"Getting Back Into It" - Tips on revisiting old projects / how to get back into recording.

B

Bobby Layne

New member
Hello.

Context
I have taken a 6+ year break from music. Previously, I had wrote a little over 100 songs and worked on the 20 or so I thought sucked the least and fleshed them out in Cubase 7. Besides 1 very small coffee shop style performance and 10 songs I posted on SoundCloud but basically never promoted (link - https://soundcloud.com/ciseight-band), none of the music ever saw the light of day (I'll use shyness / anxiety as an excuse, but I'm sure laziness had it's role too). I always hated my voice, and hated my vocals on the tracks and was embarrassed.

I have found motivation to start up doing music projects again over the past couple months. I'm setting myself a goal of "just get my music on Spotify, and do some basic self-promotion on socials and at least put myself out there to see if there are locals around me who might be interested in forming a band for gigs" by the end of the year. I still have all my original Cubase 7 project files.

Actual Question
6 years later, as I listen back on my tracks I haven't heard in years, I am actually relatively satisfied with the arrangements and mix (I am far less of a "perfectionist" then what I used to be; it's still very amateur, I just don't care). However, the vocals are still just as cringy to me, and some of the lyrics I feel inspired to update. I would like to re-record my vocal tracks.

How might one begin to tackle redoing vocals on old projects?

The computer I used to do all my projects on died a couple years back. I built a new PC, and re-installed Cubase 7 and Native Instruments on it and moved over all my saved project files, but the functionality is not quite as good as it used to be (Plugins I used to use showing as "not-found," MIDI piano rolls lagging, etc.) I have also bought a MacBook Pro and have begun to get the basics of GarageBand down on that. I have 2 mic's: an SM58 and an ST59. Currently, I am considering:
  • Exporting to .wav files the entire track except vocals, put that into GarageBand, and re-recording vocals over it (trying out different mic placement and trying to improve the performance).
  • Continue using my Windows 10 PC with Cubase 7, try to deal with the functionality issues, and re-record on that.
  • Don't even bother re-recording; just use Cubase to remix it (lower the gain to make it less prominent in the mix, maybe add some light distortion effect to try to mask to poor performance?)
  • Download Cubase 7 on my new MacBook Pro and see if functionality is better there, then re-record on that.
  • Buy the newest version of Cubase which should run smoother and re-record on that (do projects from Cubase 7 open without issue on new versions?)
  • Completely restart the songs from scratch on MacBook (I have been more into folk as of late and could see myself changing the arrangements up for a more chill Jack Johnson vibe, but that seems like it would be wasting a lot of years work on the style I currently have).
  • Say f-it, don't bother re-recording or re-mixing, and just release it / promote it as is.
If anyone has any advice or experience on "getting back into music," especially taking up old projects to update vocals, I am excited to hear everyones thoughts. If anyone listens to my old tracks and has specific advise on how to improve vocals (performance, mic placement, mixing, w/e), I will love you forever!

Also, hello everyone! Longtime lurker here, but first time posting (like I said, I'm shy).
Brett
 
Whether you use Cubase 7 or GarageBand, it shouldn't make a big difference. The biggest issue I see is the missing plug-ins. I'm surprised that the midi is lagging, maybe due to the midi device? I don't really do much midi, so that's a questionable area for me.

I would try to get the instrument tracks mixed down as best you can and work on the vocals. Is the "cringy" aspect your vocal tone, or is it due to pitch issues. Both can be addressed, although I have found that in many cases, the vocal tone is more a matter of accepting that's what you sound like. Having an unusual voice isn't necessarily a detriment. Being off pitch IS! Fixing pitch can go two ways.. keep working on it, maybe even doing just a verse at a time until you get it right, or throwing an autotune plug-in on it. I prefer the former, although if you're really close, using autotune to clean it up a tick is probably normal practice these days.

BTW, I listened to several songs, and I think tonally, your voice is fine. The recording needs some fine tuning and there were some pitchy spots, but nothing that can't be fixed. I would go with option one, with either Cubase or Garageband. It shouldn't make a big difference. Try both mics and see which sounds better to you.

I had some tracks that I did at a band practice some 15 years back. It had drums, bass, keyboard and one guitar. I went back and added a couple of guitars, some guitar solos and added vocals, then sent copies to the other guys in the band, just for memories. It was a fun project, and I got about 10 or so songs out of it. Plus it helped me get used to playing with "other people" again. I also got to work on both lead and harmony vocals. As I said, all in fun, nothing for public consumption.
 
Bobby Layne said:
Hello.

Context
I have taken a 6+ year break from music. Previously, I had wrote a little over 100 songs and worked on the 20 or so I thought sucked the least and fleshed them out in Cubase 7. Besides 1 very small coffee shop style performance and 10 songs I posted on SoundCloud but basically never promoted (link - https://soundcloud.com/ciseight-band), none of the music ever saw the light of day (I'll use shyness / anxiety as an excuse, but I'm sure laziness had it's role too). I always hated my voice, and hated my vocals on the tracks and was embarrassed.

