Where To Find Music Producers/audio Engineers To Collaborate With In Japan

Why do bands/artists usually sound worse live than in the studio?

This is a Shure SM58 microphone:It’s the standard vocal mic for live performance, for several reasons:It’s cheap, about a hundred dollars.It’s rugged, verging on indestructible.It has a good polar pattern for stage work, with sensitivity falling off dramatically with distance, thus minimizing the amount of bleed you get from onstage sources like monitors and amps.The SM58 captures sound pretty well. However, it does not sound amazing.This a Neumann U47 microphone:It’s one of the most widely used vocal mics in recording studios because it has sensational accuracy, presence and clarity. However, it’s usually not a mic you want to bring with you to a club or on tour, because it’s very delicate, and quite expensive, in the neighborhood of five thousand dollars. Even if it were as cheap and rugged as an SM58, though, this would still not really be the right mic for a gig. It would pick up every bit of ambient noise in the room, including the amps and monitors, people talking, the cash register at the bar, the air conditioning, and so on. It only makes sense to use a mic like this in a pristine sonic environment like a professional recording studio.Sure, the recording studio is more forgiving than the stage in some ways - you can do many takes, you can rest between each one, and you have access to all the corrective technologies like EQ and compression and Auto-Tune. (Though you have EQ and compression and Auto-Tune onstage too!) In some ways, studio work is harder. We listen to recordings a lot more closely than live performances, and we listen to them over and over and over. A subtle imperfection that you’d never notice at a show will quickly start getting on your nerves on a recording. Anyway, the main reason that recordings sound better than live shows is the environment and the gear. No matter how good the performance venue’s acoustics and amplification are, you can always get better sound in the controlled and clinical environment of the studio.

How do you promote both yourself and your music as a composer?

Go to concerts. Meet people. Shake hands. Put your music somewhere people can easily access (SoundCloud is popular). When people are interested, direct them there.Go to more concerts. Give only compliments that you truly believe. Be genuine and friendly. Don't press too much, but make it known when you'd like for someone to play one of your pieces.Sign up for ASCAP and American Composers Forum. Submit your pieces to the numerous opportunities found on the latter.Follow musicians in social media and real life. Make it known that you care about their music and want to work with them.Go to more concerts. Shake more hands. Have drinks with some performers, promoters, venue employees, etc.Go to more concerts. Shake more hands. Smile.That is, of course, as long as you believe in yourself and your music.Happy networking!

Do rap performers keep vocals in the background when performing?

Sometimes rappers—if they don’t use a band—have backing tracks to serve as the soundtrack for for their live performances. It normally consists of the artist’s ad-libs, maybe backing vocals if they stacked their verses in places, and the hook, or chorus of the song. The areas where the artist rhymes the main verses are left mostly empty.It is usually frowned upon for an artist to rhyme against their own lead vocals. In some cases it cannot be avoided, and some artists prefer to do it in spite of the fact that they might come off as unprofessional and amateurish.Personally, I use the former. There is one case where I was forced to use the latter, due to the fact that my producer didn’t back up his files before I received all but two of my instrumentals for my first album. His computer was stolen with all the stems for my album, and as a result, he couldn’t create the instrumentals. (Perhaps I can convince him to recreate them for me, but I doubt it).I normally avoid doing those two songs to keep with the “I’m a professional, dammit” stance (LOL) but recently, I performed at a Japanese-centric show and decided to do a heavily-edited version of one of those two songs with the vocals intact because, Japanese (and it went over well anyway). So, there are sometimes exceptions to the general rule.I do have to agree with one of the other posters who said sometimes rappers are afraid of how they will sound. I have personally met artists who have done this. I think it’s crucial to go about building the confidence, and go out there and do the lead verses on your own every. Single. Time if you can help it.True story—my producer once forced me to rhyme over my own vocals at the NYC Marathon by painting me into a corner: at the last minute he told me that he lost the entire instrumental CD and all he had was the album. I hated it. He encouraged me to do this for another show and I refused.

I have a low budget and I want high-quality studio monitors (speakers). Which would you recommend?

Low Budget and High Qualty Studio Monitors are at opposite ends of the spectrum! Either you pay for the quality or you get poor quality. Don't be fooled by many calling themselves 'Monitor' speakers and are just garbage!The only way to increase quality with lower cost is to go used. There are three types of studio monitors (used and new). One is the Japanese version, where the Yamaha NS1000M (NOT THE NS10 garbage) set the standard back in the 1970s for extremely accurate reproduction and is still THE standard, but only found used anywhere from $200 to $1200 based on condition - good luck! Not many reach that standard these days although there are some good attempts but very expensive.Another is the BBC LS3/5a variants you can find today. These are accurate and very musical speakers, good for a variatey of uses, even audiophile. The oustanding one today is KEF's LS50 for around $1500, and well worth it.Yet another is the american JBL, Altec Lansing, Cerwin Vega, etc. type of monitors, of which JBL and Altec Lansing made the best. These are mostly mimicked by the majority of current 'monitor' speakers. Most are garbage, but I have seen and heard a few that are acceptable. Best price to performance seems to be with Behringer and even some current JBL models.Again, cost and quality are at the opposite ends of the spectrum so you get what you pay for if you buy smart! Always check the sound in similar environments that you will be using them in, and with music or sounds you will be using them for.