Mic picks up too much empty ness of the room

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kay_e

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I record in a 10x10 room n my vocals sound weak n empty , should i pad up the walls In.certain spots or should I build a booth n pad the whole inside. I record hip hop n rnb with a rode k2 Mic n voicemaster pro.
 
get n closer to the mic
an~d/or
put up some soft stuff around where the mic is (n~= as needed) to control some of that n~=ness.

:)
 
Normally the issue is too much room. And you can't subtract reverb (much / yet). But you can add it fairly easily in post. Your description is nondescript. Is it empty because it has NO room? Or too much room? As in sounds like a bad cafeteria with concrete walls and tile floors. If it's NO room, you can add reverb and other effects. If it's the other one, there's various room treatments to improve the situation. Which does nothing for existing tracks.
 
Too much room... I can hear sound of my voice bouncing off walls. N being too close will cause clicks n pops cuz my Mic is super sensitive
 
i suggest adding couches, a tables, a lamp, some posters on the wall, a clock, and maybe a lava lamp, or a mickey mouse telephone. that way your room should be less empty and more full. :p
 
Moving blankets hung up around the mic will help get rid of the room sound.
 
Room treatment is the answer (of sorts). Baring that you can position yourself near a wall / corner and sing out into the room with the mic as close as possible. This should a) give a greater balance of source to room. And minimize reflections since it has (if only in theory) the furthest possible distance to travel before reflecting back. And therefor the most decay. The problem of sorts is not so much the mic or source, it's the reflections. If you don't have concerns about keeping the outside world out, you might try keeping the door open, if only partially and the closet door(s) too. Pretty much anything with a larger chamber behind it than the opening to it. Like pushing your books to the front of the book case to create a chamber behind them. And of course couches, beds, pillows, blankets, sweaters, and other less reflective things help to tame the beast.
 
I've never had this problem but try hanging a curtain/blanket in the corner of the room, move close to and face the corner then sing into that, buy a pop shield and get close to the mic also, then add a high pass filter in the daw to prevent any further pops.
 
Thanks , all helpful information. I'll post a link tonight of the product n please tell me if it sounds good or still needs work on room treatment
 
Not sure I would recommend singing into the worst sounding area of a square room. The corner. You will have the most open air in the center of the room. Here is a pic of my room when tracking vocals. Two 2x4'x4" rock wool panels hung from ceiling in center of my control room. Heavy blankets draped over boom stands forming a 'T' is what I used prior to building the absorbers and gave pretty much the same results. Didn't look as cool tho. Something on the wall behind the singer is very helpful as well. So is the red spot light. :)
 

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We record our stuff in between an airport and the Seattle police firing range, so I usually just sing into a dynamic mic. What I use is a shure 55sh and it works great for stuff.
 
Sing closer to the mic with a pop filter. Setup a baffle in front of the mic made of approved soundproofing material. Set the mic to cardioid.
 
jimmys69 said:
Not sure I would recommend singing into the worst sounding area of a square room. The corner. You will have the most open air in the center of the room. Here is a pic of my room when tracking vocals. Two 2x4'x4" rock wool panels hung from ceiling in center of my control room. Heavy blankets draped over boom stands forming a 'T' is what I used prior to building the absorbers and gave pretty much the same results. Didn't look as cool tho. Something on the wall behind the singer is very helpful as well. So is the red spot light. :)
Click to expand...

The center of a square room is the worst place to put up a mic. Stand in the center of an untreated square room and clap your hands.

Flutter echo is what you hear.
 
I disagree. That is exactly why I recommended this setup. It helps to stop the flutter echo at the source. In an untreated room, the flutter echo will be no less present by moving to another location. A mic in a corner is just asking for more problems in an untreated room. My room is treated in all corners and 12 of these 2X4'X4" absorbers 5' apart on the walls with a cloud above the mixing desk. I recommended this 'behind mic' setup as it worked quite well before I built and installed the absorbers. I use the same basic setup with the appropriate materials now.
c7sus said:
The center of a square room is the worst place to put up a mic. Stand in the center of an untreated square room and clap your hands.

Flutter echo is what you hear.
Click to expand...


Btw, just curious what you recommend as the best place to set up a mic?
 
c7sus said:
The center of a square room is the worst place to put up a mic. Stand in the center of an untreated square room and clap your hands.

Flutter echo is what you hear.
Click to expand...
Generally, I'd say yep. Think about it. The confluence point of all the reflections, and likely primary modes.
hunecke.de | Room Eigenmodes Calculator
Enter your room, pick your poison.

Corners, 'center maybe least likely spots.
 
jimmys69 said:
I disagree. That is exactly why I recommended this setup. It helps to stop the flutter echo at the source. In an untreated room, the flutter echo will be no less present by moving to another location. A mic in a corner is just asking for more problems in an untreated room. My room is treated in all corners and 12 of these 2X4'X4" absorbers 5' apart on the walls with a cloud above the mixing desk. I recommended this 'behind mic' setup as it worked quite well before I built and installed the absorbers. I use the same basic setup with the appropriate materials now.


Btw, just curious what you recommend as the best place to set up a mic?
Click to expand...
More importantly I think is what you've alluded to- For a simple mic location it's less critical if you nock down the relative loudness of the room at the mic. Even if you just make a little zone around your mic area, a few clouds above, some on the sides/behind etc you're part way there.
On top of that as you move around in a room you'll hear the tone balance coming back change. Some spots will just have more or less nasties coming together there.
 
I have found that reflections in an 'untreated' room are going to cause problems no matter where you setup. That being said, getting further away from them and adding some absorption between the source and the reflection points, will help to reduce the adverse effects. No the center of a room is not ideal. Neither is the corner. Near the center of a room you at least have the ability to introduce means of reducing the effects of the room. Standing waves are obviously an issue, but from my experience, I have found this to be the best workaround when for whatever reason, proper room treatment is not feasible.
 
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