Just spent the evening tracking the main vocal for a new song of ours. One of the lines starts off 'take me' and I spotted some weird click sound so stopped the take, listened back, we both agreed it was there. Checked the basic stuff, nothing was set wrong on the computer/interface, wiggled cables, couldn't recreate it. Go again. Still there, same place. Hmm.
So I got him to sing the line a few times and it happened almost every time on 'take me'. I figured it had to be something he's doing, so I took off my headphones... Yep. His teeth - he's singing the line fairly quiet to start off with with his mouth fairly closed for the tonality, and his teeth are knocking in the same spot every time. When he became aware of it he was able to correct it and we got on with the job.
At least this fix didn't cost any money. When we recorded our first single I discovered my second pair of headphones, the ones I gave for him to monitor on, creaked. So every time he went for a loud note and opened up it was creating a click that came through the mic, and it was an issue as it happened mid note. I ended up swapping over, and afterwards bought a second pair of decent non clicky headphones so I could continue to monitor on the ones I liked.
So what other weird little noises that you weren't expecting have you guys come across when recording? Does anyone else get driven nuts by these little weird sounds? Things that rattle and click drive me crazy.
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I mostly record my own singer, who is the loudest cunt the world has ever known. No mortal sound could be heard over his voice. So there's usually no problems there, except that recently we hired a Coles 4038 for him to sing through and he was singing so loudly the ribbon was distorting - VERY quickly backed him off that one! :-O
Honestly, little extraneous noises rarely bother me. I think they tend to add an element of humanity and life to the music as long as they're not out and out distracting - which they very rarely are when tucked away in a full mix; who listens to the tracks in solo after it's mastered?
Actually, here's an example of three extraneous noises that totally worked for the benefit of the track that have happened over the course of the album project I'm in the middle of;
1; While doing preproduction guide acoustic tracks at home for a song that starts quiet and ends with this huge wall of fuzz, a car alarm a few doors down was going off. I had a lot to get through so I couldn't wait for it to stop. It wasn't loud enough to be heard really while I was playing but a the end of the song you can clearly hear it. I recorded two acoustic tracks, panned hard L and R, and as the final chord fades out the alarm is almost in perfect synch between the two tracks - it's just out of phase enough that it sounds like it's coming from outside the sound-stage and it suits the end of the track so well, it's in key and everthing!
2; The next day I was doing the same for a song I wrote the day my first cat was killed by a car. It's a pretty emotional song for me. Well, at the end of the take one of my cats pushed the door open, waltzed in with a big meow greeting and stepped right onto my lap, purring into the microphone. In the actual production the purring is perfect as the final guitar note washes into line 6 particle reverb, it just couldn't be better.
3; While recording drums for a song with a very sinister and sparse first verse, something was resonating on the drum kit - maybe a cymbal stand. There's one bit where it sounds like a rusty gate screaming in the distance, almost inaudible except for some reason it comes through clear as day on an SM58 I'd set up as a room corner mic - actually a failed experiment but I forgot to disarm the track before rolling for the take. So I just roll that track up for one second in the first verse with some delay on it and it's so atmospheric and mood setting. It's even in a gap between two vocal lines, so it fits in the arrangement.
So yeah, I tend to enjoy the little problems!
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In addition to what Cirrus does:
I don't use the inbuilt click on a DAW, I make a midi instrument (klopfgeist in Logic) track and create the click I want, usually including subdivisions. Also I pay attention to this when tracking quieter sections, and sometimes drop the volume fader for it if necessary. For louder sections it usually isn't an issue.
my general rule of thumb for vocals is to make a fist and stick my thumb out [like a "thumb's up" sign].. place my thumb on my chin and the opposite side of my fist on the mic.. then place the pop screen between me and the mic..
then.. face like you're going to sing right into the mic and then turn just a few degrees so rather than singing directly into the mic, you sing past it to one side..
the distance between you and the mic helps to level the performance and lose the strength of some of the clicks and pops..
singing a little off to one side helps to take the strength out of the plosives..