recording vocals

[downinfront]

hey,
right now my band is in the process of recording the vocals to our demo using cakewalk. we are running a rather inexpensive mic ($50) through a p.a. system directly into the line in of my computer. is there a better way to record vocals, and also are there any good effects that we should use to make the vocals sound stronger. and also is there any type of pitch fixer thing that detects the if the pitches are off and fixes them? thanks.

[dachay2tnr]

Besides the quality of the singer, the items which will affect your vocals are:

quality of your mics
quality of your preamps
qualtiy of the a/d converters in your sound card
strength of the signal going to your recording software

I doubt your going to get anything decent from a $50 mic. Minimum entry level should be Shure SM57's or 58's. I have been using these and getting what I consider acceptable quality. Many, however, will argue that you need a condenser mic for decent quality.

I assume you are using the mixer from your PA system for your preamps. This is fine - depending on the quality of the preamps in the mixer. A lot of people on this board prefer Mackies for a low-end mixer.

You need a decent (prosumer level) sound card. M-Audio or Event make pretty good ones. There are others as well. The one that came with your computer probably won't cut it.

Make sure the gain level from your mixer into your sound card is set properly. Try and get a good strong signal without clipping. A condenser mic (and compresor) would help in this regard.

Effects are like seasoning. Use them to choice (i.e., whatever sounds good). Generally on vocals I only use a little eq and some reverb.

If your singer is all over the place with volume - a compressor would help. Generally an outboard compressor would be of more help than software - since it would help you to get a stronger and more even recorded signal to start with. I've seen the RNC compresor recommended for the budget-minded, but I have no personal experience with it.

Lastly, there does exist software for pitch correction (e.g., Antares Autotune). I have only used the demo of it, and was not overly pleased with the results (much better to sing on key to begin with ). However, my experience could have been due to a "dummy at the controls", so take it for what it's worth.