Opinion and sugestion on vocal track

[Saloje]

Hello !

As you can hear in attachment file of my raw vocal recording that i did, i get a lot of harshness when recording strong vocal like this. In mixing stage that harshness gets amplified by plugins i add and it's killing my ear. I recorded that specific vocal on Rode Nt1 mic approximately 10-15 cm from mic position straight forward , maybe a little lower from mouth. As an example , when i record violin i get great results and i record it even closer than i recorded vocal. Is this harshness related to specific mic, distance from mic when recording or it's just something else or maybe i imaggine that it is there at all. If you could give me any tips how to record in future vocal, and what's going on i would be very gratefull.

Thx

 

[andrushkiwt]

I don't know, I've worked with harsher vocals than that. I'd EQ some boxiness out and throw a de-esser on there, HP in the 80-100 range, and EQ sweep the 200-500 area.

I'd ask you to also post your mixed down version, complete with compression, so we can hear how that sounds in comparison. It could be something you're doing in the mixing stage. But that vocal sounds usable to me.

 

[Saloje]

I don't know, I've worked with harsher vocals than that. I'd EQ some boxiness out and throw a de-esser on there, HP in the 80-100 range, and EQ sweep the 200-500 area.

I'd ask you to also post your mixed down version, complete with compression, so we can hear how that sounds in comparison. It could be something you're doing in the mixing stage. But that vocal sounds usable to me.

This is vocal in mix without verb or delay with compression and some eq.

 

[Mack Caster]

Hello !

As you can hear in attachment file of my raw vocal recording that i did, i get a lot of harshness when recording strong vocal like this. In mixing stage that harshness gets amplified by plugins i add and it's killing my ear. I recorded that specific vocal on Rode Nt1 mic approximately 10-15 cm from mic position straight forward , maybe a little lower from mouth. As an example , when i record violin i get great results and i record it even closer than i recorded vocal. Is this harshness related to specific mic, distance from mic when recording or it's just something else or maybe i imaggine that it is there at all. If you could give me any tips how to record in future vocal, and what's going on i would be very gratefull.

Thx

First of all I think your voice sounds great! I will also be responding to another thread you started concerning your input levels. You said it is coming into your DAW between a -12 and -20dbs if I remember correctly. I ran your raw audio through the Orban Meter and it shows it was either recorded at or rendered at a -27.4dbs. (See Pic Below). This is well outside the recommended range of staying as close to a -18dbs as you can get. The leave way is between a -12 and -18dbs. Check out this video on setting recording level inputs. The noise to signal ratio will effect your vocals.

I took your raw audio and rendered it to a -12.3dbs after applying a stock mud free EQ filter to it. Most singers will lip the mic as they are so close to it. See if you can get your input setting within the desired specs and do a test recording inside a closet full of cloths. You may see a tremendous difference. You should also know that I am out of town and all I have to listen to audio with is from my Laptop speakers. You can listen to your audio I played with here.

View attachment 100341

 

[Saloje]

First of all I think your voice sounds great! I will also be responding to another thread you started concerning your input levels. You said it is coming into your DAW between a -12 and -20dbs if I remember correctly. I ran your raw audio through the Orban Meter and it shows it was either recorded at or rendered at a -27.4dbs. (See Pic Below). This is well outside the recommended range of staying as close to a -18dbs as you can get. The leave way is between a -12 and -18dbs. Check out this video on setting recording level inputs. The noise to signal ratio will effect your vocals.

I took your raw audio and rendered it to a -12.3dbs after applying a stock mud free EQ filter to it. Most singers will lip the mic as they are so close to it. See if you can get your input setting within the desired specs and do a test recording inside a closet full of cloths. You may see a tremendous difference. You should also know that I am out of town and all I have to listen to audio with is from my Laptop speakers. You can listen to your audio I played with here.

View attachment 100341

Thx allot for your trouble regarding this topic. Thx for your compliment regarding voice. I wish that was me, but unfortunately or fortunately, that's my nephew's voice
Regarding this lvl's i'm now aware that i made some mistakes . I'm not sure exactly is this voice track that i uploaded untouched . I might slightly pulled lvl's up or down wanting to get that vu meter -18db signal flow for entering analog vst plugins. I will make some new recording and will try closet thing and everything you mentioned above. The video link you sent was really helpful and now i know i need to get more attention to it when i'm recording. Your work on the vocal was so different than my and made it sound so clear and upfront. Hope i get that skill soon
I'm currently struggling with LUFS, dBFS, RMS and all that other stuff that u used to analyze vocal track. I have iZotope Insight that is, as i can see right tool for those thing but i'm still learning to use it. So far i only get to that Vu meter thing that i picked up from video clips when it's come to optimising track's after you record it, and as it seems it's not the best way to do it.

Thank you for all your help and time

 

[Mack Caster]

You are very welcome. I just got back to the office late last night. I will try and do a video for you concerning the input levels as well as a simple explanation concerning LUFS, LUs and RMS as I understand them and what I did to your audio file. I do work with both measuring systems. Podcasters use LUFS and the ACX (audio books) uses RMS.

LUs and dbs are the same thing. LU = Loudness Units. 10 LU = 10dbs. LUFS = Loudness Units Full Scale. Everything I learned about these meausuring systems, I learned from Ian Shephard. He is in the UK and I have read just about everything he has ever written. You can learn all about this here. Give me 3 or 4 hrs and I will post a link to the video in this post.

 

[Saloje]

You are too kind. This is just what I need. I was hoping to get that process on vocal track a little more explained but here you are ?, just great. Thx for your link. I'm on it !

 

[Mack Caster]

You are too kind. This is just what I need. I was hoping to get that process on vocal track a little more explained but here you are , just great. Thx for your link. I'm on it !

OK, here goes nothing. I am not a screen caster but this is what I put together. I hope it will explain some of the things I did to your audio. If you have any questions, just let me know via this thread. I also do live consultation free of charge, face to face over the www.

 

[Saloje]

OK, here goes nothing. I am not a screen caster but this is what I put together. I hope it will explain some of the things I did to your audio. If you have any questions, just let me know via this thread. I also do live consultation free of charge, face to face over the www.

Sry for not replying sooner but i had so much work to do. Regarding your video - wow - it's realy professional and detailed explanation, and i thank you for your time man. Ofc i will need to see it few more times to absorb all the facts and tricks you showed me but i certanly get it more now than before. As i recal you mannaged to get that track almost to -2 db peak lvl. If i mix this vocal with other istruments what would be the desired numbers, regarding peak , rms for finnished mix ? Somehow i pick up from lessons on web -6 db to be the right spot to finish the mix. Now you did get your track to -2 i think. Is that ok headroom for mastering proces ?

Thx

 

[Mack Caster]

Sry for not replying sooner but i had so much work to do. Regarding your video - wow - it's realy professional and detailed explanation, and i thank you for your time man.

You are very welcome.

As i recal you mannaged to get that track almost to -2 db peak lvl. If i mix this vocal with other istruments what would be the desired numbers, regarding peak , rms for finnished mix ?

There is no set number. It all depends how you want the vocals to ride in the mix. waves makes a plugin called "Vocal Rider". You will have to play with different levels to see what sounds best.

Somehow i pick up from lessons on web -6 db to be the right spot to finish the mix. Now you did get your track to -2 i think. Is that ok headroom for mastering proces ? Thx

The best thing to do is to contact the mastering engineer and ask them what they want. They will be able to tell you if they want 2,4 or 6dbs of headroom to play with. They may also ask you for other items as well, such as the stems, raw files in a wav format etc.