Recording Vocals on a workstation?

[Peter Ochello]

Hi Folks.....I'm new to this group and I would like to hear from some of you on the
subject of recording vocals to PC. Specifically, I would like to know what process
you use from start to finish. Using an external mixer, do you EQ a good bit on the
board before going to the sound card? Where do you roll of the bottom end and
at what rate? What type of compression do you use, hard or soft, light or heavy?
How about other effects, such as reverb/delay and exciters? The reason I ask is
this... I have some methods that have me close to where I want to be. However,
I'm not quite happy with the way my vocals stand out in the mix. If I drop the level
then I begin to lose the vocal. It's as if my vocal is too full and present. Always
open to suggestions..... thanks

[The Green Hornet]

Hey Pete:

Although I don't record to a PC as of yet, I use an 8 track digital MD by Yamaha, I do believe you might need a mic like the AKG 3000. There are better mics but the 3000 is currently at a great price. [Many mic prices have dropped.] You could rent one for a couple of months to see how it works. [you will need phantom power for the 3000. Also, I use a mic processor which gives some punch and clarity to vocals. I have an ART dual channel mic processor with no compression. I have a compressor but never really could hear anything happening one way or the other when it was plugged into the chain so I retired the unit. Hope these ideas might help.

Green Hornet

[hongteck]

You may want to try recording your vocals as clean as possible to your harddisk using the best mic or/and mic preamp you can find and then with that signal on harddisk do your EQ and tweaking with software. That way you've more flexibility to experiment.