LDC that will kill nasily-vocals?

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sirslurpee

What does THIS button do?
I know this probably isn't the best question since I already have a feeling the answer is no, but, I kind of suck at singing and regardless how much I practice I can't seem to get my voice to overcome a very nasily tone. Is there a mic out there that will sort of take some of that out of the vocals so that I can at least sound good on recorded songs I write myself?

Also any singers out there know of anything I can do to work on my tone?
 
Oh yeah, I've only recorded myself on dynamic mics (some EV I don't know the model and an Audix i5)
 
Probably not if you sound nasaly the mic is going to pick up nasaly... But there maybe an eq out there that can help a little with that nasaly tone of yours it won't get rid of it but it might help.
 
well, it's hard to recommend a mic without hearing the voice. but here are two things that might help, sight unseen.

1. make sure the mic is up high so you have to look up (and therefore raise your head) to sing into it. this opens your throat and helps get you out of your "head voice".

2. angle the mic downwards, towards your chest. this goes hand in hand with #1 above--it helps emphasize the chest sound and minimize the nasal sound of a voice.

on the cheap, i have sometimes gotten usable results out of an MXL V67 on a nasally vocalist. moreso than the mic, though, you will find that mic positioning and vocal technique will be your best weapons to fix this problem. and you might want to look into a good dynamic mic rather than a cheap LDC, especially if you're looking in the $300 range. an SM7 might be just what the doctor ordered.


cheers,
wade
 
Heh I think I'm going to take vocal lessons. I've wanted to for a while so yeah.
Also, I've been considering the MXL V67 cuz I know it's a low-budget LDC (i belive i saw someone say ~60)
Is it a good place to start for vocal mics?
 
chessrock said:
Blue Dragonfly..
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yeah, that's one of the ones i've gotten great results with as well. but sometimes it can really bring out all the wrong things, too. it really depends on the voice and how it needs to fit into the song--and what characteristics of the voice need to be deemphasized.


cheers,
wade
 
Love What You Got

Hi,

Vocal lessons are a good idea. Opening the throat, singing from the chest and breathing from the stomach can be learned.

That said.

Plenty of big hits in all genres with nasily voices. Big names too.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
sirslurpee said:
... I've been considering the MXL V67 cuz I know it's a low-budget LDC (i belive i saw someone say ~60) Is it a good place to start for vocal mics?
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For a nasal voice, it's a good idea to start with a mic that isn't as pronounced in the midrange. And the v67 is pretty weak in that department, so it might actually be an okay fit.
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When you have a nasal-y tone, it means that your nose is getting cut off. You need to relax more and let the air pass through your nose.
 
another thought is to experiment with your speaking voice first and then try to work those skills into your singing voice. Some people who are self conscious or even unknowingly insecure about their singing skills will find it slightly overwhelming or confusing to try to learn singing techniques while they're singing since they're already busy concentrating on not screwing up the lyrics, getting the pitch correct, getting the rhythm correct, and getting the intended inflections correct. When you speak you don't need to worry about that stuff, especially if you're just talking to yourself in the mirror which I recommend as a good starting point (since mirrors reflect sound fairly well so you can hear yourself somewhat without worrying about mics and everything else).

Go stand in front of a mirror and do the very good ideas suggested by others above (such as not closing up your nasal breathing and not looking down while you speak). Also try taking some deep, slowish but comfortable breaths, in, out, in, out, then start making a deepish "ahhhhhh" sound on the exhaling step while you continue to breathe in and out, in, out, and make the ahh sound go from moderately high pitch within your comfortable range and go down over the ah sound in pitch to your comfortable lower range, so the ahhhhhhhh travels over an octave or so from high to low over one long breath out, repeat that high to low sound on each exhale. That should, in theory, (A) relax you, (B) get your breathing in the right comfortable relaxed manner (without worrying about "how" you're breathing and what muscles to use yet, that can come from singing lessons), and (C) trying to get a comfortable, natural, open relaxed tone from your vocal cords almost by accident as the air passes by them while you continue the same relaxed breathing techniques.

