starting out

[B-Radford]

Hi everyone,
So I spent my whole summer recording music on a 10 dollar microphone and on someone else' beats. It was fun and I've learned a little from it, but everything sounds like crap. I wanted to get more serious. I wanted to produce something that my friends can listen to and say "hey I like that". So in the spring I bought a Audio Technica AT2020 USB studio microphone, downloaded mixcraft and made some "allright" beats, and bought a pop filter for the mic too. I'm only recording vocals if that helps. It still didn't sound too good to me. I'm thinking I need a better sound card or is it the mic? What sound card is good but not too expensive? and should I build a booth out of plywood with eggfoam inside to record my vocals? I just really need some help..been doing this stuff all on my own and need some people's two cents. thanks guys

 

[guitarplayr82]

It would help a lot of you could post an example of one of your recordings so we can tell you specifically how you could improve.

You're problem most likely isn't the mic. The AT2020 is a good enough mic (however you will find many people here that aren't fans of USB mics, but you don't need to worry about that now) so your problem is most likely in mic technique or the way you are mixing your tracks. Again, once you post an example of your work we can give you some pointers.

 

[Lo-Fi Mike]

you can use a closet with cloths hung up, maybe throw a thick blanket up or something. you are trying to capture only the first sound waves and no reflections. go into the closet and shout something loud and short and see if you hear any small echo's.
Once you have some pretty dead vocals tracked you will need to learn how to eq compress and add effects to your vocal track.

you dont need a completely dead room, but when you are just beginning, it's a great place to start.