How do I get rid of room sound in a vocal recording?

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cloudchamber

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Every time I post a recording in the MP3 clinic, I get comments like:

"It sounds like you're recording your vocals in a locker room"

I have made extensive efforts to cut down on echos, such as building a vocal booth out of PVC pipe and throwing blankets over it, but it doesnt seem to be working.

Have any of you faced this problem?

Has anyone had success in eliminating room sound?

Thanks.

Matt
 
Thanks for the info. All the ideas are great, but I need something that can be put up and down in a relatively short period of time. I don't have the luxury of a permanent vocal booth.

Tex:
I am using a C1
 
If you cant seem to treat the room well enough you may want to try a dynamic mic like a SM58 or Senheiser 441. Dynamics generally aren't as sensitive and wont pick up as much room sound. I have a C1 and it is a very hot mic. It picks up everthing.

Are you in a very small room? They can be pretty tough. Get a pop filter if you dont have one and try singing closer to the mic.
 
Try the Auralex Max Wall. It's their foam on stands. I use them in addition to the foam panels on the wall. Also - not quite as temporary as the Max Wall, but not so permanent is to use T-Pins (found at any crafts store or even Walmart and Target) to pin the foam to drywall. I have 96 sq. feet of this stuff up in my basement and when I move, I just take the stuff down and it will look like I just had a bunch of posters on my wall (have to keep the landlord happy!).
My basement is pretty dead sounding with all the foam, only problem is the computer noise :(
Check out pix at http://photos.yahoo.com/evan_gordon and click on the Studio album.
Good luck!

cloudchamber said:
Thanks for the info. All the ideas are great, but I need something that can be put up and down in a relatively short period of time. I don't have the luxury of a permanent vocal booth.

Tex:
I am using a C1
Click to expand...
 
I've been thinking about using Max-Wall as recording baffles. Kind of pricey but in my apartment space is at an even higher premium.

How well do they work?

-Jett
 
Can't say how they work directly since I use them in conjuction with the foam on my walls. The Max-Wall is used to seperate out my recording space from my fiance's exercise space :)
They'll proably work fine if you get a set to make a mini-pseudo-kinda-vocal booth.

jet-rocker said:
I've been thinking about using Max-Wall as recording baffles. Kind of pricey but in my apartment space is at an even higher premium.

How well do they work?

-Jett
Click to expand...
 
Room Sound

Okay, let's back up for a second.

Your problem is that when people compare your recordings to the typical other stuff they hear on this MP3 forum you refer to, yours sound like they're recorded in a locker room.

Are the other recordings on this MP3 forum all recorded in vocal booths or anechoic chambers? I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess not. Indeed, a lot (most?) of them were probably recorded in basements, bedrooms and garages.

So there are two possible reasons your recordings sound markedly different from the ones you're comparing them to: (i) your room is really just a lot more echo-y (or otherwise "noisy") than the typical basement, bedroom or garage or (ii) something else.

Possibility (i) - What is your room? It's not actually a locker room is it? If so, that would explain a lot. I'm going to assume it's not a tiled bathroom or kitchen or a concrete stairwell, either. If it could be the room, could you try recording something in another room (a living room or something), at least as an experiment?

Possibility (ii) - As mentioned above, are you close enough to the mic? (Probably you are). Are you using absurd amounts of compression? Is your whole problem misuse/overuse of digital reverb or delay? Is it something other than the vocals that's creating the "locker room" ambience? Guitar delay/reverb/chorus? Are you unintentionally creating delay effects due to latency or something?
 
Too much compression can certainly exaggerate the sound of room reflection.

Every try a NOISE GATE ?
 
You could try recording in a coat closet full of coats....
 
How would a noise gate help? It would only kick in when the signal dips below a certain threshold, and then it cuts the whole signal. If your room sounds bad (i.e. like a locker room), you will only hear it during the "non-quiet" parts.

chessrock said:
Too much compression can certainly exaggerate the sound of room reflection.

Every try a NOISE GATE ?
Click to expand...
 
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