Home recording Vocals?

[IMENATOR]

So I have been making good progress with my home recording skills using direct connections from Guitar and Bass into Focusrite 2i2 into Ardour in Ubuntu Studio. Also learned to program Hydrogen Drum Machine rhythms and fills. This weekend my friend visited me and we had a lot of fun recording a song composed by him and his daughter but now we need to record vocals.

For what I have read so far I understand the acoustics of the room are actually part of the equation and the best desired scenario is to have acoustic treatment, which is not gonna happen any time soon. I know there are several DIY projects for acoustic treatment for a home recording room but I don't have the time or the money for that during the following months.

Being that said I need your suggestions on how to try to make the best possible home recording. Any tip that you may have tried and was useful for you I can definitely try.

For example, I just learned that cupping the mic does not only give you a "boxy" sound but it can also make it more noisy.


PS: The room is about 147 in x 127 in x 96 in, a door and a window.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

A closet full of clothes might work. You want a small room and the clothes will absorb a lot of reflections. If needed, you can pin up a blanket so one end is over the door and the other end slopes down behind the singer to block reflections from the ceiling.

If you don't have a pop-filter for the mic, a woman's stocking and a small embroidery hoop will work just as well. Socks and underwear and a t-shirt might be too thick, though.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

If you're worried about room sound, record with a dynamic mic like a Shure SM58. It isn't the best sounding mic out there, but it'll work and pick up very little of the room sound.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

I always found that to be one of the hardest things to do in home recording.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

Set up in the dead center of the room so the mic is at the crossing point of any standing waves, and aim yourself and the mic at a really odd angle (don't stand facing any particular wall, face more towards a corner) so any direct wall reflections aren't coming straight back into the mic, but reflecting off in another direction. (Hard to describe in words, easier to draw on paper.)

 

[everdrone]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

my sure sm7b is great for that

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

Yeah use a dynamic if you can (meaning, if it will suit your voice) and try to get things up and around it to 'deaden' the space. Unlike recording pretty much anything else, you don't want a good sounding room, you want a no-sounding room.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

I agree with the dynamic mic comments; just start with an SM57, it's a surprisingly versatile mic. Personally, I prefer the Sennheiser e609 or Audix D2 for almost any application where you would grab a 57.

Take a boom mic stand and make it into a "T". Clamp a heavy blanket or quilt to it. Place it behind the mic and raise it up as high as it will go. Voila; instant reflection filter. Add a second one behind the singing position and you now have a very controlled but lively mic setup that doesn't sound boxy.

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

I agree with the dynamic mic comments; just start with an SM57, it's a surprisingly versatile mic. Personally, I prefer the Sennheiser e609 or Audix D2 for almost any application where you would grab a 57.

Take a boom mic stand and make it into a "T". Clamp a heavy blanket or quilt to it. Place it behind the mic and raise it up as high as it will go. Voila; instant reflection filter. Add a second one behind the singing position and you now have a very controlled but lively mic setup that doesn't sound boxy.

Thanks, that really got me thinking on how to make something that is portable.

On the other hand I had the impression that acoustic treatment was something you apply like definitely to the walls of the room and I was thinking I wanted to avoid that as the place I am is rented. However please educate me on this: Can I just buy some wood sheets and glue the foam on those? If that would work then maybe I can save some money, make a plan of what I can make like a DIY to make put one sheet behind the mic and another one behind the singer? It would be similar to what TwilightOdyssey described but using something sheet of wood and foam to reduce the reverberation.

Maybe something like that could be hanged on the walls of the room for a not-so-expensive acoustic treatment ? That way whatever I invest on I can take it away to a different place when I have to move.

Also, based on TwilightOdyssey comment I also found these videos of people doing some clever DIY stuff for voice recording, do you think any of these make sense for recording a singer at home? Which one you think would have a better result? I can already see which one may cost more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VidsiIqSVQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWgLCPaOAzo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-aBlRIZ8Ks


Thanks in advance to every one, please keep the suggestions comming in

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

You sure can!

I made these panels using Auralex panels, Auralex spray adhesive, and 12" squares of masonite (hard board). I literally mix in my dining room, so when I know I am going to be spending a month mixing, I take these out of the closet, fix em to the walls and ceiling using removable tabs from Command, then then tear it down when done.








JUST REMEMBER:

1. Typically, you don't want to have more than 25% of your space deadened.
2. The floor and ceiling are not to be ignored! Throw down an area rug and affix some panels directly above; it will make a much bigger difference than you think!

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

These panels can be hung on the wall like regular picture frames and such, so no worries about the landlord crying about holes in the walls.

Or, as TO said, those clean-removal self-adhesive strips or even the ones with Velcro will work.

 

[everdrone]

Re: Home recording Vocals?

all good suggestions!

with the shure sm7b you dont need to treat or deaden the room at all as that wont really affect things at all. thats why I bought it. you might like making videos and all youll see is the mic and not the mic shield and sound treatment in the room etc.


if you need the condenser mic for your purposes then you could also consider sE Electronics microphone shield and that is small and portable and you wont need to treat as much: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ylnLa_g7oL-XQh6P8CW1uumnqk33FSqEOoaAhjq8P8HAQ

experiment and see if no mic treatment serves your purposes in a pinch; if you need studio quality records then ya its not gonna do.

when I was thinking about buyiing a mic for vocals I was jonesing for a condenser mic and going on fleabay and amazon looking at portable vocal booths.

I think my sm7b sounds good enough and is used by other metalheads and michal jackson "thriller" album and by Bono etc, here is a demo of me using it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byPYOwDwUls