Vocals sound great in real life, but not when I record help with this

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wavves
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Wavves

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Hello everyone, my vocals sound great when I rap them aloud, but when I go to record them in logic its a different thing, I don't sound out all like I sound in person and its very frustrating, because I want to put this stuff out, so I can take the next step. I'm thinking it might be my "bedroom style setup" and the fact that my engineering knowledge is extremely limited coupled with the fact I don't have an engineer at all.

Setup - Mac desktop, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, and Blue Bluebird Large Diaphragm Cardioid Condenser Microphone ran through Logic 9, In a large room with an extremely high ceiling and no sound proofing.

I want to sound exactly how I sound in real life in my recording as well is this possible? Is this possible with a home setup? Or am I going to have to bite the bullet and book some time at a professional recording studio so I get quality recordings and an engineer who knows what he's doing.

Any suggestions for bring out the best in my setup? I'm definitely going to build and soundproof a booth.
 
Wavves said:
Hello everyone, my vocals sound great when I rap them aloud, but when I go to record them in logic its a different thing, I don't sound out all like I sound in person and its very frustrating, because I want to put this stuff out, so I can take the next step. I'm thinking it might be my "bedroom style setup" and the fact that my engineering knowledge is extremely limited coupled with the fact I don't have an engineer at all.

Setup - Mac desktop, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, and Blue Bluebird Large Diaphragm Cardioid Condenser Microphone ran through Logic 9, In a large room with an extremely high ceiling and no sound proofing.

I want to sound exactly how I sound in real life in my recording as well is this possible? Is this possible with a home setup? Or am I going to have to bite the bullet and book some time at a professional recording studio so I get quality recordings and an engineer who knows what he's doing.

Any suggestions for bring out the best in my setup? I'm definitely going to build and soundproof a booth.
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There's another thread somewhere about this same topic. Basically, it comes down to this:

The way you hear yourself in your head isn't the way you actually sound. What you hear when you play back your voice recorded is the way everyone else hears you.
 
RAMI said:
There's another thread somewhere about this same topic. Basically, it comes down to this:

The way you hear yourself in your head isn't the way you actually sound. What you hear when you play back your voice recorded is the way everyone else hears you.
Click to expand...

I can definitely rap I'm from queens, I'm black, and I've been rapping all my life. LOL not that means anything but I definitely don't suck.

Your probably right though I'm going to have to continue recording until I get used to the sound of my own voice.

Everyone I played if for yesterday though was like WTF is that you don't sound like that, do it out loud so he can see how it actually sounds blah blah, then they were like o yea way better.
 
Are you holding back when you record, rather than putting all the feeling and "oomph" into it?
 
man you can try anything to change your voice but people already know your voice as You listened it recorded...that's how you sound if you listen your voice outside your body...you just listen it from the inside of your head from the day you were born and got used to it that's why it sounds weird
 
Wavves said:
I'm thinking it might be my "bedroom style setup" and the fact that my engineering knowledge is extremely limited coupled with the fact I don't have an engineer at all.
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Bingo.

You can't just expect to get a basic mic and interface, stick them up any ol' way in any ol' room, hit the Big Red Button and come out sounding like Fifty Cent on the other side, no matter how good of a rapper you may be in person. You need the gear, the set up and the experience and technique. It takes takes time to develop all that on your own.

I don't know what your hurry is, like the world is coming to an end tomorrow when the sun blows up, or just what you think "the next step" is, but if you're in that much of a hurry, hire a producer/engineer - and I mean a *real* producer with a track record for being able to develop talent and for knowing the difference between +4dBu and a pothole full of oily water, not the hip hop slang definition of producer as just some schmuck who woke up one morning deciding he could marry raps with beats just as good as the next schmuck.

But if you insist on doing it yourself, slow down, forget the vocal booth; improperly designed vocal booths suck worse than a drunk behind a glory hole. Pick instead a good-sounding room or hall in your house. Test them by making test recordings of your voice in each of them and comparing the results. Try a room maybe with a full clothes closet, smooth, fairly reflective but not overly-reverby walls and carpeting or a rug under the microphone. set up in front of the open closet, facing away from it.

Next, practice with the mic in different test positions related to your face. If you're rapping way close to it, try backing off a few inches. If you have it level with your mouth try raising it an inch or two up from your mouth or down from it. Try those positions both with your head tilted to face the mic and with you staring straight ahead (slightly above/below the mic), then play back the various test positions and see which way you get the combination of you getting the best out of your voice physically, and which way the mic likes to make it sound best.

Record so that you levels are not too hot; there's no need to peak your recording all the way up at 0. You can always adjust that later in mixing if you need to, but by recording so that you peak no higher than about 6dBFS, you're far more likely to get a sweeter-sounding recording than if you push it harder than that.

And we haven't even covered your gear selection or your mix monitoring setup, that second one which will make or break the sound of your final mix, but this stuff should at least get you started.

G.
 
RAMI said:
I....um.....never said that you suck. :eek:
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LOL I know :D

Thanks for the replies sorry for the late response but I was just in a recording session, seems the general consensus on most forums is there's pretty much no substitute for getting used to the sound of your own voice. I'm pretty much going to have to put myself through bootcamp eventually I naturally be able to manipulate my vocals, etc.....basically more practice, and I thought I over practice....great.
 
How does it sound different from you to other people? For example, does it have more low end?
 
tonesponge said:
How does it sound different from you to other people? For example, does it have more low end?
Click to expand...

I think this definitely has something to do with it between not being able to animate yourself and the general you better "go hard" your recording now you do psyche yourself out a bit. When I'm not in front of the mic I can emphasize certain lines with exaggerated body movements and I think it helps with the infliction and delivery as ridiculous as that sounds. I was just in a session and apparently the one where I just running through it with one of the lines changed was perfect (wasn't recording) -____-
 
Yeah. You gotta get up and do your thing. Body movement is key to getting a lively vocal recording.

I don't know if you've ever seen a documentary or anything like that on voice actors and so forth, but it's hilarious to see them bouncing up and down on their stools while delivering even the tamest of lines.

So do whatever you have to do to get the intensity in front of the microphone.
 
Guys I'm white and I'm from Canada. How come I can't play hockey as well with real people as I can when I'm taking shots on an empty net?

I'm just bugging you man but those are some total stereotypes you're putting out there.

Odds are you don't have a very good sound in your headphones and are not rapping as loudly as you normally do. Try adding some reverb and compression to the mix and turn down your vocals in your headphones.
 
Guncho said:
Guys I'm white and I'm from Canada. How come I can't play hockey as well with real people as I can when I'm taking shots on an empty net?
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Not enough poutine and Molson's Golden to keep you warm under that toque, eh? Beauty!

G.
 
Armistice said:
I'm going to remember that one!:laughings:
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Ah, the wonders of the Internet: one person can spread new terms of filthy sailor speak halfway around the globe at almost the speed of light :P

G.
 
inflection or inflexion , Buddy.
"Inflection".
An infliction would be my accent doing rap.
Yo?
Hooch!
 
I've got to think there's a video of Mike Meyers doing a Scott Rap somewhere....

G.
 
Are the vocals f'ed maybe that spammer could use the sample. :laughings:

Beats and kisses!
 
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