female vocals

[borednbuzzed]

Hello,

I'm recording female vocals with a MXL V63 condenser and on a pro tools mbox system and I'm not able to get good vocal volumes... it seems likes it's always to soft or clipping and getting static.. any suggestions to get a good overall volume? Mic placement, tips for my vocalist? I also have an Audix OM2... would it be a good idea to try recording with this mic and placing the condenser a ways away from it? Any input is greatly appreciated.. thanks

Scott

[tvaillan]

too soft and too loud .. sounds like you need an outboard compressor.

[Middleman]

What's your chain?

Mic -> preamp -> limiter (or compressor) -> soundcard??????

[volltreffer]

Either outboard compressor/limiter or record in 24 bit and do the compression alteron (i.e. record 'too soft' now and get the vlume up with a compressor/fader riding later), or proper mic control by the singer. Let her learn to sing off axis to have the plosives not problematic, have her approach and move from the mic as her volume changes (if it is slow changes - she won't be glad to look like from the muppet show orchestra )... May take loads of time, though.

aXel

[Dani Pace]

I can't help but wonder what kind of singing experience the vocalists have? There is a world of difference between "open air singing," and "on stage (with a mic)," and "studio vocals." Each style has its own type of voice projection but do not always work well out of their own environment. I've had problems with people who are used to playing and singing in the "living room" and sound really good there, yet they sort of freak out when a mic is placed in front of them, it's like their voices come and go and that makes it hard to keep consistancy on the tracks. You might try boosting the volume and use a compressor/limiter to keep the peaks from going too high. Have patience and experiment.

[borednbuzzed]

thanks for the tips everyone... the recording quality of the vocals has gone up 100%! My vocalist' experience lies mostly with choir groups... she's a singer in the University of Wisconsin choir so is more used to open air singing...

I run the mic to my mbox (preamp) and use a compressor plugin... before I was trying to mix it real time to get the loudest vocals without clippin... now I took the advice of this wonderful forum and recorded at a fairly soft volume and use the compressor to boost the volume...

[Shailat]

Originally posted by borednbuzzed
I run the mic to my mbox (preamp) and use a compressor plugin... before I was trying to mix it real time to get the loudest vocals without clippin... now I took the advice of this wonderful forum and recorded at a fairly soft volume and use the compressor to boost the volume...

If you are using the compressor to boost a low level signal then your not utilizing it in a proper way.

When you boost a soft leveled track with compression, your also boosting all the noise along side of it not to mention compression artifacts or compression overuse.

You need to focus on gain staging the vocals properly as well as guideing the singer to sing properly with a well placed mic. Teach her to work the mic a bit. Only then place the compressor in the chain to aid the track.

[MartyMcFly]

I wouldnt bother using that om-2 for vocals if ya have a condenser mic. I would maybe try turning on your phantom power on the Mbox. Condensers need power to run. Thats probably why they usually sound real good...
Also I would make yer girlfriend give ya a knobber before she sings..."It helps open up the airways" so shell sing even better than normal.
Then makesure you have the mic assigned to the right channel. And make sure you turn the "trim" knob up a little. Dont worry it wont hurt it.
Thats all the advice I have for ya "borednbuzzed"

[borednbuzzed]

Marty... tried the knobber.. oh ya... Of course I have the phantom power kickin'...