vocal/mic/recording technique

[LI Slim]

I find that when I'm tracking my vocals I want to sing more softly than I do when I perform live. Live, I'm using an sm58 and I just want to get right on top of the mic and drive the thing and that feels right. But recording, using the condensor mic (and of course at a greater distance) I often feel like I want to turn up the recording gain and form tones, almost conversationally. In listening to stuff on the radio (especially more acoustic-oriented folks, like me), it seems like pros tend to do the same thing, that is, belt it out more live and sing more softly and controlled in the studio.

Do you have the same experience? Should I resist the temptation? Is it impossible to generalize?

 

[TMonkey]

Recording versus live

How do your recorded vocals sound to you? Are you getting the tone, feeling, dynamics that you want to achieve?

If you are trying to achieve a clean, pretty sound as much of acoustic music aspires to, I think you will naturally have a tendency while recording to want to eliminate rough edges and heavy dynamics. These are more likely to be minimized by the room when playing live, and by the use of dynamic versus condensor microphones.

It may take some time, but if you are patient and willing to experiment with your recording rig, you should eventually get the sound you're looking for. At least it'll give you something worthwhile to do while you slowly grow old.

 

[LI Slim]

Too late.

But thanks for the thoughtful reply, TM, it will help me in my approach.

One thing I have to deal with is sort of an identity conflict. I play a lot of blues but most of what I write is more pop/folk/jazz-like. I'm comfortable with my blues voice but less comfortable with my "me" voice, and I don't seem to be able to merge the two. I'm workin' on it.