I think the expander/gate is messing up the vocal tone

[CaptainStrat]

Sorry I don't have clips to illustrate what I mean, but ... here goes: I'm trying to record my own voice, singing. My vocal timbre is close to one Jim Morrison (well, a congested Morisson! ), my vocal range is baritone.

I've A/B'd my 2 condenser mic's of choice, an Audio Technica ATM31a and a Apex 438. The other gear I use to record vocals: ART tube mic preamp, Behringer Eurorack mixer, Behringer Composer pro compressor and E-Mu 0404 sound card.

The best combination seems to be ATM31a> ART>Composer Pro> E-Mu. The Audio Technica seems to have better presence than the Apex. The sweet spot seems to be me standing about 2 feet away from the mic, singing a bit above the diaphragm.

While it sounds 'decent' it's still not right to my ears: in order to cut out ambient noise (AC, PC fan, cat meowing at me as if to ask "what are you doing?" ) I have the expander/gate section of the Composer pro set rather high.

I don't have a vocal booth, have little space for one (a shame), can't shut off the AC as the apartment gets stuffy in a hurry ...

Then again if there was a way to come up with some sort of partition to islolate myself & the mic (I've read about fridge cardboard boxes which can be lined for isolation & then folded to be stored)... this way I can restore a lot of the frequency response by disabling the expander/gate.

I have the compression set at 3:1 ... that seems to be standard for vocals? I've also recently upgraded my cables going to the E-Mu ... went from flimsy stereo RCA cords with 1/4" adaptors to Digiflex XLR to 14" cables which go from the compressor to the E-Mu. Less noise, better signal, well worth the investment!

Anyway, any tips on how I can improve the vocal sound form almost tunnelly/telephone line/nasal to clear and open will be greatly appreciated!

 

[NYMorningstar]

Try just hanging up some blankets in the room and record without the compressor in the soundchain. Walk around the room singing and when you find a spot where it sounds good, mic it there. Compress it after you track it, if you need, and use some mic techniques to control the spikes. To sing Morrison you need a good set of lung, so I'd be out doing some wind sprints at the track if I were you. Experiment, have fun. Try a shure 58 for it.

 

[CaptainStrat]

Try just hanging up some blankets in the room and record without the compressor in the soundchain. Walk around the room singing and when you find a spot where it sounds good, mic it there. Compress it after you track it, if you need, and use some mic techniques to control the spikes. To sing Morrison you need a good set of lung, so I'd be out doing some wind sprints at the track if I were you. Experiment, have fun. Try a shure 58 for it.

Recording to the PC I wouldn't dare not use compression ... I might try a 2:1 ratio? Since I operate the PC and sing, the mic has to be a few steps from the PC (can't be helped: I am songwriter, performer, engineer & producer ) and I don't own a SM58 ... but the ATM31a is close to what I'm looking for in terms of frequency response. What I need is a way to block out ambient noise so the Gate doesn't have to be set so drastically high ...

I could try to find an extention cord for my PC's keyboard so I can remotely operate it from my bedroom and "acoustically treat" the bedroom door and the adjacent wall?

 

[Dogman]

Get anything you can to hang blankets and such on. Put them in front of, and beside you if possible. I put together some 2X4's, and put blankets on those. Anything will help if you are cramped for space. If you can move away from the corner, that would be good, but if not, put as much padding on the walls as possible. I have also moved closer to the mic, and turned the pre down just a bit.

Hope this helps.
Ed

 

[scrubs]

Since you're recording to computer, I would take the gate out of the signal chain completely (you should run mic-->pre-->sound card). You can gate afterwards with software or simply silence the parts between singing. Also, I would highly recommend turning off the A/C for tracking vocals and turning it back on between takes. Getting closer to the mic and turning down the gain to compensate will also take some of the room out of the equation. Make sure your pc fan is behind the mic (off axis) and across the room (or in another room/closet). Hanging blankets on mic stands around where you are singing will help, too.

 

[CaptainStrat]

Since you're recording to computer, I would take the gate out of the signal chain completely (you should run mic-->pre-->sound card). You can gate afterwards with software or simply silence the parts between singing. Also, I would highly recommend turning off the A/C for tracking vocals and turning it back on between takes. Getting closer to the mic and turning down the gain to compensate will also take some of the room out of the equation. Make sure your pc fan is behind the mic (off axis) and across the room (or in another room/closet). Hanging blankets on mic stands around where you are singing will help, too.

I'll try that ... the ART preamp runs rather hot straight to the sound card but yeah, you're right, I can lower the level ... used to do that all the time: stand like 4 inches from the mic with the pop filter right next to my mouth ... but with the volume down the vocal sounds lifeless in the 'phones (then again that was before I invested in AKG's ).

I've heard so many sweet vocal recordings from fellow members of this other Forum I also go to ... well enough doesn't cut it any longer, I want that "airy", "open" sound to my recordings!