to record both with the Zoom Q8 camera (which has quite good mics). I pull the video file into LumaFusion on the iPad and extract the audio as a .wav file. I then take the .wav file into Cubasis and do all my cleanups - noise reduction, EQ, compression/limiting, sometimes reverb/delay, mix in other audio like backing tracks, etc. - and do a mixdown in Cubasis. Finally take the mixdown track and drop back in LumaFusion - and don't forget to mute the original video track. There's nothing to line up. Now I can do my video edits, including cutting out sections and the linked video/audio tracks get cut at the same time.

Hopefully that makes sense. Writing it down makes it sound a lot more complicated than it is. Maybe I'll make a video on how I make videos. :p
 
Just now seeing your reply here Jim. Thanks for that feedback. I'm going to reach out to you and explore this more. It sounds like a great option. I've been very impressed with the audio from audio only zoom recorders i've used with a few friends who own them. So that could be an avenue to look into. And the Lima Fusion sounds like it might work with any video recording device, so I can start getting to know it by using it with iMovie videos and or my Canon video cam recordings which I am just beginning to experiment with.

k
 
Mikkel, i researched normalization, and you are right! It does less than I thought it did. It just raises the highest levels to optimal listening levels, and then raises the other levels an equal amount. Compression will definitely help. I generally like to use approximately 5-10 Db's of compression at a 4:1 ratio with a relatively fast attack and slow release. Often times use my ears more than the meters, but the meters are a good starting point ~
 
Just now seeing your reply here Jim. Thanks for that feedback. I'm going to reach out to you and explore this more. It sounds like a great option. I've been very impressed with the audio from audio only zoom recorders i've used with a few friends who own them. So that could be an avenue to look into. And the Lima Fusion sounds like it might work with any video recording device, so I can start getting to know it by using it with iMovie videos and or my Canon video cam recordings which I am just beginning to experiment with.

Fire away - here or email. Yeah, Zoom is good audio, not as good video, but fine for my purposes. LumaFusion is an iPad app and just does the editing, so yeah, any recorder/camera is fine as long as you can get the .mov/./mp4 (or whatever - not sure what all formats it supports) files to the iPad.
 
Be sure that there are no background noise around. Sometimes, when I forget what I have said on audio and I need to put this audio into video, I use Audext audio to text converter https://audext.com/mp3-to-text/ and then just look on the text, listen again and work with video, as for me really comfortable, such a lifehack)
 
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