By the way, don't pass out, breathe naturally, just maybe a little deeper than you normally would, and take breaks, you can hyperventalate or get too much oxygen with this technique if you take it to extremes.

But if you do that stuff, then take that feeling of the sound you're making and experiment with just normal silly talking to yourself (in private of course LoL), you can get used to speaking with good tone and try to have an open, round sound that feels like the control over how loudly you speak comes from your lungs themselves, not from tightening up your nasal area or your throat. If you learn to control volume with your lungs alone instead of using the later valves in your breathing system (in your throat area and your nasal area, or so it feels when operating them), you will get a more round sound.

Then of course you try to work those tricks into your singing. Maybe you can do it all in one day, but it will certainly get easier and more natural if you do these exercises every day.

I must say that if you don't feel you understand what your singing teacher teaches you (once you get started with lessons), don't fake it or pretend you get it or anything since many singing teachers have different ways of explaining things and some are better than others at working with a particular student. I was very lucky to have the late Les Monk as my Godfather and uncle (he was a legendary local voice teacher and choral director), and when I was younger he taught me the basics of proper breathing for my health as well as for my singing, which back then was actually classical mostly. I don't sing great, I'm an instrumentalist, engineer and composer mostly, but I did learn a lot about the physics involved, and how difficult it is to identify in your own body how to control different muscles in your breathing system.

Have fun mostly, don't worry too much about it, and definitely find a vocal teacher who works for you. I've found that the process I listed above works well for the very very basic part of opening up a vocalist's tone. It doesn't even begin to deal with breathing from your diaphram etc, that's another lesson.

Cheers!
And let us know how it goes (everything with singing, not my ideas in particular).
 
Chessrock

chessrock said:
For a nasal voice, it's a good idea to start with a mic that isn't as pronounced in the midrange. And the v67 is pretty weak in that department, so it might actually be an okay fit.
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So what makes the Dragonfly good for this application? Does it have a similar response curve to the 67? Is it also considered 'dark' like the 67 is (which I don't see, but I don't have another LDC to compare it to, so I'll have to take certain individuals word for it).
 
notCardio said:
So what makes the Dragonfly good for this application? Does it have a similar response curve to the 67? Is it also considered 'dark' like the 67 is (which I don't see, but I don't have another LDC to compare it to, so I'll have to take certain individuals word for it).
Click to expand...


It's response has a dip in the midrange; so it's less pronounced / forward in certain midrange frequencies that might otherwise accentuate the nasal quality of a given voice.

You'll hear terms like "Midrange scoop" and "smiley-face curve."

The V67 is different, because it's scooped more in the upper midrange (between 2-6 khz), which effects articulation and "bite" more than anything, hence why some people think it sounds dark. The DF on the other hand, is scooped more in the mid-midrange (around 1K), and rises back up in the 2-3 khz range (more bite, less bark).

Those who like the v67 are generally people who don't like the sound of their own voice, because it basically takes any of the natural character right out of it, and replaces it with cheap Asian-made electronics. :D I'm only kidding. Kind of.

You could just use a parametric EQ and sweep around until you find the area where your voice is giving you the most trouble. Generally, for a nasal voice, you might start somewhere around 1khz first ... and for a thin/squeaky/edgy voice you might try around 2-4 khz first (or better yet, the "mute" button). If the EQ works for you, you could just skip the new mic and go that route. Or you could start researching the plots, and look for mics that have dips in your trouble range. Generally speaking, you might want to try and avoid dynamics, as they tend to be more aggressive in the midrange frequencies that nasal singers have trouble with.
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I'd suggest investing a few bills in some vocal lessons. A little can go a LOOOOOOOOOONG way.

