recording singing

[cpc]

im a newbie to computer recording, and what i noticed pretty quick is that recording through a microphone and mixer into my soundcard ...my voice sounds different when played on my computer than it does in real life in certain areas. (especially high and deep spots) anyways...i was wondering if this is normal without thousands of dollars of equipment etc....and what exactly causes the problem...and is this where EQ comes into play to fix things?

 

[Lempface]

What sound card are you plugging into? If you are plugging into something like a Soundblaster or On Board card you're going to notice severe quality loss. If that is what you are talking about you need to look into getting a Digital Audio Interface, which is a device with much better analog to digital converters with more headroom so the sound is truer to what you actually hear.

However I think you may just be hearing something different because no one can truely hear what their own voice sounds like in real life because of the reverberations occuring in one's own head.

 

[cpc]

i do have just a stock soundcard so it could be that, its only 16 bits or whatevers and i hear 24 is ideal or something.

 

[Lempface]

i do have just a stock soundcard so it could be that, its only 16 bits or whatevers and i hear 24 is ideal or something.

Not only that but a stock soundcard will NOT give anything you can use in a mix really. Take a look at the DigiDesign Mbox or the M-Audio line of DAIs.

 

[cpc]

alright thanks alot..so you pretty sure this is my problem? could it be the mic or mixer too? i was told this and my stock soundcard would be all i'd need to record "decent" stuff. oh well..anyone else have any ideas or opinions too?

 

[Lempface]

alright thanks alot..so you pretty sure this is my problem? could it be the mic or mixer too? i was told this and my stock soundcard would be all i'd need to record "decent" stuff. oh well..anyone else have any ideas or opinions too?

Show me your signal chain, I'm no expert by any means but years ago when I was about 15 or 16 I tried recording directly in and was never able to manage anything that sounded even close to decent. Since I've aquired an Mbox my sound quality has jumped a million times.

 

[cpc]

all i use is a shure sm58 microphone, xlr into a behringer ub802 mixer, into my soundcard via tape out with a y adapter

 

[Lempface]

all i use is a shure sm58 microphone, xlr into a behringer ub802 mixer, into my soundcard via tape out with a y adapter

Well assuming you've just an onboard soundcard I'd say you're losing alot of sound quality here. See if you can plug your mixer into a four track or something, that will give you a better idea of what it should sound like. Then you can make that decision for yourself.

 

[cpc]

alright, good idea. thanks alot.

 

[Lempface]

alright, good idea. thanks alot.

Sure, no problem.

 

[wx3]

Make sure you're plugging your y adapter into the LINE IN, not the MIC IN. That's a common misteak. The Shure SM 58 is a great live vocal mic, so definately not the problem there. The Behringer preamps in the mixer aren't the best but again they should be fine for what you want to do. When I first got into recording I had much the same setup. SM 57, into a Mackie 1202, into the SB Live card in my comp. You can actually get decent audio quailty in this method. I'm saying decent, well compared to a standard computer mic. It may just be that you aren't used to hearing your voice recorded. Much like hearing yourself on a video camera... Hey I don't sound that dumb!

If you wan't to begin to get serious about recording but have a limited budget look into the M Audio Audiophile 24/96 card. It will give you a huge boost in audio quailty and for $99 u can't beat the price!

Good Luck!

 

[cpc]

no i'm deffinitely plugged into the line in haha. and i know what my voice sounds like recorded. some parts sound fine like i'm suppose to sound..like when i talk, or singing smoothly...but some parts dont sound like me. when i give a powerful loud emotional note,...it often sounds lifeless and stale in the recording as well as the blurred and raspy sound i sometimes get.

the light on my mixer never reaches the RED CLIPPING light, but it does light up a couple notches..is this bad? even when i hold the microphone a considerable distance away on the powerful notes it seems to get distorted.

 

[BadAE]

You need not see red for the signal to clip. check the wavform within your recording software. The loud parts may have been choped off.

 

[Rokket]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned:
Is this the first time you have ever recorded your voice? If so, it may just be something you have to get used to hearing. The mic hears your voice differently than you do. Your voice reacts on more than just your vocal chords when it reaches your ears, it reverbates off your jaw, too. So the voice you hear isn't what the mic hears, or what others hear for that matter.

 

[cpc]

yeh i know what my voice sounds like recorded. and alot of parts sound fine, like they're suppose to. just when i give emotional loud / high notes they seem lifeless, stale, raspy, or blurry...which is unlike how they sound in real life. i use audacity to record, and on the waveform the dark blue parts DO go off ..is this clipping? the light blue parts are still inside by a large margin.

 

[BadAE]

yeh i know what my voice sounds like recorded. and alot of parts sound fine, like they're suppose to. just when i give emotional loud / high notes they seem lifeless, stale, raspy, or blurry...which is unlike how they sound in real life. i use audacity to record, and on the waveform the dark blue parts DO go off ..is this clipping? the light blue parts are still inside by a large margin.

Yeap you clip on the loud part. Try backing out from the mic when singing the loud part; this may help.

 

[Levinin]

Audacity has a recording volume control - it's on the top left with a microphone above it. Try turning this down until the loud singing is no longer clipping - if the recording is still distrorted then the problem is at the input and you need to back off from the microphone.

 

[cpc]

like i said i hold the microphone arms length away when i sing the louder parts, and i've tried a bunch of different positions. if i turn the gain down on my mixer or recording input then my normal vocals sound too quiet. seems like something a compresser might be able to fix? and would you recomend i turn the gain down on my mixer, or the volume down on my recording device through audacity? the gain is at recomended 10 db for line in when the clipping happens, and my recording volume on my computer is set right in the middle.

 

[BadAE]

Yor mic may be boosted up by +20db. Try check it from the vol control at the right hand coner of you screen.

 

[Levinin]

...if i turn the gain down on my mixer or recording input then my normal vocals sound too quiet. seems like something a compresser might be able to fix?

Ok, here I think you have to ask what you want to fix. What you're saying is that your singing contains a large dynmic range (very loud to very quiet). A compressor could reduce the volume of your loud singing to make the quiet parts appear louder than they are and closer to the loud parts in volume. But instead of that, why not try singing the quiet parts louder? (or loud parts quiter?) That way you don't have a compressor changing the sound of your voice when you record and you still get the dynamics you want.

and would you recomend i turn the gain down on my mixer, or the volume down on my recording device through audacity? the gain is at recomended 10 db for line in when the clipping happens, and my recording volume on my computer is set right in the middle.

I'd turn the record volume down in audacity to keep the snr as high as possible while still in analogue.