Recording vocals??

CantoX

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Mar 10, 2006
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I'm pretty decent at recording instruments and stuff like that, but how do you record vocals correctly?

What kind of mic? Recommend me some but remember that I'm a college student lol. I do have a mixer that has phantom power btw.
How far/close do you stand to the mic? How much gain should the mic have?
Is a pop filter really needed?
What kind of effects should I use? From what I've been playing around with my voice looks like it has lots of mid-bassy kinda qualities. Does that mean I jack up the treble and lower the bass? How much compression and what type? How much reverb? And in what order? I usually do it like this: hiss reduction>parametric eq>reverb>compression>amplification(if needed). Any other tricks?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hey there! So you're recording vocals huh? There you go: http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_record_vocals.htm
You should find every bit of information you need in that site.

As to your questions:

What kind of mic? Recommend me some but remember that I'm a college student lol.
Sure SM-58: Professional and affordable. More info here.

How far/close do you stand to the mic? How much gain should the mic have?

I reckon not so far that you start loosing some of the voice's main frequencies, or start sounding in a room (which is something you'd like to avoid as much as you can), neither so close that you start "eating the mic".

How much gain should the mic have?
As loud as possible WITHOUT exceeding the peak limit (the zero db)

Is a pop filter really needed?
In a professional studio, it is. But for a small home studio, I'd say it would be a nice bonus.

What kind of effects should I use? From what I've been playing around with my voice looks like it has lots of mid-bassy kinda qualities. Does that mean I jack up the treble and lower the bass? How much compression and what type? How much reverb? And in what order?

Ok, here is a golden advice: Always try to use as LESS effects as possible. Do all you can to get the best raw sound out of just your Mic (positioning, room, etc) Mixer (Gain levels, etc), Soundcard (type of the soundcard, sound quality, recording, bit rate, etc). Just get the best out of these, THEN you can complete anything that might seem missing (or take out something) using as few effects as possible. I know how exciting it can be to play with these, but trust me, you really have to control the urge of using them all the time, especially EQs.

With that said, the effects chain usually goes like this: Compressor > EQ > some Reverb

-Compressor: Most used effect when it comes to vocals. (Check this one out, I found it to be really useful: http://www.voxengo.com/voxformer/)

-EQ: Can be very tricky to deal with professionally, just do some research and you'll see. My advice to you is: 1) Use your ears 2) Use a pair of studio monitors 3) Don't exagerate with EQ's, and don't view the EQ as the shaper of your vocal sound, your mouth/mic/mixer/soundcard are what shape your sound. 4) Another good advice is to EQ your vocals tracks as part of the mix. So when EQ'ing, listen to the vocals tracks WITH the rest of the tracks. What might sound good individually does not necessarily sound good in the mix, and vice versa (this also applies to everything you record).

-Reverb: This is to add a slight amount of ambience to the sound so that it doesn't sound too dry / too "in your face" / too "at the surface of the mix". Again, use it with moderation and while listening to the whole mix. Try to use it as a way to sort of blend the vocals with the rest of the mix.
Best thing you can probably use is something that involves the use of 'Impulse Responses' such as AltiVerb or SIR Reverb. Pretty decent, natural, and professional stuff, indeed. Best I could find.

Hope that helps for the moment. Read as much as you can from that site I gave. Its author is quite good and pretty much knows what he's talking about.

Have fun :headbang:
 
I'm pretty decent at recording instruments and stuff like that, but how do you record vocals correctly?

What kind of mic? Recommend me some but remember that I'm a college student lol. I do have a mixer that has phantom power btw.
How far/close do you stand to the mic? How much gain should the mic have?
Is a pop filter really needed?
What kind of effects should I use? From what I've been playing around with my voice looks like it has lots of mid-bassy kinda qualities. Does that mean I jack up the treble and lower the bass? How much compression and what type? How much reverb? And in what order? I usually do it like this: hiss reduction>parametric eq>reverb>compression>amplification(if needed). Any other tricks?

Thanks in advance.

First of all, what gear do you have now, including software?
 
Wow Marwen.. thank you very much. That was very informative.

I've been checking out the SM57 and am very interested in it now. New it's $99 but I may be able to get one on ebay for cheaper. Btw I want to use the SM57 for recording vocals, acoustic guitar, and probably a guitar cab.. from what I've read the mic seems suitable to doing all three. Quick question, what if I wanted to play live? Will the SM57 do me justice? Seems as though it would lol.

@ rockmanxpr

Right now I have a really bad mic that I got for free about 3 years ago. Its brand is "Soundking". I have a mac, but the software I'm using is Audition 3 becuase I have a dual boot into XP. I am really looking into switching to another program because Audition 3 is so fucking unstable its not even funny. The program closes on me randomly when I try to load a new effect. I'm going to check albelton live for the Mac side. I don't really like Garageband.. and Logic seems like its not very easy to learn.
I also have a mixer... its this one:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-MultiMix-8USB-Mixer-with-USB-and-DSP?sku=630166

I got it as a present about 2 years ago. Its pretty cool and is lagless when I have it going through USB.
 
Wow Marwen.. thank you very much. That was very informative.
No problem man :)

I've been checking out the SM57 and am very interested in it now. New it's $99 but I may be able to get one on ebay for cheaper. Btw I want to use the SM57 for recording vocals, acoustic guitar, and probably a guitar cab.. from what I've read the mic seems suitable to doing all three. Quick question, what if I wanted to play live? Will the SM57 do me justice? Seems as though it would lol.
Absolutely! It's good on stage. In fact I've never heard of anyone complaining about an SM57, and that's not something that's happening by chance is it? ;)

Right now I have a really bad mic that I got for free about 3 years ago. Its brand is "Soundking"
Yeah, awful brand imo. I used to have a DI box made by them and it was a fail.

I have a mac, but the software I'm using is Audition 3 becuase I have a dual boot into XP. I am really looking into switching to another program because Audition 3 is so fucking unstable its not even funny. The program closes on me randomly when I try to load a new effect. I'm going to check albelton live for the Mac side. I don't really like Garageband.. and Logic seems like its not very easy to learn.
I also have a mixer... its this one:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...DSP?sku=630166

I got it as a present about 2 years ago. Its pretty cool and is lagless when I have it going through USB.

I'm no mac user (I use Cubase and wouldn't change it for anything lol) but to the best of my knowledge, Ableton Live would be a pretty nice choice.
Whatever DAW you choose to go with, just take your time to get to know it well, and you won't be let down on the long run.
btw, seems like a nice and affordable mixer you got there ;)
 
I'm sold! I'll be getting one very soon. You answered all of my questions in a great way. I am very appreciative. Yeah this soundking mic is really bad.. buzzing at -1db and has almost no clarity.. not to mention I have to jack the gain up for it to actually hear me.. and then its gay on me lol. Maybe thats why I used so much effects? Hopefully with the SM57 I won't have to use so many effects.

Oh yeah and I've been playing around with Ableton live and I really really like it. Plus I can use it on my Mac side so I don't have to dual boot. I've already got all the basics down on the program!

This is the mixer I have lol, sorry: Alesis MultiMix 8USB Mixer with USB and DSP

If I have any more Qs I'll post them up in here. Thanks once again!