Recording Vocals

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Hello. I have a good mic, (Shure KSM 44) a decent vocal processor, (Voice Prism). But my vocal recordings at home still are not as good as they could be. The over all sound still doesn't sound "up front" as it should. It sounds a bit back in the mix. I realize compression helps and I do use that from my vocal processor, I THINK the problem relates to my room. I did place some sound deadening foam on the walls, but I think that's not enough. Just a few minutes ago I did a test with a blanket surrounding myself and the microphone. This DID seem to being the vocals more up front sounding. I'm wondering if this is the same overall thinking as a "real" vocal booth. I'm beginning to think the deader the room the better the vocal track will sound. Any tips for at home vocal recording would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Try tracking a vocal in a closet. Hanging coats and clothing will make a very dead room. And as you already know, compression can go a long way to bring a vocal forward.
 
tru, compression can do a lot, try not to use a lot of eq.
to bring your vocals up and get that upfront sound.. i found that PSP mixsaturator works wonders..
 
Yo Home of the user:

Throw out the blankets. It's too esoteric to think that blankets can make a good up front vocal.

#1: Need a good mic.

#2: Need to try a few reverbs to see what will bring out the clearest sounds.

#3: How good is the mic expertise of the singer?

#4: How loud is the background music?

#5: How good is the vocal input?

#6: Sometimes you can pan the music off a bit left/right and the vocal will gain more presence.

#7: Practice, practice, practice and experiment.

#8: A good mic pre can do many things to put the vocal up front.


Green Hornet :D :cool: :p :D
 
Mr. Hornet, :)

"#1: Need a good mic. "

As I posted, I've got that covered. :)

"#2: Need to try a few reverbs to see what will bring out the clearest sounds. "

I thought reverb "pushed the sound" further back?

"#3: How good is the mic expertise of the singer?"

Just fine thanks. (I'm doing the 1 man band thing...)

"#4: How loud is the background music? "

Singing through headphones.

"#5: How good is the vocal input? "

hmmm... well not too bad I guess. :)

"#6: Sometimes you can pan the music off a bit left/right and the vocal will gain more presence. "

I've always read lead vocals should be dead center?

"#7: Practice, practice, practice and experiment. "

Good advice!

"#8: A good mic pre can do many things to put the vocal up front. "

What exactly does a mic pre do? My vocal processor is also my mic pre.

Thanks for the tips.
 
Yo Home using person:

I think you must also be a retired teacher as you covered each point.

When I mentioned pan the music left & right a bit, I'm assuming that you have the music on tracks OTHER than the vocal track?

You are right about vocals being done "straight up" no panning until, perhaps, mixing. But, then, very little.

I also have mic pres on each channel of my Yam 2816; they are "all right." But there are many other mic pres out there that offer a variety of results and, of course, prices.

Read the posts on mic pres in the New Equipment forum.

Basically, a mic pre boosts the mic power. I also have an ART dual channel mic pre that I use; it's a fair box but I'm leaning towards buying a Grace 101 which is only a 1 channel pre. But, at this moment in time, I don't need any more channels; I'll still have the ART to use if I did have a need.

Reverb will "enhance" your vocal if used correctly. If reverb gets too wet, you'll get a mudslide of sound and loss of articulation. Yamaha makes pretty good reverb stuff, as well as Roland, Lexicon, and I still like my Alesis Midiverb 3 but don't use it very often since the 2816 has reverb built in.

Keep twiddling the dials,


PS Don't record the reverb until you mix -- you can usually route the reverb into your cans to give you presence; but, the reverb won't be recorded. [that's how it is with most recording units and programs.]



Green Hornet :D :cool: :D
 
it's not that a dead room sounds better than a good room, it's just that a dead room can sound better than a bad room. so if you have a bad room, I would disagree with GH and say there's nothing wrong with trying blankets, mattresses, or whatever.

the main way to make a vocal stand out front in a mix is with compression. (definitely not reverb!) i'm not familiar with how good the compression is in your vocal processor, but let's assume it's adequate. In that case, you need to really learn how to use it and experiment with all the different tweakable parameters. If it is any good you should be able to make the vocal stand out as much as you need. If you can't seem to get good results then it may be time to buy an RNC or someother decent compressor.
 
Besides the compression..Also...Get up on the mic..don't be afraid to move in on it when you are singin' softer..and reverse for louder.There is no substitute for good mic tech..As for "dead"vocal booths I don't like em' too much{YMMV}They sound unatural to me..The sound just falls.. But if your room is too noisy ya gotta do what you gotta do..Good luck


Don
 
Just out of curiosity, are you using an effecty preset on your voice prizm? If your track is cluttered with effects on the front end, it'll sound like hell when you bring it into the mix with the rest of the music. You'll probably want to record as dry as possible, with the exception of limiting. Add compression and reverb later.

...just a thought
 
Thanks for the comments people, some really good stuff here. I don't see why they don't add a "Vocals" area to this forum?!?

Im my situatiion the only fx I use on my Voice Prism is slight doubling and compression.

In any event I do recommend recording vocals as dry/dead as possible and add any effects later. In at least my experience, this is really bringing the vocals into the mix and giving it a professional sound.
 
I figured that you already knew that, but sometimes people don't know or overlook the simple things - it was worth a try.

One other possibility ...if you're going for the doubled vocal sound, track it twice, pan the second slightly off center bring the volume down a bit. The slight differences in performances add depth that delay-style doubling can't. It's more work and another track, but it's worth it IMO.
 
"Besides the compression..Also...Get up on the mic..don't be afraid to move in on it when you are singin' softer..and reverse for louder."

I think this may be the best advice. If you put your pop screen 1-2 inches from the diaphram of the mic and mouth right up but not quite touching the pop screen, you will get a much more "up front" sound. You may need to roll off some lows depending on the singers voice. Don't forget the singing technique too!

Also actually recording two seperate but identical tracks, to me always sounds better than any FX box or track splitting trick. I like to pan the two takes slightly to the left & right instead of both dead center.
 
I've always had both of my doubled lead tracks dead center, and OFCOURSE slightly panning them left and right would indeed widen the sound and bring it out more. Good idea! :) Thanks.
 
As far as bringing vocals more "up front", my preference are the
Joe Meek compressors, like the MC2, over the RNC.

Been using the RNC for keeping the initial tracking on a more even
keel, then use the Meek during mixdown to bring the vocal out.
If you can get both, they complement each other so well IMHO.

Chris
 
You run the track back out through the Meek during mixdown? Just out of curiosity, how do you do that?
 
Usually use the "direct outs" of one of my multitracks, put it in one (or more) of the Meeks, then run everything through a mixer,
then going into a 2 track master recorder.

My digital recording right now is only 16 bit, so the RNC works
well to compensate for the need to record "hotter", to better
approach the sonic quality of a 24 bit digital system.
Some "room' is left to add some Meek flavor, at mixdown, rather than committing to a greater amount of compression during tracking.

Chris
 
I personally prefer an absolutely dead room, I can add reverd later,....Thats what god gave us plugins for.

Dont be afraid to compress the hell out of it. A good compress, used properly, can make people who cant sing sound like they can....Sorta....Rarely do I use any EQ....
 
chessparov: That's an approach I hadn't considered. It gives you more flexibility to color the mic on the way out instead of worrying about getting it perfect when tracking. I like it. Hopefully I'll have something to master to in the near future (outside the PC) and I can try it.
 
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