Recording Help: Anything is appreciated

  • Thread starter Thread starter kn87
  • Start date Start date
K

kn87

New member
My first post so here goes.

I'm a rapper and for the past few months I've wanted to get some serious recording done but since I don't have a studio I've decided to use a home studio. I work on my laptop. Here's what I have

- Pro Tools 8
- M-Audio Fast Track Pro
- M-Audio Nova / ATAT2020
- A-F Reflection Filter
- Pop Filter

Now, for some reason with the vocals, they don't turn out well at all. I have a unique nasally voice so when I record it never turns out like I want it too. I can hear my laptop's noise but the vocals just aren't clear enough, aren't try enough, they just don't record correctly. I'm really wondering what it is, maybe it's my Fast Track Pro but I'm wondering what I can do. I've been battling with this for months. I see others on youtube recording with the M-Audio Nova and theirs are fine but eh idk what I can do.

Any ideas on what I can do? Also if anyone else raps do you have any tips on how I'm supposed to record, the method and such? Anything you suggest me buying?

Anything can be done can be appreciated. I really need some help. Thank you in advance.
 
isolation from the laptop, mic placement, experimenting. Dont be frustrated if you cant get that sweet sound right away, it takes time and practice. Trial and error.
 
Are you creating your own backing tracks or are these already done? also ditch the nova and just use the AT2020(I assume this is what you meant). I had a fast track pro and it took a while to get it to perform as it should, once I got everything in order it worked fine but can be a pain in the ass to get it going.

M-audio fast track pro's are known for issues with latency or as you put it not recording correctly until everything is in order. I recently bought a Tascam u-800 for 150$ same price as the fast track pro but with 6 mic/line inputs and allot more user friendly. Also Pro tools isn't all that user friendly, I personally see it as being outdated and only really catering to those whose primarily use analog boards.
 
I'm definitely going to have to isolate it from the laptop and do something because it just doesn't sound right.

I already have the instrumentals so I'm just going to go rap over them. Afterwards I'll give them to a friend of mine who mixes/masters but before that I want to be able to record pretty well with good vocals and then rap over it. Outside of that I won't be doing much right now. After I record some tracks I'm going to start making some beats, I've messed around with it and that seems fine but the recording part is what I need to get right now.

I'm using M-Powered 8 and I'm wondering if the ATAT will work with it. I know previously I tried to hook it up to the laptop but for some reason my M-Powered 8 wouldn't work with it because it's a usb mic. I then tested out SONAR and it worked well, I'm wondering what's up. Is there any way I can get the ATAT2020 mic to work with M-Powered 8 if it's a usb? If I need to buy another interface instead of the Fast Track Pro then I can but anything is a good idea.

Thanks for the responses, like I said any help is needed.
 
Vocal mic placement is critical. To get less nasal sound put the mic down away from your nose angled up at your mouth or level pointed at your chin or lower. You can even try angled down towards your chest at chin height.

Try not to sing so nasally and sing from your chest.

Also look into room treatment. You might be sabotaging your sound with bad room treatment causing interference with reflections coming back to the mic.
 
Ok thanks for the tips. I'm going to try these out now. Hmm, interesting tips as well.
 
Are you used to hearing your voice recorded, or is it still something pretty new to you? Because EVERYBODY thinks their voice sounds nasally when they hear it recorded for the first time and many times after that.

It could well be that what you're hearing is exactly how you actually sound. It sounds nasally to you because you're used to hearing your voice resonating in your head. This happens to everyone. I'm not sayin that this is the case for sure. But it's a possibility.
 
That could be it. I recorded something the other day and sent it to my fried and my producer who's another friend and they both said my voice was fine. They said the quality was fine as well. What I did was record through SONAR using my AT2020 and then ported it over to Pro Tools. I think I might end up doing that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top