Why Do Some Artists Record In Bathroom ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jimi
  • Start date Start date
Think about it. You're singing in the shower with all that water going thinking that you sound great. You forget all that white noise is drowning out how bad you really sound :D :D :D

Recording the artist in the bathroom? Gives him something to do with his hands :D :D :D

DD
 
lmao
ur too funny
i guess i dont use my hands ,, i got someone who does that for me :D:D:D:D:D
lmao
thanks
the room sounds way better now , however one problem vocals sound very bad without reverb i dont have reverb :(
another problem i dont have a tape deck do u think the mix i hear in the headphone will sound the same once transferred to a tape deck ?
thanks again
hands clean
 
jimi said:
i dunno i heard its always better sounding in the bathroom atmosphere for some reason ?

you heard wrong.

Originally posted by homeuser It's often better to record in as dead a room as possible. This is how the bigboys do it.

another popular misconception. given a choice, for most situations most bigboys would rather record the vocal in a good sounding space.
 
jimi said:
what if i have a song whcih vocals go up and high also in volume ?? it peaks and then not its weird i cant get an even vocal line recorded

Yes, vocals do typically change in volume. This can be fixed two ways: With good microphone technique (that is being further away from the mic when you sing loud) or with a compressor.


P.s. learn to use punctuation, OK? It makes reading your posts much easier, and you will look much less stupid, trust me. :)
 
littledog said:
another popular misconception. given a choice, for most situations most bigboys would rather record the vocal in a good sounding space.

Yes, but the claim was rather that a dead space where better than the average bathroom. And it is.
 
... only if you have effects to add lateron. A lead voice in a dead room with no FX added lateron is VERY likely to sound PURE SHIT!

So I'd state: record in your bathroom, in your staircase or anywhere where you like the sound. Listen to the rooms and take the best of it... This way you'll at least learn to trust your ears considering ambience.

BTW: an alernative to add ambience would be to record as dry as possible, record a SECOND track lateron of the dry track that you amped back into a room... But it'll be unlikely that you have one track left at the end...

As long as you don't own a compressor, fader riding will be the only possibility to keep you rvocal's dynamics under control...

aXel
 
regebro said:
Yes, but the claim was rather that a dead space where better than the average bathroom. And it is.

i have a policy: never argue with anyone who says "where better"! :p
 
"another popular misconception. given a choice, for most situations most bigboys would rather record the vocal in a good sounding space."

Interesting. I've been to several small to large recording studios in the Dallas area and all of them have a vocal "chamber" where the vocals are recorded. Usually this chamber is just big enough for a person to stand in. So that is what I based my thoughts on getting the sound as dead as possibe at the home studio.

But on the other hand I have read several times where it's often better to get the mix as good as possible BEFORE you record it. So obviously there are different ways to approach the end result. :)
 
remember that Crystal Waters song "lada dee lada dou" that was a huge House Music Hit...

her vocals were recorded in a bathroom.... in Baltimore, MD.
 
maybe she didnt have enough money to record in a studio ?
bathroom has way too much echo nd reverb not good !
 
Hey jimi, interesting thread. I can totally appreciate the "I got a 4 track and no money for effects attitude, been there. Here's an idea, Record your vocals right at the doorway of the bathroom with a dynamic mic close to your mouth. Place a second mic inside the bathroom to pick up the reflections and ambience inside. Record this onto twotracks and you will have a dry track with a track of reverb that can be added by simply pushing the fader from recorded mic two up. If you are in need of tracks just get this mix of wet/dry vocals in balance and bounce to another track.

I've actually done things like this with good effect, it's just a matter of positioning mics and getting the sound right.
I used a stairwell in one instance which was a great echo chamber....good luck.
 
why cant i just get a reverb unit ? wouldnt that be much easier ?
 
Ummm yeah, I was suggesting a cheap/interesting alternative. A 'verb unit would do the job...that's what they are for.
 
littledog said:
you heard wrong.

another popular misconception. given a choice, for most situations most bigboys would rather record the vocal in a good sounding space.

Is this true?
 
good sounding place doesnt meanno reverb or effects added and also doesnt mean that that they record in stairwells and bathrooms and tiled kitchens
Bono from U2 doesnt record in his bathroom !
so no its not true !
 
I wouldn't record a vocal in a small reflective room, but acoustic guitar can sound great in a bathroom. More often than not, the reverb you dial in for acoustic guitar turns out to be just that sound. Vocals though really should, in most cases, be recorded totally dry to leave a blank space for painting in the ambience with a good reverb, as fits the psychoacoustics of the song. In other words, to create the emotional space of the lyrics and performance.
Regards, RD
 
cool thanks ... my acoustic sounds good in my dead room too it really does ...i mic it :)
thanks
 
to clarify:

of course big studios have small isolation booths. that's because there is often a need to isolate a vocal (or something else) from the instruments being played in the big room. what are often intended to be reference vocals often contain a lot of useful material - so overdubs might be continued in the small booth so that the sound of the overdubs matches the original take.

but if a vocalist is going to come in and either replace all the vocals, or do them all from scratch, most engineers would by far prefer to do them in a nice sounding room rather than a dead tiny booth.
 
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