Sound proofing vocal performances

[BigPapaFly]

I have the ability to record vocals in a soundproof chamber (my walk-in closet) where no sound gets through, but, it's a pain is the ass because my TASCAM is outside of the walk-in. What I don't quite get is how bad I'm f'ing up my vocal recordings doing them in an open room with the sound of the a/c and the humming Portastudio (etc) coming through. It seems to me that any sorts of low hum, air blowing noises, aren't heard when I consider the 24 tracks of other instruments I have going on. I have bad ears when it comes to these things, though.

If I'm recording the vocal well....singing at the right distance with clearity and compression etc...what is it, exactly, that I'm losing?

When I solo the vocal track I definately hear a whole lot of shit in the background. So, I go through and silence the non-perfromance segments.

But, as far as the parts when I'm actually singing, what does that do, exactly, to the performance? When you consider 24 tracks of other instruments being peformed at the same time, wherein you definately cannot actually hear the a/c, is this affecting the vocal?

Thanks for any help.

BPF

[TexRoadkill]

The problem is that 24 tracks of a little bit of noise adds up to a lot of noise in the final mix. You will lose your dynamics because you have to keep everything above the noise floor all the time.

Just turn off the ac, unplug the fridge(reminds me, need to plug mine back in) close the windows and gag the wife and kids.

If your going through all the effort to get good sounding recordings you might as well take an extra couple of minutes to make sure everthing is quiet.

Recording in your closet doesnt guarantee a better sound then a quiet living room. Just use your ears for that part.

[Henrik]

If you stand too far from the mic, and have a lot of room reflections, they can give you phase problems and make your vocals sound...phasey. The solution to this is to move in closer to the mic, or to record the vocals in a damped room.

I'd work improving the work situation in the closet if I were you. Maybe you can move the whole multitracker in there while tracking vocals (and put it behind a thick drape so you won't record the noise it makes)?

[Henrik]

You could of course also easily make some screens out of wood frames and matresses/thick fabric, that you can put around you while tracking in the big room. That's probably a better idea. Then you could also control the amount of room sound you want to have in your recording.

When you don't need them you can put them in your closet, hehe.

[Gidge]

what are u recording to?...i hear 24 tracks, Tascam, and PortaStudio and im not ptting it together....what is your signal chain?...

im still trying to perfect the closet idea myself......

[BigPapaFly]

Thanks for all the help. I record with the TASCAM Digital Portastudio 788. Which is an 8 strip, 250 virtual track machine. So, I do tons of bouncing....I mean tons and tons of bouncing. I'm so stupid that I actually never added up the fact that: I get a very slight annoying hum on my keyboard tracks. I get a slight annoying hum on my accoustic guitar tracks....+ slight annoying hum on electric guitar...+ ....drum loops....etc....


duh!!! add up 24 slight annoying hums and I've just about voided the purpose of recording with digital clarity!

Thanks for the help.

[TexRoadkill]

bingo!


To help eliminate hums try to hook up all your gear to the same outlet through a power strip. Most hums occur when you combine gear (i.e. amp connected to mixer) and they are plugged into different outlets.