Please help me with recording vocals

[The Anchors]

I would like to get a fuller sound from my vocals and was wondering if there were any tricks/tips you guys could give me.

I'm currently using a Shure SM48 (i think) running it straight into my mixer and then into my digital recorder. I have another mic somewhere in my closet that I've never used. I think it is a Marshall MXL 770.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Well, I don't get praise for my vox, but recording wise I have been trying a few things that are cool.
Like on my TGFM tune this week, in the quiet parts, if you listen carefully, you'll hear an almost talking low voice with the higher voice. Then it's just a matter of mixing and FX. I play around with delays, and chorus FX, and of course reverb.

[Steve Durand]

Not sure what you mean by a 'fuller' sound. But just for the basics you should get a decent large diaphragm condenser mic to record vocals. I have no experience with the MXL 770 so I don't know if that is decent or not. I personally use a Studio Projects B1.

I know that some people use dynamics for their vocals but the vox always sound a little muffled to me.

If you don't really mean a better recording of the vocals but a chorus sound or something like that then there a lot of things that you could try.

The simplest is just double (or triple) tracking the vocals.

There are a variety of plug-ins that can do different things. A stereoizer goes a long way to filling out a vocal sound in my opinion. You can also try various settings on delays and reverbs and see if you like the results.

Also, I think that compressing the vocals helps too. It brings up the quieter parts and helps balance out the overall sound.

Steve

[The Anchors]

I'm just looking for a better sound in the vocals all around. Not necessarily choruses or anything.

Any mic recommendations that won't break the bank?

[Steve Durand]

I don't know what your budget is like but a quick internet search shows the SP B1 available for about $120.

I'm sure that there are other decent mics available for around this price but I don't have experience with them.


Steve

[Project-D]

On the recording side there's a couple of tips mentioned throughout the help forum. (you might have to go back a while)

You could double track the vocals like sdurand mentioned, try panning one left and one right, various degrees to get a fuller sound.

J.B. had a good tip, make a copy of your vox on a second track and bumping it a few milliseconds then panning various degrees of left and right.

You could do what BLT said, or double the vox an octave higher a lá Steve Miller.

You could use the old Motown trick, double your vocals, compress the hell out of one track, and blend them until you get a good, full sound.

If you're really dying to get a new mic, then by all means, who really needs an excuse to get new gear? You can never have too many mics right? But, you can always try the free stuff first. Try all the techniques with both mics you already have, see if that gives you what you want. If not, it's new mic time.

[Lunkhead]

Vocal recording info:

Stay back from the mic about 6" if you can to avoid the vocals sounding overly bassy.

Use a pop-filter/wind-screen if possible to keep your breath off the mic and to tame your loud 'p' and other consonant sounds. (You'll have to try to tame your sibilants yourself or use a de-esser plug-in on the computer.)

Steve Durand mic info is good.

Pre-amplify the mic signal (probably happening already in your mixer).

Once you've recorded, generally you'll want to roll off the bass frequencies of your vocal tracks to get them to sound better and blend into the mix. This is very subjective, but you can use for example a lo-cut/hi-pass at 200Hz or so. Don't quote me on that, as like I said, it's a subjective thing and up to your tastes.

Definitely use a compressor. For a start, use about a 3:1 compression ratio, and default settings for speed/etc., and bring the threshold down till you're getting 4-6db max of cutting of your signal. This is another even more subjective area, so these are just some starting point settings. Everybody here probably does this part differently depending on knowledge/experience/training/ear/equipment/etc.

As Steve said, doubling a track can help make it sound fuller, and/or give you the option to pan the different versions differently. Generally you'll want your main vocal track(s) in the center, though. Make sure you get your timing right so your words line up on the different tracks, if you're doubling/tripling, and of course try to get the pitch to be on for both/all tracks, etc.

Generally you'll want to at least apply a touch of reverb to vocal tracks. This is another wildly subjective area, but unless you're going for a special effect, you want the reverb to be "felt" rather than really obviously "heard" on the track.

Beyond that, you can maybe add some echo/delay, and still have things sounds "natural", and then if you want effected stuff you can add distortion or whatever else you can think of.

[rogerroll]

Before you look into other mics, I suggest you focus on a couple of things.

The first would be mic placement. Getting up real close is great live. But not when you're recording. You want a good, clean signal. Keep it at least a few inches away. Just experiment. I've done vocals on some songs with the mic across the room. Also consider angle of attack. A more direct line'll give you a "fuller" sound. (Fuller, for me, means more bass.) Angle it from above, and you'll get less (it'll sound thinner). Again, it depends on what kind of sound you want. Experiment with it. With the right placement, you can get a Radioshack mic to sound great.

Next, you'll want to mess with what you've already got. Going over it with a graphic equalizer is a great way to start. Get a sharp curve on one of your bands, turn it all the way down, and sweep it across all frequencies. Notice something you like when you do it? Isolate that frequency range, and take out just enough. And repeat. And a little bit of reverb can go a long way.

[The Anchors]

Thanks for all of the advice!

