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Use of Music and Headphones

S

seanmoore

When working with a music bed do you record real-time with the bed playing in your headphones, or do you dry-voice and add music later? How does either approach help or hurt the performance? Do you pick the bed you want before or after recording the vocal? What are some good headphones?

Lately, I've been doing my weekly crap-load of work as official station "Spec-Boy" by recording with the music playing in the headphones while voicing. When I do the dry-voice/music-later thing, I think I sound more real...but then the vocal doesn't always fly with the bed I had in mind. And sometimes, the music playing in the headphones while voicing is kind of distracting to me. Other times, it helps me get the feel of the spot right. So what do you think?

Does a good pair of quality headphones make a difference? How do you like the Sony MDR 7506's? I'm sure there are many seasoned pros here with expertise in this area.

Thanks!
 
When I'm doing my own work, I usually voice dry and find a music bed to match. When I'm tagging a national spot or something, I will listen to try to match their style. I always use headphones, though. Even when I voice dry. It's always good to hear yourself.

I think it's always important to have a good set around.

The Sony 7506 are probably the most popular cans in this industry. I don't really care for them. I think they're too bright and they're impossible to repair or replace parts. In that price range, I like the Sennheiser HD-280's. They're not as attractive as the Sonys, but they're sealed much better and (I think) they sound better.

I have a special place in my heart for the old AKG K240M cans...The discontinued 600 ohm version. They've gotten hard to find, but there are still a few retailers with stock. They may not be a good choice if you use heavy compression because they have a semi-open back, so it isn't hard to get feedback. But if you're one of those people that likes to kick off one side so you can hear yourself in the room, they're great! They also make outstanding production cans when you need them. But they require a HELL of a headphone amp to drive them well. The replacement K240S doesn't require nearly as much power...But they don't sound nearly as open, either.

These days, I use Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro/80's. They're closed-back and sealed well, but they're INCREDIBLY comfortable. They have nice velour pads and they're easy to repair, should they need it. Beyer used all the right materials in the right places, so they're rugged as hell. And, of course, they sound outstanding.

My next set will probably be Beyerdynamic DT250 Pro/80's. I like Beyer a lot, and these lokk nicer (more like the Sony MDR-7506), but with the nice pads and the Beyer drivers, which have a flatter response. Or I may move into something from the Ultrasone line, which are designed similar to the Beyers, but better. But Ultrasone is really expensive.

A nice alternative to the Sony 7506, is Audio-Technica ATH-M30. They look similar, feel similar and sound similar...But they're about $30 cheaper. My wife has a set and really likes them.

Emmett
 
I can't really give you advice on headphones specifically. What I do in that regard is find a pair I like and get accustomed to the sound of them by listening to all sorts of material through them. That way I have an idea of how to produce for all speakers and headphones and not just the pair sitting on my ears. It's a method that hasn't failed me yet... I being my own headphones into any studio I'm using, so I know exactly how something is going to sound no matter what other equipment I'm using to produce it.

As for voicing things wet or dry, I take the dry route. But the way I do it makes it sound like I did it wet. I pick out a bed and, without recording, practice my timing with it, getting the idea of where my intonation will go and how it will fit in with the bed. If the bed I intended to use doesn't fit the way I expected it to, I'll go through several more in the practice run and find one that does. Then I'll record my lines, having memorized where and how my voice should fit in with the bed. Then I'll fit the voice with the bed and mix it down. It sometimes takes two or three times to get the timing right, and every once in a while I'll have to slightly adjust the timing of the v/o, but in my experience it always results in work that fits together.
 
Chalk me up as a Sony V6 user, have been for years. For under a hundred bucks, pretty hard to beat.

In the old tape days I would often record with the music bed, for tempo and feel and, because all we had were 2 old Ampex 2-tracks (save a generation on the voice that way).

Since the advent of the DAW however it's almost always dry voice first. At the station I'll lay down the voice track and then search for appropriate music. For freelance however I use Acid which allows me to pretty musch "score" my spots and place musical emphasis where I need it. It aslo saves me from having to pay the extra expense for production libraries.
 
For me producing radio is a lot like fishing for bass. From spot to spot things change. Don't go looking for a cureall, you'll just make yourself nutz. One lure won't catch all the fish. Every Script has its own demands so maybe you need to "puke" it up a little bit one time and so you choose to read while monitoring your music. But maybe the next time you need something more natural and the music is throwing you off. Put on some heavier line in the deeps maybe a bobber in the shallows. Either way you're going to need to have some serious patience but I think you get the point on that one.

As far as the headphones,

I'm With emmett on this one. The Sony's are decent but a little on the brightside and heavily cliche. Those Sennheisers are sweeties.

Good luck spec boy.
 
After seeing the Seinfeld eppisode where Elaine needs to buy cases of those "Today Sponges" I bought two cases of Sennheiser HD25SP's

They are reliable, but I only use one side to make sure mic doesn't pop, or any other noises are apparent.
 
Great comments from everyone and excellent advice as usual. A friend let me use his Sony's once and I liked them, but I haven't tried many of the others. The Sony's blew away my Wal-Mart Special Koss as you can imagine. Another feature that is nice for headphones is the coiled cord design, so you're not constantly running it over with your chair.

Thanks again!
 
I never use headphones unless I am live. Just me being TOO picky in the production room..
 
seanmoore said:
The Sony's blew away my Wal-Mart Special Koss as you can imagine.
Click to expand...
Koss used to have an excellent product, then they stopped making professional gear and concentrated on the boom-box earphone market. And the free exchange program s^^^ed. They wanted to take my Pro 4's and give me some $50 piece of crap in a plactic bubble case. Now, I use Beyer. You get what you pay for.
 
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