Using Cakewalk - problems recording voice

[tripleplexus]

I have been using cakewalk (guitar tracks pro 3) for about a year now. Why is it that my voice track with the other music tracks sounds ok through the headphones but sounds absolutely terrible through computer speakers? More specifically, voice sounds off-key thru the computer speakers, and fair through car speakers once the file is changed to a cda. I notice alot of artists at soundclick.com have good sounding voice via speakers or headphones. Is it my headphones, my speakers, my sound card, recording method...yeah, yeah, here's your chance to make cracks about my voice, but I don't think that's it. I would love to post some new stuff at soundclick but am too embarrassed with the sound of my voice thru plain computer speakers. I also notice there is a lot on the internet about recording instruments, but nothing about recording voice. Any comments are helpful.

 

[dachay2tnr]

Bottom line is that computer speakers are not really designed for mixing (nor are headphones). They tend not to produce frequencies evenly, and can hype certain frequencies. Also, they are weak at reproducing bass frequencies (if they come through at all).

You might want to consider investing in monitors. These are designed to reproduce somewhat evenly across the frequency spectrum and give you a truer representation of the sound.

Even then, it requires some ear training. Generally you want to get some commercial music of a similar genre. Learn how this sounds in your monitors so you can become familiar with how a good mix really sounds. Then work on getting yours to sound similar.

Generally something that has been well mixed will reproduce fairly well on any playback device. In fact, that is the goal of a good mix.

Of course, for your specific vocal problems, there could be other issues, such as the mic you are using. However, you'll never know until you can get something that will give you a truer representation of the sound.

 

[tripleplexus]

Difficult advice but it may be good advice - at least something to consider. I have heard many people tell me I need an expensive set of phones - you are the first person I have come across to recommend monitors. I was hoping for a software/hardware solution. I hear about all these gurus that are to some degree sound mastering types - I doubt this will ever happen to me. To bad they don't have a course you can take on the internet on how to record voice.

 

[dachay2tnr]

Difficult advice but it may be good advice - at least something to consider. I have heard many people tell me I need an expensive set of phones - you are the first person I have come across to recommend monitors.

Phones are for tracking, or for listening for noise in tracks, certainly not for mixing. This is a pretty common rookie mistake, because things usually sound better in phones. Problem is when you mix to have it sound good in phones, it often sounds like shit when played back on another system.

If your problem is in tracking your vocals, then better headphones might help (although I doubt it).

I'm certainly not the one to tell you to go out and spend a lot of money on recording gear (although better gear always helps), but there are some necessities. Monitors are among them, since you can't mix what you can't hear properly. And it may not end there, since the listening environment is also pretty crucial. Nearfield monitors, though, will tolerate a weak environment to some degree, since you are listening to them mostly directly.

Worse, I don't know that this is the problem with your vocals. I do know, however, that you can't begin to diagnose it without hearing it correctly.

 

[HollowMan1975]

Not sure if this will help or not, but during tracking, I used to have my headphones on all the time while recording my voice. So all I heard was my "inner-head voice" and the monitored vocal sound that I could hear through the headphones. I thought I sang it alright, but then when I listened back to it through the speakers it sounded off-key, consistently. It was like someone cranked my vocal track down a 1/4 tone all the way through. I found that tracking vocals with headphones on both ears was a bad, bad idea.

It made -all- the difference in the world to pan the whole mix all the way to the right or left, then put the headphones just on that one ear, leaving the other one to hear the sound of my voice in the room.

 

[fraserhutch]

Generally, artists will leave one ear partially uncovered (by the headphones) during tracking.

At least that is what I learnt many moons ago, and I continue to work that way since.

 

[dachay2tnr]

Generally, artists will leave one ear partially uncovered (by the headphones) during tracking.

At least that is what I learnt many moons ago, and I continue to work that way since.

This is a pretty common technique. Some people just seem to have a problem hearing themselves correctly through headphones and end up with intonation problems.

Bottom line - whatever works.

 

[jpw23]

Generally, artists will leave one ear partially uncovered (by the headphones) during tracking.

At least that is what I learnt many moons ago, and I continue to work that way since.

What he said!!!

 

[tripleplexus]

Ok, I have seen the technique of using one phone before, but I never thought to put all the sound to that phone so as not to pick up phone noise into the mic and re-record it. I will try this to see if this will work. Thanks everyone for your thoughtful help!

 

[tripleplexus]

Not sure if this will help or not, but during tracking, I used to have my headphones on all the time while recording my voice. So all I heard was my "inner-head voice" and the monitored vocal sound that I could hear through the headphones. I thought I sang it alright, but then when I listened back to it through the speakers it sounded off-key, consistently. It was like someone cranked my vocal track down a 1/4 tone all the way through. I found that tracking vocals with headphones on both ears was a bad, bad idea.

It made -all- the difference in the world to pan the whole mix all the way to the right or left, then put the headphones just on that one ear, leaving the other one to hear the sound of my voice in the room.

This is exactly what is happening to me! Thanks for this insight.