[Billy's Little Trip]

One thing I can say is that I do what the song calls for vocally. So I have a starting point, but it's adjust by ear from there.

[Me$$iah]

This isnt technical, but I think its the most important thing about recording vocals of all.

When you sing something....Mean it...

seriously.

I believe if you truly mean what you sing the feeling translates through the recording.

thats all, thank you.

[Caravan Ray]

I would like to get a fuller sound from my vocals and was wondering if there were any tricks/tips you guys could give me.

I'm currently using a Shure SM48 (i think) running it straight into my mixer and then into my digital recorder. I have another mic somewhere in my closet that I've never used. I think it is a Marshall MXL 770.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I wouldn't fret too much over it - your vox this week sound pretty good already. Good song.

[wages]

Well, I don't get praise for my vox

I like your vox a lot! Now see, I've made a liar out of you!

[wages]

Not sure what you mean by a 'fuller' sound. But just for the basics you should get a decent large diaphragm condenser mic to record vocals.

I know that some people use dynamics for their vocals but the vox always sound a little muffled to me.

The simplest is just double (or triple) tracking the vocals.

reverbs and see if you like the results.

Also, I think that compressing the vocals helps too. It brings up the quieter parts and helps balance out the overall sound.

If we had a way to flag a post as "very helpful", I would flag this one. This is a great overview of what you need to do.

I started out with a headset PC mic (!) then upgraded to the condenser mic....ooooo. Big difference!

I always double and sometimes triple the tracks as suggested, then I almost always add dynamics to at least one of the vocal tracks. That way I'm getting a clean signal AND a dynamic one. How's that for being "dynamic"? Yes sir, it only gets better from here!

Reverb = absolute staple. That can help the cut a great deal, but be careful not to overdo it.

Compression = I try to limit this because it somehow seems to washout the sound..of course, that was when I was recording in the "red", but now I try to keep it in the "green", so compression might be my new best friend...

Oh, and one more suggestion, always keep the recording's volume within the green (around the edge of the yellow). I guess this is obvious, but I did not know, so there must be at least one other person out there who doesn't. If you are in the red a lot, it will sound screwed up (someone else may care to elaborate more; if you don't, this might sound more like terror threat levels than recording levels!). The volume may sound low, but you can always raise the volume digitally and/or compress it and it will sound better than recording in the red.

[wages]

This isnt technical, but I think its the most important thing about recording vocals of all.

When you sing something....Mean it...

seriously.

I believe if you truly mean what you sing the feeling translates through the recording.

thats all, thank you.

For better or worse, that's my primary approach.

[starfinger]

The volume may sound low, but you can always raise the volume digitally and/or compress it and it will sound better than recording in the red.

this is a good reason to record in 24-bit.. the noise floor is much lower than 16-bit, so you can go crazy amplifying things after the fact.

EDIT: noise floor! floor! not flower!!
-craig

[obscurity]

EDIT: noise floor! floor! not flower!!
-craig

I think next time I need a new band name, I'm gonna have to use noiseflower. Unless you want it, that is.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Well, I don't get praise for my vox

I like your vox a lot! Now see, I've made a liar out of you!

Awww, c'meer ya big lug.

[wages]

Well, I don't get praise for my vox

I like your vox a lot! Now see, I've made a liar out of you!

Awww, c'meer ya big lug.

Hmm.... No comment.

[Bad Cactus]

Oh, and one more suggestion, always keep the recording's volume within the green (around the edge of the yellow). I guess this is obvious, but I did not know, so there must be at least one other person out there who doesn't. If you are in the red a lot, it will sound screwed up (someone else may care to elaborate more; if you don't, this might sound more like terror threat levels than recording levels!).

If you're recording digitally (which is probably a safe bet these days) then "the red" is a scary place. While analog recordings can take a certain amount of peaked signal, digital recordings can't. Any signal that comes in at the top of the scale is cut off completely resulting in digital distortion which I'm pretty sure is what they play over the loudspeakers in Hell.

A compressor (placed between your pre-amp and your recording device in the signal chain) helps control the dynamics of the sound coming in and therefore allowing you to maximize the signal being recorded. Depending on the settings, it should theoretically allow you to go from soft to loud without you having to think too much (although it doesn't hurt to learn mic technique when you're singing i.e. when you know you're going to yell, yell slightly off axis or increase the distance between you and the mic).

One other thing: it is possible to cause distortion at the mic before the signal even gets to the compressor in which case you're out of luck. Good practice -- as noted above -- is putting some room between your grill and the mic as well as singing across the windscreen rather than right into it. But experimenting is the only way to learn.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

preamp! The better signal you put into the recording device from the beginning, the less tweaking you'll want to do in post.

And the sonic quality of the room you're singing in (clap your hands, listen to the decay--or lack thereof. That basic sound, the echoes n stuff, is going to come through on the recording along with your voice. And if the room's already rather reverby, any additional effects you put on your voice track will make you sound like you're singing in a big box.)

As blue has said in the past, use delay instead of reverb. Try it, anyway. Unless you're trying to sound like Roger Daltrey

[obscurity]

As blue has said in the past, use delay instead of reverb.

Blasphemy!