Small room causes mic harshness?

[sach160]

Hi guys, I'm in the process of upgrading my vocal recording from a C1000s and roland 8-tracker pre to a u87 i found cheap and a john hardy M-1.

I'm upgrading because recorded, vocals sounds harsh at the top end and not very full, kind of tinny, lacking depth. Someone recently suggested to me that harshness might be caused by my working in a small room (3m by 2m), in particular reverb from the wall behind me.

If I got some duvets and whacked em up on the wall to kill the reverb, would that reduce harshness? I use a reverb effect on my 8-tracker when recording vocals anyway. The problem in doing this is that I like having reverb in the room when writing and playing unmiced. It really helps. And I was under the impression some natural reverb is good for recording. So I dont know whether to soundproof or not.

Any pointers guys? Thanks for helpin,

Sach

(I posted this question on the mic forum but just realsed this might be a better place for it)

 

[lpdeluxe]

Experiment. Try recording at different angles and in different places. There is no one best spot, or we'd all use it. Put your source up close, back away, and record and listen to the result. Different mics will give different results, and remember which ones you like.


That's vague advice, but's what it's all about. Make it happen for you.

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

And I was under the impression some natural reverb is good for recording. So I dont know whether to soundproof or not.

If you're in a nice sounding room you'll want to use the natural reverb. Your room is too small for this so you want to treat the room and add reverb using your reverb unit.

"Soundproofing" is preventing a room from leaking sound. "Acoustic treatment" is more relevant for the issues you've raised.

Check out studio building forum.

 

[sach160]

hi ipdeluxe, thanks 4 replyin.

I have experimented with mic positions and have found that the harshness is the same everywhere. Of course, when it comes to basic soundproofing I cant really experiment, I've just got to buy a bunch of duvets, nail em to the wall and hope it works!

Thats kinda why I'm lookin for opinions on whether or not the harsh sound is likely to be coming from the walls or my current equipment. Someone told me it might, but I've always just assumed some room reverb is a good thing.

 

[bongolation]

I've just got to buy a bunch of duvets, nail em to the wall and hope it works!

Thats kinda why I'm lookin for opinions on whether or not the harsh sound is likely to be coming from the walls or my current equipment. Someone told me it might, but I've always just assumed some room reverb is a good thing.

It's hard to say from here. If it's a bare, small room with no damping, it's probably going to sound horrible. If it's a room filled with all sorts of sound-absorbing clutter, the room isn't the problem.

By hanging mover's pads (which are soft, heavy and dense) on the walls of my bare studio along with a ceiling treatment, the gawdawful zingyness of the room instantly vanished, though I'm sure low-frequency problems are probably still in there somewhere.

Many years ago, Craig Anderton said that in the typical home recording environment, the best you could hope for was dead acoustics and add the room ambience later. I think that was true then, and now in the days of a million room ambience plugins, it's probably more true than ever.

 

[Thom IV]

Sach

Are you experiencing the harshness using your U87 and your John Hardy, or your C1000s? Or both?

If it's just with the C1000, I would say (having had experience with this mic myself) that the 'harshness' might be caused by the mic. I found it to be a 'harsh' mic.

I've never heard of/experienced a small room causing 'harshness' (and I've been in some small rooms--although none as small as the room you describe), but I suppose anything is possible...

Good luck...
Tom

 

[Farview]

Figure out a way to temporarily hang blankets or something when you are recording.
The c1000s are very bright mics and the roland mic pres that I have come across are very bright too. That is an awfully small room to be recording in with out any treatment. I think all of these factors are combining to make the sound that you are not happy with.

 

[Big Kenny]

Wait til you get your new gear up and running before you start pasting crap on the walls. Your old set up was harsh at best, your new should be fine

 

[sach160]

Man u guys are the best, thanks for all the postings! I'm definitely gonna stick around this forum and try help others in the future.

"Figure out a way to temporarily hang blankets or something when you are recording."

Are thick blankets enough? I thought something as thick as a duvet was necessary, but if blankets are enough, then they'd easier to put up and take down as required. Or what about a rug even? Whats best?

"Wait til you get your new gear up and running before you start pasting crap on the walls. Your old set up was harsh at best, your new should be fine"

Lol. Thats good advice Kenny, I will do that.

I just tried something, which I should've tried agggggges ago, but obvious things seem to come last to me! I recorded vocals in a larger room 5mx4m, and although slightly different, the harshness and metallic edge were still there. So does this mean it cant be the room reverb?

 

[DJL]

sach160... you should talk with Ethan Winer (maker of RealTraps)... here's a link to his forum. http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=26;hardset=;start_point=;DaysPrune=

 

[Farview]

Are thick blankets enough? I thought something as thick as a duvet was necessary, but if blankets are enough, then they'd easier to put up and take down as required. Or what about a rug even? Whats best?

I really don't know what a duvet is. If it is like a comforter then yes that would be better. The heavier (yet more absorbent) it is, the better.
I use old theater curtains to make a room more dead and fling them back when I want a more live sound.
I do think that the c1000 is a terrible vocal mic and most of your problem.