How to get "up close" sound recording vocal?

[mjbphotos]

, many's the time news voice overs are recorded in hotel rooms with the reporter wearing a duvet off the bed over his head and mic. Sometimes you have to improvise.

I recorded my first album that way. Unfortunately. It may work great for voice-overs, but it sucks all the 'air' out of the sound resulting in a very dead vocal that needs tons of EQ and high reverb to make the sound less dead.
Like I said before, blankets can take some flutter echo out, but it really does depend on the room set up - I did recordings with and without the blanket behind me in my large livng room and could not tell any appreciable difference.

 

[Bobbsy]

I'd absolutely like to record in a room that sounds "nice" because of acoustic treatment--though that nice varies from recording to recording which is why many of the big studios have lots of funny angles and corners so they can tailor the location in the room to the desired sound.

However, barring a nice room I'd rather have it dead and add EQ/reverb later than have the typically ugly, boxy, boomy, hollow sound that most domestic rooms suffer from. I guess my taste in this comes from having spent too many decades working in TV studios which are almost always acoustically dead--I'm used to the sound.

But clearly it's "horses for courses" and everyone has different needs and tastes. However, I'd rather have "dead" than "airy but ugly".

 

[Greg_L]

I'd absolutely like to record in a room that sounds "nice" because of acoustic treatment--though that nice varies from recording to recording which is why many of the big studios have lots of funny angles and corners so they can tailor the location in the room to the desired sound.

However, barring a nice room I'd rather have it dead and add EQ/reverb later than have the typically ugly, boxy, boomy, hollow sound that most domestic rooms suffer from. I guess my taste in this comes from having spent too many decades working in TV studios which are almost always acoustically dead--I'm used to the sound.

But clearly it's "horses for courses" and everyone has different needs and tastes. However, I'd rather have "dead" than "airy but ugly".

I think you're right on the money. If you don't have a truly spectacular room to record in, and most people do not, then a totally dead room is the next best thing. It's easier/better to liven up a dead room in a mix than it is to fix a shitty room in the mix.

 

[Steenamaroo]

This is my approach. My room sounds bad so I use large rock wool panels to deaden the sound.
From experience I have much better success livening that up than trying to deal with a bad sounding natural ambience.

 

[Greg_L]

This is my approach. My room sounds bad so I use large rock wool panels to deaden the sound.
From experience I have much better success livening that up than trying to deal with a bad sounding natural ambience.

This is where "real studio" practices don't translate into the home rec world. People go on and on about how magical natural room sound is, sure, but the problem is very few home studios have a room worth hearing. Most real studios have a live room that has an ambiance worth capturing. Most home studios do not. Hell, most houses do not. Most home studios are one room where tacking and mixing is done all in the same space. You can't usually have that room be great for both. You gotta give up one or the other. My suggestion has always been to make that room good for mixing. There are enough reverb plugs and hardware out there that can add a better room sound than you'd capture naturally in your spare bedroom/studio.

 

[Steenamaroo]

This is where "real studio" practices don't translate into the home rec world. People go on and on about how magical natural room sound is, sure, but the problem is very few home studios have a room worth hearing. Most real studios have a live room that has an ambiance worth capturing. Most home studios do not. Hell, most houses do not. Most home studios are one room where tacking and mixing is done all in the same space. You can't usually have that room be great for both. You gotta give up one or the other. My suggestion has always been to make that room good for mixing. There are enough reverb plugs and hardware out there that can add a better room sound than you'd capture naturally in your spare bedroom/studio.

Absolutely. I know my room isn't even good for mixing let alone tracking.
For that reason my monitors are probably closer than most and I keep the volumes low.

The same principle as singing closer to the mic with lower gain. I don't feel it's really hindered me that much.
I'd love to be working in a nice, well treated, environment but we work with what we have.

I've been known to set up 4 4'x2' panels around me when I'm doing a final mix on something important.