Recording vocals in car?

E

Emphasis

New member
Hey guys, so here's a random stupid thought:

Has anybody here recorded vocals in a car before? and if so, what were your results?
Also, what kind of car was it?.


The reason that I ask is because i own a bmw e30. I've been trying to record some verses on a new rap song i'm working on, but just can't seem to get a comfortable performance in in the rooms i've tried to record in.

I found that my best/most comfortable vocal delivery is inside my car.
I'm just comfortable flowing in my car. After all, she is my beft friend. lol

I haven't tried setting up a mic in there yet.

(I know every car is different, so the acoustic would vary car by car.)

My car is carpeted, and has leather seats. The sound is kind of damp in there.
Just curious of what to expect.

or if it's an idea worth perusing.
 
Honestly, it's a ridiculous idea and it will sound like shit. I know the polite thing to say is "try it out....pursue your drams.....blah blah blah...". But the fact is, you're sitting in an extremely tiny room with glass walls, and a stupidly low ceiing. It's a total acoustical nightmare.

But, try it, see what happens, life is short, feel the vibe....all that shit.....
 
RAMI said:
Honestly, it's a ridiculous idea and it will sound like shit. I know the polite thing to say is "try it out....pursue your drams.....blah blah blah...". But the fact is, you're sitting in an extremely tiny room with glass walls, and a stupidly low ceiing. It's a total acoustical nightmare.

But, try it, see what happens, life is short, feel the vibe....all that shit.....
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I love RAMI
 
A car sounds a lot like the sort of small vocal booth this forum is constantly advising people NOT to build in their houses--sort of boxy and a empty (says the guy who has done a lot of speech based location recording in cars).

Keep the mic close enough to you mouth and you might get away with it but it's likely not ideal.

Other factor to consider...you'll obviously be sitting down and this will make it harder to project your voice with your diaphragm. You WILL sound different than you do standing up.

I have no problem saying "try it and see if you like the effect" but it's not without downsides.
 
Let's not forget....he's probably driving while rapping. I doubt he just sits in his driveway and raps. :D

So...a moving car should make it that much more interesting.....
 
Does anyone do a hands free kit for a DAW? Otherwise I can see the local constabulary taking an enthusiastic interest in the session.
 
RAMI said:
I know the polite thing to say is "try it out....
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Not polite, logical. I guess there's really only two things you can say to someone who asks a question involving
Just curious of what to expect.
or if it's an idea worth pursuing.
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and that's that they can expect that it will sound like shit {although, there is always the chance that they'll like what they hear} and try it out and see; satisfy your curiosity.
While I get that Emphasis' emphasis was on whether anyone had actually tried it, I often wonder why people with this kind of idea don't just try it ! I mean, how much time out of one's life is it going to take ?
Besides, it's rap. :D
 
Of course if you upped your ambition from a BMW to a bus, you could emulate "Nothing but Time" from Jackson Browne's Running on empty album. Actually not a bad sound considering the drums are hi-hat, snare and cardboard box with pedal.

You know, the Running on Empty album should be an inspiration to denizens of HR. Between the bus and the tracks recorded in various (I assume untreated) hotel rooms, it goes to show what can be done without a studio.
 
grimtraveller said:
Not polite, logical. I guess there's really only two things you can say to someone who asks a question involvingand that's that they can expect that it will sound like shit {although, there is always the chance that they'll like what they hear} and try it out and see; satisfy your curiosity.
While I get that Emphasis' emphasis was on whether anyone had actually tried it, I often wonder why people with this kind of idea don't just try it ! I mean, how much time out of one's life is it going to take ?
Besides, it's rap. :D
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I don't disagree with you, Grim. My statement was not a response to yours, just my opinion at 3am on a Saturday night. :eek: :D
 
Sure...."try it out" is the simplest answer....but sometimes these people gotta look at things with a dose of reality. :D

Recording vocals in a car, while maybe intersting/amusing to try, is going to be just plain dumb for the big picture.
Like...what if he becomes a big-name rapper....will he then be forced to always record his vocals in a car? ;)
Might as well break the bad habits before they even begin.
 
I'm in the 'try it out' camp.

There was a time when someone told someone else that 'flanging' was stupid.

The only way to know if you like something is to try it out.
 
It's worth the experiment.

But it does nothing to deal with the underlying problem, i.e. "but just can't seem to get a comfortable performance in in the rooms i've tried to record in"

If you are serious about your music, you will have to learn to get comfortable in those rooms.

It's a bit like Tiger Woods saying "I'm uncomfortable playing on golf courses. I'd rather play in my backyard."
 
miroslav said:
Sure...."try it out" is the simplest answer....but sometimes these people gotta look at things with a dose of reality.
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Well.......it's not really a simple answer either. In a way it's Emphasis' fault for asking about it and not just trying it.
But in truth, there are lots of things that seemed bloody stupid initially in recording. Many of the techniques we take for granted now were finally accepted with the vanguards of studio protocol of the times kicking and screaming.
I'm not saying recording vocals in a car would work. I personally wouldn't do it. It might yield the worst, muddiest, nulliest, ringiest vocal that Emphasis will ever record in their life. I placed a dynamic as a room mic once in the back of a van recording drums in a slap echo happy warehouse and it was not only better than both overheads, the kick drum was so clear and Kapow. I was {and still am} flabbergasted.
But it doesn't mean that they'd always record that way, just like certain singers didn't always record a vocal lying on their back but a couple of times it netted a great sound. I was reading today how Mick Jagger recorded many of the vocals on "Exile on Main Street" in the toilet in the chateau that Keith Richards rented. He didn't do that again. Everyone praises to high heaven the drum sound that Led Zeppelin got on "When the levee breaks" and the story is well known of how the drums were set up in the corridor and mikes were placed at various stairwell levels. It's one of the most sampled drum pieces ever. But they only did it once, on that one song.
Few artists actually only ever stick to one way of doing things over a period of time.
But at the end of the day, trying it out is the only way Emphasis can ever truly know if they're barking up the wrong tree. There's nothing unrealistic about finding out. What have they got to lose ?
 
gecko zzed said:
it does nothing to deal with the underlying problem, i.e. "but just can't seem to get a comfortable performance in in the rooms i've tried to record in"

If you are serious about your music, you will have to learn to get comfortable in those rooms.
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So true. Even if the vocal sound was fantastic, at some point, Emphasis is still going to need to learn some versatility and learn how to perform on demand which means you can't just wait "until I feel inspired". Real life doesn't work that way.
 
Like I said...the "just try it" is a great attitude to have...BUT...you still need to employ a reality check with every attempt. :)

Sometimes people get a little too carried away...and if someone tells them so, right away there are folks who want to make it seem like every experiment is worth attempting for the sake of the art.
I don't think so....if you have some technical/artistic sensibility, you are able to at least gauge what is just plain dumb and what could become a new SOP and therefore worth attempting.

I think sometimes people who are new to recording seem determined to simply ignore what came before and make up their own rules. Now that may turn up a diamond in the rough or two...but ignoring reality and what came before is usually a mistake, since odds or others have already paved the road and discovered where the ruts are. ;)
 
gecko zzed said:
But it does nothing to deal with the underlying problem, i.e. "but just can't seem to get a comfortable performance in in the rooms i've tried to record in"

If you are serious about your music, you will have to learn to get comfortable in those rooms."
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I don't know why recording in a car (forgetting all the technical hurdles) is really going to be any more comfortable.

It's like singing in the shower....you think you sound that much better...but who actually records their vocals there? :D
 
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