It really helps to understand fundamentally how to breath as a singer, how to relax the jaw, use your diaphragm, etc. Spend some bucks on a good teacher. Seriously.

If you still have a nasally voice (unlikely, but hey, anything's possible), then I'd suggest either buying ribbon mic (Beyer M500 comes to mind) or a nice mid-level EQ (like a Chameleon Labs 7602) to sculp the sound to mask what you're hearing. Sure, it's a bandaid, but it might just work.
 
chessrock said:
It's response has a dip in the midrange; so it's less pronounced / forward in certain midrange frequencies that might otherwise accentuate the nasal quality of a given voice.

You'll hear terms like "Midrange scoop" and "smiley-face curve."

The V67 is different, because it's scooped more in the upper midrange (between 2-6 khz), which effects articulation and "bite" more than anything, hence why some people think it sounds dark. The DF on the other hand, is scooped more in the mid-midrange (around 1K), and rises back up in the 2-3 khz range (more bite, less bark).

Those who like the v67 are generally people who don't like the sound of their own voice, because it basically takes any of the natural character right out of it, and replaces it with cheap Asian-made electronics. :D I'm only kidding. Kind of.

You could just use a parametric EQ and sweep around until you find the area where your voice is giving you the most trouble. Generally, for a nasal voice, you might start somewhere around 1khz first ... and for a thin/squeaky/edgy voice you might try around 2-4 khz first (or better yet, the "mute" button). If the EQ works for you, you could just skip the new mic and go that route. Or you could start researching the plots, and look for mics that have dips in your trouble range. Generally speaking, you might want to try and avoid dynamics, as they tend to be more aggressive in the midrange frequencies that nasal singers have trouble with.
.
Click to expand...

So an sm-7 would not be good for a nasally singer? And what does it mean if you don't like the sound of your voice and you don't like it on a v67? :o

Excellent info, BTW. Thanks. I hadn't really thought of sweeping with a parametric. Good idea. Any good parametrics come to mind?
 
in addition to all the above...

Do you have allergies? You might want to see a doctor about that. Also blow your nose before you sing (no kidding). If all else fails, snort coke repeatedly until your nose falls off.
 
Thanks guys! +rep for all of you!
So I teach drum lessons at the local music store so I should be able to get a deal on lessons.. maybe? Also I'm going to try some of the things mentioned here. I tried the angling the mic down from over head w/ a mxl603 and it sounded a LOT better than a dynamic also..

Thanks again!
 
one of the things that's nice (IMO) about the V67 is the insane amount of proximity effect it can have. this is VERY useful in making a weaker, less experienced singer with a thinner voice sound a lot "bigger" and "more powerful" than they truly are. i'm with you 100% about the weird midrange and the "character removal".......but then again, these are often the goals i have in mind when pulling out the V67. of course, due to what the V67 "does", it can sometimes hinder the vocal's ability to cut through a dense mix.

on the other hand, the dragonfly won't do any of that. the dragonfly will faithfully reproduce what it's hearing, but it's as if it puts this nice, pretty sheen on it. so it makes things that already sound good, sound better. it's a lot like a polishing cloth--it definitely makes things sparkle.....but it won't make something out of nothing. but with proper placement it can take an otherwise nasally singer and really do a great job of capturing a vocal that'll cut nicely through a dense mix.

how's that? :D


cheers,
wade
 
LI_Slim said:
Do you have allergies? You might want to see a doctor about that. Also blow your nose before you sing (no kidding). If all else fails, snort coke repeatedly until your nose falls off.
Click to expand...

You may not sing any better, but, for the time being, you'll think you do. ;)

That is, until you become convinced that everyone is out to steal your material and your 'sound'. They're just jealous, you know, that's why they're out to get you. :rolleyes:
 
another mic option is a cheap ribbon, someone may have mentioned this already, like an apex 205. and yet another good mic options, adk hamburg. nice mic, warm sound, but brighter than the rather dark apex 205.

Cheers,
Don
 
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