I have been on amI right for a little over 4 years and want to start recording my parodies for the amIright radio station on Sound Click.

My problem is how to do this. There are software programs that will attempt to strip out the vocals of the original song (such as Mixcraft) but the quality is not the best. Also once the vocals are stripped, how do I then record and add my voice to the sound track?

Any help would great.

As probably the most frequent recording parodist on AmIRight, I think I have some answers for you. . .the most important part of recording isn't so much the backing track or software, but making the most of what you have.

I personally found karaoke-version.com/en/ and purchased inexpensive non-vocal tracks to accompany me. . .Just contact them and say you'd like permission to record yourself singing and that it's non-commercial, they are very reasonable people, step one is always the tracks. . .I'll post more later, but this thread will probably be moved to "song parodies" by Chucky eventually just so you know

Since we haven't met, I am Below Average Dave. . .hope you enjoy recording, it's the most rewarding part of writing a parody--hearing the performed version.

Alright now the important stuff

After you have secured a backing track and learned the original well enough to perform it. . .there are many different things you'll need to take into consideration. . .

1: Software
Virtually all computers come with Sound Recorder, Creative Wave Studio or some other lightweight recording program.  The problem is none of these will get the quality you want because they are both very limited on the editing end.  I have one of two different suggestions depending on your situation:  1 is if you have no money or limited funds, get Audacity.  You can download it free, and it gives you the basic options such as noise removal and amplifier along with about 20 other limited options, and without costing you a dime.  It's a good starter program, but when/if you have the money, go for actual paid software, I personally use Magix Music Maker which has everything that Audacity has and then some, it's not horribly expensive, but you can add realistic reverb, have more control over balance between layers and more control over pitch, tone, and bpm.

2: Hardware
Your microphone can be anything from a  basic Playstation mic to a 3,000 dollar studio Rhode Mic. . .I myself prefer the Shure SM58, it's what Green Day uses for their live performances and Billie Joe uses it in virtually every video.  It's a trusty little Mic.  Regardless of what you choose, you can get affordable set ups including Mic, Stand, Chords and Amplifiers from Musician's Friend (that's musiciansfriend.com) and they are very reliable. . .it's where my current set up came from

3: Host
I personally recommend hosting at Soundclick because of unlimited songs unless you have your own site.  The only problem at Soundclick is that without paid membership you are limited to 128kps quality, which isn't necessarily a bad thing starting out, but eventually you'll want higher quality at which point you'll need to pay ten dollars a month OR build your own site.  Even after that I recommend that you still post at soundclick.com, amiright.com, badave.com, jibjab.com and if possible garageband.com, mp3.com, youtube.com and thefump.com, those are the biggest sites I know in comedy--you may also consider talentmatch, soundrift, lastfm, isound and myspace, though I myself don't use any of those on a regular basis as they are extremely limited and those that have paid accounts aren't really worth their price.  Hosting is very important because some hosts frown upon parody music.  Soundclick actually has a sub-genre in comedy for it, as does JibJab so they are the most open.  AmIRight and Badave do NOT HOST parodies (at least not yet), BUT they are key for promotion. . .every day since Soundclick added parody as a genre, a song that is on both AmIRight and Badave has been number one in the category. . .promotion of your music is easy thanks to parody dedicated sites.  Also make sure you pick a variety of music, that tends to attract more attention to your recordings. . .not every recording has to be your best parodies, in fact it will benefit your better parodies to also record some of the lesser known and sub-par ones as fillers kinda like a CD

Hope that helps, if you need anything else feel free to PM me

Thanks for taking the time for the in-depth reply Dave. Are you aware of anyway to fully create a recording on a PC? Are there USB microphones that could be used with Audacity and a PC?
I don't expect to create a recording studio and get too involved- just enough to record on a small scale a couple of times a year.

Thanks again.
Joe

Thanks for taking the time for the in-depth reply Dave. Are you aware of anyway to fully create a recording on a PC? Are there USB microphones that could be used with Audacity and a PC?
I don't expect to create a recording studio and get too involved- just enough to record on a small scale a couple of times a year.

Thanks again.
Joe


Actually, in fact there is:)

You can buy a Karaoke Revolution Playstation 2 microphone. . it has a USB and is the microphone I started out with, and if your audio property allows you to record "What You Hear" which most sound cards do. . .then absolutely, it will work with Audacity and a PC

Thanks for the tips, Dave...maybe I can utilize this info someday.  8)    (someday...someday... ::))