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How to make a cover song ?


Hey everyone :) Its been so long that i have wrote any new article. So here it is...

After seeing my cover songs, some viewers asked me what equipment's I use for recording a song.
So I've made a short video in which I am explaining the whole process involved from start to end in brief.

1. First part is Designing / Programming a track.
2. For that I use my CASIO CTK-3000 Synthesizer and a Digital Audio Workstation(Primarily Cubase) or you can say DAW.
3. In simple words, DAW is the software used to create a music track.
4. You can create melody patterns, chord progression, beats and many other things using a DAW.
4. In music industry, First the track is prepared, then singer records over it and finally Mixing & Mastering engineer do their jobs.
5. So you can summarize whole process into these three steps :
   a) Track Programming
   b) Vocals Recording
   c) Mixing & Mastering

Track Programming

1) I use my Casio synth just for MIDI recording in DAW. There are dedicated MIDI keyboards
available in market but I have purchased this keyboard long before I knew anything about DAW. Its just for 10,000 INR. And it can serve both purposes : Live performance or MIDI recording.
2) My Primary DAW is Cubase. But I use other DAWs as well depending upon need.
Some of the good DAWs I know are : Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live & Image Line FL Studio.

Vocals Recording 

1) I use Blue Yeti USB Microphone for vox recording.
Link to buy - http://www.amazon.in/Blue-Microphones-YETI-Microphone-Silver/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490639449&sr=8-1&keywords=blue+yeti+microphone

2) On front portion there is a Toggle Mute button and a Volume knob. It adjusts the volume of music playing on your machine.
3) On back portion, there are two more knobs. First is Gain which adjust recording level and another is Pattern Selector.
4) This is a good feature in Blue yeti mic that we can select between multiple patterns according to our need.
5) Some of the patterns are -
  a) Omni-Directional - It will catch audio signals from every direction.
  b) Bi-Directional - It will catch audio signals from front and back sides only. Suitable for Duet singing.
  c) Cardiod Mode - This mode is suitable for solo recording as it catches signal from front side only.

There is a great website explaining everything about Blue Yeti mic.
Check it out here - https://raelyntan.com/blue-yeti-microphone/

Then I also have a dedicated shock mount for my mic.

Blue Microphone Radius || Microphone Shock Mount
Link to buy - http://www.amazon.in/Blue-Microphones-Radius-II-Microphone/dp/B00TTQLA50?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

This is needed to absorb subtle vibrations and unwanted noise which usually comes and ruin your recording if you don't have shock mount installed.

Both are installed on my Rode PSA1 Studio Boom Arm Stand .
Link to buy -http://www.amazon.in/Rode-PSA-1-Studio-Broadcast-Microphones/dp/B001D7UYBO?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

Its quite good and perfect for holding a bulky mic like Blue Yeti. I have purchased if after seeing lots of reviews.

I have also written a separate article about tips & tricks to record vocals. You can check it out here -
http://createmusictrack.blogspot.in/2016/12/recording-vocals-dos-donts.html


Mixing & Mastering :

Now comes the most important phase. i.e., Mixing & Mastering.
If you have well programmed track and good vocals, but Mixing & Mastering is poor then the output will be worse. Mixing & Mastering puts soul into your song. There are various sorts of techniques used like :
1) Applying effects such as reverb, EQ, Compression, Stereo enhancing and lots more.
2) This is the phase where you can correct some minor errors.

Anyways i will make a separate video about Mixing & Mastering very soon. This was just an overview.

If you found this article helpful then please share it with your friends and family and don't forget to follow me on Google, YouTube, Facebook & Twitter. And if you have any question then put it in the comments section below and i will try to answer it as soon as possible.


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Thank you everyone.
सिद्धार्थ  राजपूत 

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