Home Vocal Prep
A few tips about recording vocals at home that may not be directly related to the current poster's problem...
When recording a vocal in a less than ideal room (like a bedroom or like my tracking room in my studio in my house) the main problem I found is not from the side walls but from above... ymmv. The biggest problem is the sound bouncing off of low 8' ceilings and mixing into the mic with the direct sound... it sounds pretty damn bad. Phasey, thin home vocals can often be attributed directly to this.
If you think about it the closest hard surface in most small rooms in people's houses
when trying to get away from hard surfaces when recording, is usually the ceiling... unless you're really, really short.
That's the problem you need to deal with for better vox at home, unless your home has a room with a 20 ft. ceiling... then sing in there instead.
Note: In a small bedroom sized room with close micing (3 inches?) the sound from the walls (unless you're really close to a wall or in a closet) should be a virtual non-factor if you gain stage the chain correctly. Usually even a small bedroom is big enough for decent vox, especially if you put some space (or pillows or whatever) behind you and point the mic directly towards a corner of the room.
The other point is something to remember when tracking in smaller square/rectangular rooms in your home like bedrooms, angle straight at a corner, it helps sound bounce more around you (and the mic) and diffuse more than directly back at you. Standing in the center of a b(e)ad room pointed towards a corner is generally the best position. It can make a audible difference in what the mc picks up.
As far as low ceilings go, put something absorbent on the ceiling over or between you and the mic, carpet or something... or sing sitting down... which helps ... but may not allow your best vocal performance. Just rig something up.
Take 3-4 mic stands and rig up a cover with a heavy blanket over the top of the mic... (about halfway between the top of the mic and the ceiling if possible) with the mic back inside the cover about 6-12-18 inches or so. Or place some hooks (like the kind chicks hang flower pots with) so that when you track vocals you can just hook an old drooping blanket (with holes in the corners of it) on the ceiling, and sing directly under the drooping part.
With that said - the more vocal compression the worse the S/R (signal to room
) ratio is. Back off a bit.
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