Hi John,

What would be of interest to folks here on YamahaSynth, is which Yamaha synthesizer you used in your production? What sounds you used and, in general, how you recorded and finished your Project.

Let us know.

Hi Phil – I’d be glad to go through an explanation...

Instruments/Equipment/Software:
1. Yamaha MOXF6
2. Native instruments (NI) Komplete - (Instruments/effects for this song: Session Strings Pro / Massive synth / Vari Compressor / RC-48 reverb
3. Cubase AI 7as DAW and Chorus effect for vocal..
4. SM 57 mic
5. Mackie Blackjack – mic preamp – audio interface
6. Melodyne Essentials - vocal tuner
7. Audio Technica M30X headphones
8. JBL Flip 2 Speaker
9. Auto Audio Mastering System (AAMS)

Voices from MOXF -
PR 1 -011 80s Layer for piano - panned -30
PD -050 Wacko Kit for drums - I did A LOT of tweaking - especially on delays –panned center – but individual instruments are panned all over the soundstage.
Bass - PR3 051 Brain Bass – panned center
GM - 062 - Brass Section - panned -45
PR4 -101 Lots of Brass - panned 45

Voice from Sessions strings Pro
"Sections 1 and 2 Ensemble Production" - panned center - but using stereo width turned all the way up and bow noise turned all the way up.

Voice from Massive
"Clean2Hiss" - very little tweaking panned L34

And that is all the instruments on this track...7 instrument tracks - and 1 vocal track.

For capturing my singing
Sure SM57 into Mackie Blackjack (as audio interface and mic preamp) - direct into the computer.
Doing this means I have to disconnect MOXF as audio interface - which creates some hassles - but is less noisy than going from Blackjack analog out to MOXF A/D in.

Effects -
Basically for MOXF I use all on board effects from MOXF...

Same for Session Strings Pro and Massive...

For my voice however - it is much more complicated...
I have lost my voice - I can still squeak out a line - but it is increasingly difficult.
Step 1 I usually do 4 to 6 takes - but I will do more for sections that I have real difficulty singing
Step 2 - I create a comp track - taking the best bits and creating one performance - but my voice is still out of tune in many places - sometimes painfully so.
Step3 - Run the vocal comp track through Melodyne Essentials...and try to get the best tuning that I can. I use the tuning algorithm - but I still have to go and manually change many notes - because of all sorts of problematic signing issues - ugh! It is pain getting old.
Step 4 Run the Melodyne effected track through NIs Vari Comp - to smooth out the dynamics. Cubase chorus and NIs RC-48 Reverb...

My room is my living room - carpet on the floor - hard ceilings and walls - there is a public playground - and kids are playing basketball all the time – all of that can be heard when I do my vocals. On top of that my wife will be baking - cooking and so there is dish clatter - etc. It all can be heard on the vocal track when it is soloed - but it's usually masked when all the instruments are going.

Tracking/Mixing - is done on a pair of Audio Technica M30X headphones. And then to torture myself I listen to that mix through a JBL Flip2 speaker. If by that time I still haven't fallen into utter despair - I will retweak the mix - until I can stand it.

I do very little EQing – usually on the vocals around 100HZ cut to -24 db. I try to find an area that does not affect the sound of the vocal too much.

do some automation – usually volumes – for solo instruments – balance issues – voice volume as the song builds..

When I feel that it is in some kind of shape...

I will mix down all the MOXF tracks into 1 stereo audio track.

I will mix - the MOXF mix / NI tracks / voice track - by doing Export Audio Mix down.

I will then take that mix and run it through: Auto Audio Mastering System (AAMS) - the full version... This will tweak the EQ and raise the perceived volume. It is not sufficient for mastering... but at least I don’t have to turn up my track to full volume.

OK – that’s enough for now...

Blessings!

johnb