Recording Vocals

[TelePaul]

I'm terrible at singing but sometimes I have to do it...I can get the notes, but my voice comes off very week. Any practical thoughts on how to improve the sound? I have a booth of sorts fashioned from partitions and I have hung sleeping bags around it. What sort of distance do you think I should be from a condensor mic, considering my voice isn't that strong? I'm compressing on the way in. I will listen to anything you guys recommend, I'm kinda at a loose end here

 

[bigwillz24]

IMHO a vocal coach would help the most.

I'd try to get somewhere between 3 inches to 1 foot away in distance from the mic. Try loosing the compressor on the way in. Set the gain on the preamp properly.

I normally have a singer hold the loudest note they can while setting the gain so it sits comfortably around 0dbvu.

 

[TelePaul]

IMHO a vocal coach would help the most.

I'd try to get somewhere between 3 inches to 1 foot away in distance from the mic. Try loosing the compressor on the way in. Set the gain on the preamp properly.

I normally have a singer hold the loudest note they can while setting the gain so it sits comfortably around 0dbvu.

Thanks alot bigwillz24, I'll try that out tomorrow.

 

[andycerrone]

More of a singing technique, but breathe as deep as you can. Feel yourself breathing, if you're breathing 'correctly' for singing, you should be able to feel your lower back expanding. Your voice should be more powerful if you're breathing this way. Something that helps me often is having my hands together behind my back, like as if I were about to bow to a crowd or something. Also, try to get slightly louder as you sing a long note, it will make your voice sound a lot stronger on that note. Good luck dude!

 

[nukeitout]

I've been taking voice lessons since october 2006 for the exact same reason. My main problem was that I wasn't really resonating with my pitches. There are two things you do to make a good, clear, loud note. The first is easy and natural, you make the note with your vocal cords. The second is what takes practice. You have to relax your throat (kinda like you do when you yawn, but not that extreme) and move the back of your tounge up or down to change the resonant frequency of your face.

The biggest improvement was when my teacher told me to sing like bing crosby on a song. Really! I could always 'imitate' opera singers in a comical fashion, but I realized then that I imitated them by RESONATING, and things went uphill quickly for me from there. Try imitating bing crosby or an opera singer, but then relax it all and find a mix between that and your natural voice. As you switch between the two you should be able to notice your singing getting clearer. When that happens, you will be able to sing louder.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

*Edit - What Andy wrote about breathing is also helpful. Breathing naturally (with your diaphragm) allows your chest to relax and resonate better, in addition to allowing you to sing for longer.

 

[TelePaul]

wow some great ideas everyone thanks alot.

 

[nukeitout]

2) Learn the concept of shaping the back of your mouth – use it as a resonating control instead of a slave to the vowel you are singing.

This article at:

http://www.vocalist.org.uk/master_resonance.html

says some of the things I did from a different angle. It helps to read different approaches to resonance. I, for example, had no earthly idea how visualizing a note hitting the ceiling has anything to do with my singing... I DO, however understand shaping resonant cavities...

Anyway, keep at it and remember to relax constantly (even while you're singing)

*Edit: I just remebered that when I start yawning uncontrollably at my voice lesson it pleases my voice teacher, since it indiciates that I'm making the right shape for singing in my throat (and it induces the yawn, since it's similar to yawning).

Also, BigWillz is right, there is no subsitute for actual lessons. There needs to be someone with trained ears not connected to your head telling you if you're doing the right or wrong things... Sometimes they can tell you things you're doing wrong just by looking at your facial expressions, hehe. I've spent around $400 on voice lessons since last fall, but I would have gladly paid $4,000 if I had known the improvements I was to make.

 

[tdukex]

One thing you can do, which will produce more loudness and also smooth out the vocal is to clone the vocal track and then offset the timing of the second track by about 10-20 milliseconds.

6-12 inches is normal distance, however, as you get closer to the mic the proximity effect will increase the bass response (and the volume), if that is a desired effect.

Compressing vox on the way in is common, but does your compresser have makeup gain? As Z24 said, it might be best to lose it.

 

[Freudian Slip]

Vocal lessons.............. Best thing I ever did! Better than a $1000.00 mic and all the compressors in the world.

Grant it you WILL feel like a fool doing the exercises (best done in car alone ). If you can hit the notes then it's the technique your missing.

I tell you if you go to 3 lessons from a good teacher you can do the rest at home. You'll be on the right track then.

Not sure how hard good teachers are to come by. I may have lucked out. But he could put everything in physical terms thing's you could touch and see.


Just my two cents.


F.S.

 

[Dani Pace]

I agree with others, voice lessons will work wonders. One thing I've tried with singers who have weak or soft voices is to put them in a cool (almost cold) room, not cold enough to see your breath but a bit on the chilly side. I don't know how or why this helps but for some reason it makes a person put a little more "push" into their voice. Also if you can transpose the song to a higher pitch you may find you seem to have a little more volume/power in your voice, tighter vocal cords don't require as much air movement (deeper voices require deeper breathing.) Singing requires a sort of "relaxed control" which is hard to explain, thats why you need a vocal coach, they can explain it a lot better than I can. They can also guide you so that you can achieve that relaxed control.

 

[Freudian Slip]

I agree with others, voice lessons will work wonders. One thing I've tried with singers who have weak or soft voices is to put them in a cool (almost cold) room, not cold enough to see your breath but a bit on the chilly side.

More air in the lungs. Just like a car has more power at 40 degree's out side than at 100.

When out practice room hit's 90 or 100 degree's it becomes much harder to sing. My theory is that the cooler air goes in you're warm lungs and expands just like in a cars engine. I'm sure there's more too it, but either way a cooler room is much better for me. Even seems harder to breath when it's very hot to me. Plus the heat seems to sap my energy which is not good for singing.

F.S.

 

[Mindset]

That's certainly right. In the studios we keep it at a nice and cooled 69 degrees. This also helps sound travel optimized. Of course everyone knows it's harder to breathe right in a stuffy hot room than it is in a cooled room.

 

[Supercreep]

Practice.


Sing all the time. At volume.

Focus on what you are good at, vocal wise.


Lessons are great, but they won't take the place of days and weeks and years of practice.

Your voice will improve, but it takes practice.

 

[Freudian Slip]

Practice.


Sing all the time. At volume.

Focus on what you are good at, vocal wise.


Lessons are great, but they won't take the place of days and weeks and years of practice.

Your voice will improve, but it takes practice.

It's nice to know what to practice though. IE, keeping your larinx down, dropping your soft pallet, diaphram pressure, Vibration focus, head position.

Couple of those are pretty hard to get too, It's hard to get to where you don't have to think about it. I'm certainly not there anymore. I don't practice at all I do find a half hour of practice befor playing or recording helps alot though.

F.S.

 

[nukeitout]

It's nice to know what to practice though. IE, keeping your larinx down, dropping your soft pallet, diaphram pressure, Vibration focus, head position.

Couple of those are pretty hard to get too, It's hard to get to where you don't have to think about it. I'm certainly not there anymore. I don't practice at all I do find a half hour of practice befor playing or recording helps alot though.

F.S.

Yea, nobody said that yet. Warm up for at least 30 minutes (slowly) before doing any serious performing or recording! Do some easy scales and songs for a little while, while staying hydrated and using warm water to wet your throat occasionally.