Recording in non-acoustical treated space

songsj

Member
Some thoughts and things I have noticed while recording vocals in my non-acoustical treated space.
My room is finished livable space with rugs covering most of the floor, ceiling tile, drywall walls. I have found some interesting things mostly by accident, through headaches and problem solving.
I love my AKG K240M headphones through my headphone amp but I tend to like things kind of loud and they are semi-open and if I am not careful I can actually get some frequency feedback as well as leakage into the microphone. A little leakage is not a huge deal but the feedback thing can be a real problem if I am not careful. It does not squeal but the vocal tone is kind of "Honky".

I have also noticed I am better off keeping the mic level as low as I can and placing my pop filter only 2 or 3 inches from the mic and then singing as close to the pop filter as I can without popping the mic. By doing this I seem to be minimizing the effect the room acoustics have on the track and I tend to sing a bit softer and clearer with this set up. I also pick up less background noise etc. This won't work if your Robert Plant but a decent singer can get pretty good results doing this. I'm still working on fine tuning it all but for me the bottom line seems to be the lower you can set the mic levels and sing or play close to them the better. The space just seems to have a lesser effect.

For those who are wondering, treating the space is not a viable option for me so I have to deal with work arounds.
 
...I have also noticed I am better off keeping the mic level as low as I can and placing my pop filter only 2 or 3 inches from the mic and then singing as close to the pop filter as I can without popping the mic. By doing this I seem to be minimizing the effect the room acoustics have on the track and I tend to sing a bit softer and clearer with this set up. I also pick up less background noise etc. This won't work if your Robert Plant but a decent singer can get pretty good results doing this. I'm still working on fine tuning it all but for me the bottom line seems to be the lower you can set the mic levels and sing or play close to them the better. The space just seems to have a lesser effect. ...

Getting close to the mic definitely is a key factor in getting the source vs room/unwanted bleed ratio higher. -As long as that tone and capture image from that position works for the track, it's good.
Singing 'softer might be good for your tone (vocal quality) too. But the sig-to-room ratio (via working distance) to a large degree works 'quiet or louder. However, 'louder does excite the room's decay longer in between, so there is that too.

..Better clean this up here.
The 'loud source / soft source being independent here applies to source bleed bouncing back into the mic.
Obviously for a non-source room noise portion, then for any relatively close mic distance a louder source would help.
 
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Also experiment with your position in the room. I used my living room, setting up to face across the longest distance of the room, at a slight angle. Putting a moving blanket behind me to absorb those reflections helped (just a little).
Your singing technique can work, but for some singers, it can make it osund like they are holding back and not putting enough oomph into their singing.
 
Thinking about it I'm surprised someone hasn't developed a plugin that does the opposite of reverb and delay. One that deadens the reflections of the signal and offers you various acoustically treated room models to work with. Now if I could write that program I would probably make more money off of it than I ever will making music. Unless there is something like that out there. I would like to know if there is.
 
Thinking about it I'm surprised someone hasn't developed a plugin that does the opposite of reverb and delay. One that deadens the reflections of the signal and offers you various acoustically treated room models to work with. Now if I could write that program I would probably make more money off of it than I ever will making music. Unless there is something like that out there. I would like to know if there is.

As would something that as this the analogy has been said so many times- 'unbake a cake?
 
Well I think the technology is out there. I just purchased a guitar pickup made by LR Baggs called the Anthem. This is in part a mike that sits inside the guitar back by the bridge. I can only imagine the sound reflection bouncing around inside the body of an acoustic guitar. What makes their Anthem pickup so unique is its ability to filter or squash all of the reflections and only deliver a true acoustic guitar sound. This is an amazing guitar pickup...now to translate that technology into a vocal mike/preamp.
 
Thinking about it I'm surprised someone hasn't developed a plugin that does the opposite of reverb and delay. One that deadens the reflections of the signal and offers you various acoustically treated room models to work with. Now if I could write that program I would probably make more money off of it than I ever will making music. Unless there is something like that out there. I would like to know if there is.

I'm afraid they're out there already. Google 'reverb remover' or 'de-verber'.
I tried a demo of one once and it was really useful - Quite often I build songs around some awful home recorded iphone-in-a-bathroom demo.
The original reference track always goes in the bin once its purpose is served but a de-reverb plugin made a few of them a lot easier to listen to and a lot more believable as place-holder vocals.
 
I'm sure I've mentioned it here before, but I use the bedroom closet. Tuck the mic stand in among the clothes, and hang clothing on the inside of the open doors--sing into the closet. Works fine!
 
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