Difficult Vocal Help

dsealer

New member
I'm having difficulty recording a vocal and could use some advice and or suggestions. At the end of many of the lines in the song the volume gets loud. That's just the way it is sung. This causes some distortion. I've pulled the input back to -22 db's with spiking about 17/18. However I still get the distortion on those words. I've tried different mics (tlm103, at3525, senheisser 421, sm 57 & 58) as well as a couple of other cheaper dynamic mics. I've tried different distances from the mic, turning away on the loud parts but still get the distortion.
Has anyone experienced this situation? Looking for some help.

Thanks
Don.....
 
I'm having difficulty recording a vocal and could use some advice and or suggestions. At the end of many of the lines in the song the volume gets loud. That's just the way it is sung. This causes some distortion. I've pulled the input back to -22 db's with spiking about 17/18. However I still get the distortion on those words. I've tried different mics (tlm103, at3525, senheisser 421, sm 57 & 58) as well as a couple of other cheaper dynamic mics. I've tried different distances from the mic, turning away on the loud parts but still get the distortion.
Has anyone experienced this situation? Looking for some help.

Thanks
Don.....
I'm sorry, more info is needed. '-22dB where? What does spiking 17/18 mean? Is this -17dBFS peak on the recorded file?

edit-
You know, given 'tried dynamic mics, and distance', 'turning away -all of which which suggests not lots of voltage coming out of a mic.. Can't help but wonder- Could this be 'the raspy stuff some voices get when they really pile it on' full force singing?
;)
 
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everything i've learned about vocal tracking is the beaten path.
mic>preamp> comp (1176 or LA2A type)...slammed (all in) or not slammed (3:1)... it just seems to work.

yeah working the mic...i was reading Sinatra really knew how to work a mic, clarity in words and all that, turning away and controlling the soft and loud parts.
 
I'm having difficulty recording a vocal and could use some advice and or suggestions. At the end of many of the lines in the song the volume gets loud. That's just the way it is sung. This causes some distortion. I've pulled the input back to -22 db's with spiking about 17/18. However I still get the distortion on those words. I've tried different mics (tlm103, at3525, senheisser 421, sm 57 & 58) as well as a couple of other cheaper dynamic mics. I've tried different distances from the mic, turning away on the loud parts but still get the distortion.
Has anyone experienced this situation? Looking for some help.

Thanks
Don.....

Hey Dan, this is what I suggest. Set your input levels between a -12 and -18dbs. This is just the starting point to get the best noise to signal ratio. Everything else is going to boil down to proper mic technique. You can view Taylor Swifts video "Shake it off" and mid way you will see her move the mic around 18 inches away from her mouth due to her increase of voice volume for that particular part of the song.

If you google "proper mic technique for vocals" you will get a slew of great articles concerning your issue. If you are lipping the mic while screaming into it, there is very little you can do. Articulation will play a big part when the audio is cranked up. Here is an article that may help.
 
Thanks for the article Mack. I guess I've got to work on my technique some more. I've recorded lots of songs but this one with the increases in volume at the end of the verses has been difficult. I usually do set my inputs to range from -18db to-12db ut i tried even lower for this song.
Mixsit, input levels is what is meant. Spiking = peak.

Thanks everyone for your help,
Don.....
 
I'm sorry, more info is needed. '-22dB where? What does spiking 17/18 mean? Is this -17dBFS peak on the recorded file?

edit-
You know, given 'tried dynamic mics, and distance', 'turning away -all of which which suggests not lots of voltage coming out of a mic.. Can't help but wonder- Could this be 'the raspy stuff some voices get when they really pile it on' full force singing?
;)

This . On more than one occasion I've run into this. It certainly wasn't the chain in my case or the settings.....I recorded one guys voice that actually sounded like it was feeding back like an amp when he really pressed hard on it. At moderate or low levels it was a nice sound and clear.
 
Thanks for the article Mack. I guess I've got to work on my technique some more. Thanks everyone for your help, Don.....

Mic technique is very easy to learn and best of all, it's free. No hardware required. It is also on of the MOST mis-understood practices in the recording chain. You can have the best studio in the world and it can not defend against poor mic technique. If you set your input so low that the loud parts will not clip, you will compromise the rest of the song. This is where mic technique will step in and help out. I would love to hear your project when you get it done. Have a great day!
 
Ok so I figured it out and though the answer to my problem is personally embarrassing I think I should post it for those who may have similar problems and for everyone who took the time to answer and offered help.
The distortion came because I had part of my chain full "on". Here's some detail
I run the Behringer Xr18 in conjunction with my tablet while recording with Reaper. I run a headphone amp for playback. I use the headphone out on the Behringer to send my signal to the headphone amp. Here's ewhere I messed up. I had the volume turned up to maximum volume on the Behringer headphone out. As soon as I turned this down the problem with distortion went away.
I have a couple of "good excuses" for why this happened and how i missed it but i won't burden you with them.
However I wanted to post this and remind you all to look at "everything" when trying to solve problems. I continually overlooked this aspect.
Thanks again to all who have replied and offered help.

Don.....
 
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