Headphones / vocal recording Qs

[Sk8boi]

Hey -

I just got done recording my first song, strictly for the experience, and was having some difficulty with the vocals (okay, not the only problem, granted, but one which I would like to address here). The problem is basically that if I wear headphones and listen to the music, then I can't hear my pitch (at all), and the performance suffers. If I record without the music, then the pitch is fine, but the rhythm suffers. Is this just an experience thing? Suggestions? What do other people do?


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/arlzdemonmusic.htm (in case you care)


Thanks,

Sk8

[Gidge]

try the headphone to one ear only.....

[TexRoadkill]

Aren't you hearing your vocals in the headphones?

[Sk8boi]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. No. Maybe I need to change my setup....

What I am currently doing is using a demo version of ACID to make a backing track to listen to while I record guitar parts and vocals through a sm57/mbox into protools - later exporting them to and mixing everything in ACID.

Maybe If I just exported the ACID stuff into a .wav file and loaded it into protools I would have better luck being able to hear them both?

That's a thought....? yay/nay?

[Sk8boi]

Originally posted by Gidge
try the headphone to one ear only.....

Ahhhh... hmm... yes. Pardon me while I wipe the drool off the side of my face - I obviously need to think and then post. . .

THANKS for the lightbulb.

Sk8

[Han]

Some vocalists have difficulties to sing with headphones.
I found out that some sing better when I flip the phase of the vocal mic.

And sometimes I put the music on speakers which can be a major improvement.

[Cyrokk]

By using only one headphone, you will be avoiding a problem many people have with singing slightly underpitch due to the limitations of hearing their own voice.

Just make sure you pan all of the music to one side to avoid bleed into your microphone.

Cy

[TexRoadkill]

Originally posted by Sk8boi
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. No. Maybe I need to change my setup....

What I am currently doing is using a demo version of ACID to make a backing track to listen to while I record guitar parts and vocals through a sm57/mbox into protools - later exporting them to and mixing everything in ACID.

Maybe If I just exported the ACID stuff into a .wav file and loaded it into protools I would have better luck being able to hear them both?

That's a thought....? yay/nay?

Yeah. That's the problem. Nobody tries to sing with headphones without hearing themselves in them. You need to use a multitrack program like ProTools in order to do that.

[Rational Punk]

I quit using headphones to track my vocals a long time ago - I just never did take to tracking them that way. I just put the mix up on the monitors at a very moderate volume, set up the mic off axis to the speakers, and let 'er rip. Obviously I have some bleed into the vocal tracks, but it's never been enough to cause any real problems in my experience. To me, it's more important to get yourself into a comfortable space where you can deliver a good performance than to be compulsive about maintaining absolute, utterly surgical isolation between tracks.

For what it's worth, I use both Acid and Pro Tools (the latter on Macintosh) as well, and to me, Pro Tools' mix bus seems to have a more pleasing sound (others may disagree - I know some of this can be subjective).

http://www.rationalpunk.com

[griffon65]

I had the same problem when I started recording. I just turned the headphones down and it helped me a lot. Just try anything that you think will help you everyone was different preferances. I just realaized the other day that when I double my voice its easier for me to do it right if I actually mute out my original voice in the record process and sing without hearing how I sung the first time.