Recording Rap Vocals

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Bourne2music

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Ive Recently Built a Small Studio Setup in my Room bx5a monitors, Bluebird Condenser mic, m-box mini, Running Pro Tools.

My Mic is setup in My closet I took All my clothes out cause I Have noticed the deadening of sound while the clothes were in there.

I was Told When Recording my Vocals its good to record at a good level the highest possible without peaking and i do so, and also to stack my vocals 3-4 times is it necessary to triple rap vocals let alone quadruple them?
 
Try doing exactly the opposite as what you've been doing.

* Closets - especially empty ones, are horrible, terrible, absolutely atrocious acoustically. Closets are vocal booths in movies. If you *must* record in a closet, as much soft mass as possible. Clothing isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing. That said, it's still a small, resonant chamber (and that sucks).

You're far (FAAAAARRRR) better off recording in an open room and putting noisy gear in the closet.

* Levels - Your interface is probably calibrated to -18dBFS (=0dBVU). Your recording levels should be "around there" -- Maybe occasionally peaking up around -10dBFS -- occasionally. Levels of -4 or -3dBFS are running around triple the voltage the circuit was spec'd at.

I do realize that it probably says to "get a hot level" even in the instruction sheet for your interface. Best to ignore it.

More here if you're bored: http://www.massivemastering.com/blog/index_files/Proper_Audio_Recording_Levels.php

* Mic choice - I know about 800 rappers with the Blue Bird. 790 of them think it's the greatest mic ever. 795 of them are complaining about their vocal sound. It's most definitely not a mic I'd want for aggressive vocals. Not even in the top 50. Although it's quite good for things that one would typically grab an overly-sensitive condenser for (strings, piano, acoustic guitar, woodwinds, instrumental vocal, etc.). I still have no idea what made it the 'latest flavor' for the rap/hip-hop crowd...




As far as your specific question is concerned - Only you can answer that. Totally subjective. If you want to double (or triple, or quadruple, etc.) your takes, that's up to you and the effect you're shooting for.
 
So its better to dampen out the sound recording in the closet? Soundproofing? Does it Matter if its a Walk in closet...or just a closet in general is bad for recording vocals?
 
Let's not confuse acoustic treatment with soundproofing -- The two have nothing to do with each other (they actually tend to work against each other). Sound-proofing a closet would require almost complete reconstruction. Soundproofing anything requires construction... Acoustic treatment controls the sound in a space.

Foam is generally worthless -- Big in the movies, crap for real-life -- except in the high end. It'll muddy-up an otherwise perfectly decent room in a heartbeat. The problems in most rooms are in the low end.

Always treat the low end first. Always. Every single time without exception, period, end of story. Always. Low end. First. Always. Some more here: http://www.massivemastering.com/blog/index_files/Basic_Room_Setup.php

But yes - Closets in general suck horrifically. If you tear out all the drywall and fill the studs with 4" rigid fiberglass or rockwool and then stack more of it in the corners, it might work reasonably well.

Assuming you don't want to do that, get out of the closet.
 
Ya come out of the closet.
DB has been out of the closet for years now and his recording have been a lot better! not to mention his appeal.

But seriously isn't a closet a wee bit small. There must be somewhere in the home that you can move to that's bigger and that would yield acoustics?




(:cool:)
 
Oh Ok... So i Should just record in my open bedroom or is there any particular place. My goal is to just bring in good vocals to send them off to be mixed. I cant really afford to treat the room. Is there any other ways to bring in good sound in a bedroom that is more cost efficient than what you prescribed?
 
Thank you for your Help, and sorry if im asking to many questions. But Knowledge is power and i appreciate it. I have a thousand more :cool:
 
Try to "dull down" a corner -- Or stand in the doorway of the closet (while the closet is full of clothing) and project away from the closet (or corner) out into the room at a shallow angle to a far wall.
 
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