I have found motivation to start up doing music projects again over the past couple months. I'm setting myself a goal of "just get my music on Spotify, and do some basic self-promotion on socials and at least put myself out there to see if there are locals around me who might be interested in forming a band for gigs" by the end of the year. I still have all my original Cubase 7 project files.

Actual Question
6 years later, as I listen back on my tracks I haven't heard in years, I am actually relatively satisfied with the arrangements and mix (I am far less of a "perfectionist" then what I used to be; it's still very amateur, I just don't care). However, the vocals are still just as cringy to me, and some of the lyrics I feel inspired to update. I would like to re-record my vocal tracks.

How might one begin to tackle redoing vocals on old projects?

The computer I used to do all my projects on died a couple years back. I built a new PC, and re-installed Cubase 7 and Native Instruments on it and moved over all my saved project files, but the functionality is not quite as good as it used to be (Plugins I used to use showing as "not-found," MIDI piano rolls lagging, etc.) I have also bought a MacBook Pro and have begun to get the basics of GarageBand down on that. I have 2 mic's: an SM58 and an ST59. Currently, I am considering:
  • Exporting to .wav files the entire track except vocals, put that into GarageBand, and re-recording vocals over it (trying out different mic placement and trying to improve the performance).
  • Continue using my Windows 10 PC with Cubase 7, try to deal with the functionality issues, and re-record on that.
  • Don't even bother re-recording; just use Cubase to remix it (lower the gain to make it less prominent in the mix, maybe add some light distortion effect to try to mask to poor performance?)
  • Download Cubase 7 on my new MacBook Pro and see if functionality is better there, then re-record on that.
  • Buy the newest version of Cubase which should run smoother and re-record on that (do projects from Cubase 7 open without issue on new versions?)
  • Completely restart the songs from scratch on MacBook (I have been more into folk as of late and could see myself changing the arrangements up for a more chill Jack Johnson vibe, but that seems like it would be wasting a lot of years work on the style I currently have).
  • Say f-it, don't bother re-recording or re-mixing, and just release it / promote it as is.
If anyone has any advice or experience on "getting back into music," especially taking up old projects to update vocals, I am excited to hear everyones thoughts. If anyone listens to my old tracks and has specific advise on how to improve vocals (performance, mic placement, mixing, w/e), I will love you forever!

Also, hello everyone! Longtime lurker here, but first time posting (like I said, I'm shy).
Brett
Click to expand...
I would see if CB7 with its updates worked better (which it probably will since these programs run better on newer machines). But sometimes redoing them opens more options such as changing composition choices too. But anything you do, you should always render the midi tracks to wav tracks in the project and mix them. So that if you want to go back and change a part, you are not limited to what DAW that was used in the beginning.
 
What version of Cubase 7 do you have? About a week left of the Cubase sale and upgrade pricing is discounted as well. I'd opt for running on the Macbook.

I took a brief listen and agree with TalismanRich that your voice is fine. It is very common to not like the sound of your own voice. Figure out how to let that go and you'll find yourself more at ease to focus on vocal performance.

I changed from an old Protools rig to Cubas and had to rebuild my plugin library. Besides the stock, I put together a basic list and watched the sales. Plugins have evolved to a crazy extent. I picked up everything I need really cheap or free.
 
TalismanRich said:
Whether you use Cubase 7 or GarageBand, it shouldn't make a big difference. The biggest issue I see is the missing plug-ins. I'm surprised that the midi is lagging, maybe due to the midi device? I don't really do much midi, so that's a questionable area for me.

I would try to get the instrument tracks mixed down as best you can and work on the vocals. Is the "cringy" aspect your vocal tone, or is it due to pitch issues. Both can be addressed, although I have found that in many cases, the vocal tone is more a matter of accepting that's what you sound like. Having an unusual voice isn't necessarily a detriment. Being off pitch IS! Fixing pitch can go two ways.. keep working on it, maybe even doing just a verse at a time until you get it right, or throwing an autotune plug-in on it. I prefer the former, although if you're really close, using autotune to clean it up a tick is probably normal practice these days.

BTW, I listened to several songs, and I think tonally, your voice is fine. The recording needs some fine tuning and there were some pitchy spots, but nothing that can't be fixed. I would go with option one, with either Cubase or Garageband. It shouldn't make a big difference. Try both mics and see which sounds better to you.

