problem with louder singing

[cpc]

alright, when i sing louder higher notes into my home recording setup it seems to get fuzzy and make my voice sound blurry or raspy. i dont sound like this in real life , but when i play it back on my computer thats the way it sounds. i use a mic and a mixer straight into the input of my soundcard. would this be a problem of my microphone, mixer, or my vocal delivery? or something else? any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[2lim]

What kind of mic and mixer? Also how close are you singing to the mic? Are you clipping? You may not be clipping the input on your soundcard but youy could be clipping the input on your mixer!


Simon

 

[cpc]

ive tried singing from different distances from the mic too. i hold it an arms length away and it still has the problem. also it d oesnt sound as ALIVE as it should..it sounds dead sometimes. in some areas of my singing it sounds fine, but in other areas it doesnt sound like me. would learning how to EQ fix this? or does EQ have nothing to do with this problem. im using a shure sm58 mic and a behringer ub802 mixer and i have a stock soundcard :s.

 

[DonF]

It takes all of the following to make a decent vocal recording:

• good room
• competent vocalist
• good microphone
• good preamp
• good A/D converter
• correct gain staging throughout the recording chain

The recording will suffer if any of these are lacking. From what you wrote, you don't have a good microphone*, preamp, or A/D converter. I can only assume that some of the other areas may be weak as well.

Hope this helps, or at least gets you thinking.

Don

* While the SM58 is excellent for live performance situations, it's not usually the best choice for studio vocal use.

 

[cpc]

what makes it excellent for live but not for recording? if it picks up vocals good for live use, then why would it change for recording? im sure there are BETTER mics for recording....but what makes the shure sm58 necessarily bad for recording? just wondering.

 

[cpc]

and yes, my room isnt the best for recording and i've also discovered that my soundcard (stock, and only 16 bits or whatever) isnt necessarily the best and could be causing this. i was told to look into an mbox, m-audio, or something of the sort..would this be a wise decision?

 

[cpc]

also, where does EQing come into play? how can eq-ing benefit vocals?

 

[mr.rich]

is problem due to a clip somewhere in the chain? if its sounds raspy it could be this. check you ad ins your soundcard ins. your master outs. if your loud all the time just back off the gain. if your only loud sometimes strap a comp over it and flatten it out some. its not the mic making the sound. a 58 is a solid mic thats built to withstand some serious spl. i often prefer to use one on death metal/hardcore due to the flatness of the response and the beating it can withstand. check your levels first off.

and while i havnt used many m audio devices i think my 410 firewire sucks. whenever my comp access a drive the firewire lags out i hear a distortion. ive tried everything to fix it. no conflictions in pci, alot of ram, alot of drive space. i wrote them and all they said was to update drivers. then they told me o use a diff comp when the driver update did nothing. im running a xp3000 and a gig of ram. theres no reason it should lag so bad.

 

[DonF]

what makes it excellent for live but not for recording?

It has good directional characteristics, which is great for live sound. But the frequency response isn't very flat, so it tends to color the sound quite a bit. It's not a bad mic for recording, so if your preamp and the rest of your recording chain is good, you'll do OK with the 58.

i was told to look into an mbox, m-audio, or something of the sort..would this be a wise decision?

Yes, although I've heard reasonably good recordings made with a Sound Blaster. (Not sure which model, though.)

 

[tryptophan]

iw ould upgrade your microphone. the studio projects c-1 is a very smooth mic that will make it easier for you to get better sounds.

 

[AGCurry]

iw ould upgrade your microphone. the studio projects c-1 is a very smooth mic that will make it easier for you to get better sounds.

I don't find that a condenser microphone makes anything easier. If you can't get a *decent* sound with a properly-functioning SM58, something else is wrong. And I'm not a fan of the SM58.

 

[2lim]

When y ou sing, check to see if the light on your mixer right by y our pan pot is coming on. That means you have the gain up too high and it will make it sound raspy. Also, if you can post a clip of what the vox sound like then we can helkp more! Also, when going into the computer you should prolly make sure that the EQ pots on the mixer are flat also.

Simon

 

[travelin travis]

are you using a pop filter? even with a dynamic mic it helps alot. check your mic placement too. is your mixer going to the line in or mic in of your sound card? it should be going to the line in. what mixer and mic are you using? a cheap ass dynamic like a $10 nady will make anything sound raspy.

read up on mic selection, placement, eq, etc. here's a link to check out:

http://artistpro.com/index.php?module=PnCourses&func=getPage&course_id=24&page_id=140

on the left side of the page under "free training", there is some good info on basic mic technique, eq, processing, etc.

 

[cpc]

travisinflorida-im using a shure sm58 mic and a behringer ub802 mixer and i have a stock soundcard via line in.

2slim-i have the gain slightly higher than the 10 decibal line in recomended that it has. also the eq is all flat. the light often goes on when i sing, but only up one or two lights, it never reaches the RED light area which says clip next to it. is this still a problem? another problem is that my vocals dont sound ALIVE sometimes, they seem dead and stale at times along with the raspy higher louder notes.


thanks alot for everyones feedback so far.

 

[ch2os7]

clipping

It sure sounds like you are describing clipping. If the signal going into your mixer isn't clipping, how about the one going from the mixer to the sound card?
What "outs" are you using on the UB802? Are you using the headphone out, tape out or the mains? How high is the trim set on the mixer? How high is the level? If you are sure your mixer isn't clipping and you are sure your soundcard isn't clipping then check all your cords. I've had bad cords cause a weak distorted signal before. Try them on a different mixer or amp of some kind. Try your mic on different equipment too. The process of elimination will at least tell you what is NOT the problem. It doesn't sound like EQ is your problem. Just my $.02 worth. Good luck.

 

[cpc]

thanks, im using a y adapter from my tape outs to my line in on my soundcard.

im thinking its either the mixer or the soundcard?

i have no other equipment really to do process of elimination though. is it normal for bad sound quality to happen with stock 16 bit soundcards? does clipping cause vocals to sound unalive and stale too? they seem to be two seperate problems i'm having but i dont know im a new to this.

 

[2lim]

I am not talking about the output level lines. They can be perfectly normaly and you can still be clipping the individual channel. Say you are using channel one, just above the gain knob is a red light that says "peak" you don't want that light to come on, ever. Again an audio clip will help.

Simon

 

[cpc]

ahh, never even noticed the peak light. i dont think its ever gone on since i've never noticed it..but i'll check for it next time i record and i'll try to get a clip of my problem soon. thanks.

 

[gordone]

Best Quote I've read on here in awhile! If your signal chain/gain staging/experience/room acoustics isn't up to a decent standard, throwing a condenser into the fray isn't magically going to make everything better.

I don't find that a condenser microphone makes anything easier. If you can't get a *decent* sound with a properly-functioning SM58, something else is wrong. And I'm not a fan of the SM58.

 

[Farview]

Have you heard your voice recorded well? There is a big difference between what you hear in your head while you are singing and what is coming out of your mouth.