I had some tracks that I did at a band practice some 15 years back. It had drums, bass, keyboard and one guitar. I went back and added a couple of guitars, some guitar solos and added vocals, then sent copies to the other guys in the band, just for memories. It was a fun project, and I got about 10 or so songs out of it. Plus it helped me get used to playing with "other people" again. I also got to work on both lead and harmony vocals. As I said, all in fun, nothing for public consumption.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thank you for the advice! I much prefer re-recording each part at a time then hanging too heavily on auto-tune as well (if I remember, I previously used it for some of the backup vocals, but not for lead). Vocal tone is part of the cringiness for me, for sure, but like you and FolkCafe said, a lot of people feel that way about their own voice and thats more so just me needing to get over it. Performance wise, cleaning up the pitchiness is my main goal, along with having a more controlled vibrato.

That would have been a super fun project, and I would have enjoyed hearing that so much after all those years. I don't think my old high school bandmates and I ever recording anything, otherwise I'd be tempted to try something similar, haha.

I appreciate you listening to a few tracks and your kind words! :)
 
Folkcafe said:
What version of Cubase 7 do you have? About a week left of the Cubase sale and upgrade pricing is discounted as well. I'd opt for running on the Macbook.

I took a brief listen and agree with TalismanRich that your voice is fine. It is very common to not like the sound of your own voice. Figure out how to let that go and you'll find yourself more at ease to focus on vocal performance.

I changed from an old Protools rig to Cubas and had to rebuild my plugin library. Besides the stock, I put together a basic list and watched the sales. Plugins have evolved to a crazy extent. I picked up everything I need really cheap or free.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice and taking a listen. I'll have to look into the sale. I really like Cubase, as it's what I grew up with since high school, but Garageband seems quite good too and can't complain with free. As far as the cheap/free plug-ins, if you have 1 or 2 you'd highly recommend to check out, I'm all ears. :)
 
Bobby Layne said:
Thank you for the advice and taking a listen. I'll have to look into the sale. I really like Cubase, as it's what I grew up with since high school, but Garageband seems quite good too and can't complain with free. As far as the cheap/free plug-ins, if you have 1 or 2 you'd highly recommend to check out, I'm all ears. :)
Click to expand...
I started out with a list of fundamentals. I watched a lot of reviews and read a lot of posts on production groups on Reddit and Facebook. The thing about getting good plugins cheap or free is time and patience, along with paying attention. There are Reddit and Facebook groups.

Free recently was UAD Verve Analog Machines, which is a lite version of the saturation suite. Don't know if they are still giving it away.

Compression, everyone seems to have their favorite but an LA-2A and 76 are staples. My list for the 2A included Waves CLA-2A, IK Multimedia White 2A or UAD LA-2A. These 3 gets pretty good reviews.

In order to get the most for the money, the choice seemed to become one of ecosystems. I had long picked up IK's AmpliTube Max for guitar and it came with a lite version of T-Racks. I wanted these two compressors along with a few other plugins like IK's Tape Delay. Individually, even on sale, it would have been pricey. I ended up upgrading to T-Racks Max for $50 by watching the sales plus using some points I had from buying AmpliTube. Right now MixBox is $39 and comes with 70 different modules. For free, some like the BPB Dirty LA. You might find a cheap deal on one of the suite of plugins will get you a long way. I just kind of sucks you into the ecosystem as I ended up with SampleTank Max for $49. See what I mean?

Izotope, I picked up bits on sale including RX Elements for Voice Denoise & BreathControl. Some of my plugins are creative such as Izotope Stutter Edit 2 and Vocal Synth. Not essential but I had a project where I needed the Stutter effect and Vocal Synth was impulse.

I'm still sorting out Reverb. I had the Slate subscription that included Valhalla but have been hoping for a sale since I ditched the sub. Recently picked up UAD Hitsville Reverb Chamber. Otherwise, getting by with stock and what I got in T-Racks.
 
Folkcafe said:
I'm still sorting out Reverb. I had the Slate subscription that included Valhalla but have been hoping for a sale since I ditched the sub. Recently picked up UAD Hitsville Reverb Chamber. Otherwise, getting by with stock and what I got in T-Racks.
Click to expand...
OldSkoolVerb by Voxengo is actually one of the best verb plugs plus its free. I have to say its like a classic lexicon but a little cleaner like an eventide.
 
Since I mentioned it, I took a look and UAD Verve Analog Machines tape emulation is still free. Plugin Boutique has it for zero dollars as does Uaudio.com till April 30th.
 
@Bobby Layne -- Analog Obsession plugins are all free, and are my go-to for almost anything. Particularly the SSQ (eq), KONSOL (preamp/saturation), and LALA (LA-2A emulation). Highly recommend.

If you can spare a bit of cash, do get a Cubase upgrade. That's one thing that I'm gonna go at some point, unless I permanently change to Reaper.
 
I second that. I'm at the point where almost all my plug-ins are Analog Obsession.

Great EQ's, compressors, etc...Over sampling available on pretty much all of them. They're not just good because they're free, they're just good.
 
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