I'm in the process of laying down some vocals for some recordings we're doing at our band space. I've noticed that when ever I play live or pratice me and the rest of the members feel the vocals sound really good but when I try to lay them down in the recording process they just don't sound the way I usually sound. Does anyone have any advice on vocal mics to use, what I can do to get me in the right frame of mind to record my vocals or any other ideas. I think I worry about being too loud or too soft at points. Any advice?

Also whenever I play through a PA system I turn everything down except the monitor and main volume. Pretty much trying to keep it as natural sounding as possible.

What kindof mic are you using, what are you running it into, are you using compression, and what kindof vocals are they?

mic positioning and technique is most likely the issue. as niccolai asked what kind of mic are you using live vs. recording. Live singers tend to swallow a mic thus adding to the proximatlety effect making them sound deeper/more brutal/distorted. If you are using a recoring mic get closer to it. try using the same mic you use live for recording. Try singing thru the PA and micing up the woofer of the PA speaker. Usually makes things sounds pretty sick. use more than one mic and blend the two signals. try screamng at a wall and micing the wall, this works great for backup vox. What type of preamp are you using? try driving the gain of the mic pre. use some mis wired cables for a lo-fi effect. What style of vocals are you doing anyways? there are lots things to consider.

niccolai said:

Well I have an Audix OM2, a Shure PG48, SM58, & SM86. Right now I believe we're using a M-Audio MobilePre USB Portable Audio Interface, I don't think we're using a compressor and I'm pretty sure we're using Magix Samplitude V8 but I could be wrong.

The OM2 is an increadable mic. Between that abd the 58 you should be able to dial any vocal tones your looking for between EQ and mixing.

How far are you away from the mic when your singing into it to record? like Josh said, you can swallow or cup the mic and it makes your signal hotter, giving you a more distorted sound.

Are you using a pop filter?

and still, what kindof vocals? (gurgles, screams.. ect)


Never thought of micing he PA like Josh said, but that could be a good idea.

Style of vocals range anywhere from death metal lows, hardcore mids, to almost black metal highs. We actually mic'd the pa system which actually did sound better than going directly in. For live I use mostly the Shure SM58 which seems to be working well for me during pratice and live performance.

niccolai said:

No pop filter and about 6 inches away from the mic when I usually have it about an inch away for playing live.

If you had a plugin to compress with, I would say get closer tot he mic and compress.

you could even do it in hand and compress the shit out of it.


Also, a good idea is to do different kinds of screams as different tracks. have a seperate tracks for deathmetal lows, and a seperate one for like hardcore mids.. ect so they can be mixed and EQd seperately.

I'm sure one of the recording gurus on this page will have better input. I'm kindof a novice when it comes to stuff like this.

Devon of TYAG and Pete of Pillory could help you I'm sure.

niccolai said:

It's cool, I'm still a novice too. I've just had these problems ever since my first time recording which was nearly 2 years ago. I want them to sound good and it seems like I'm never satisfied.

none of the mics you mentioned are really good vocal recording mics. they are more so for live sound so staying 6" away from them is not ideal, you will get better results just holding the mic as you do live. The m-audio is a pretty poor mic pre.

here is a pretty good cheap studio vocal mic. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Liv...und/Microphones/Wireless?sku=271243

A "good" one is $500 or more. The ones you hear on major labels cost over $2k.

compressing the signal is only gonna lower the peak transients raising the noise floor resulting in a more consistant volume. this will be good if you are too loud or soft. again you get what you pay for. you can also compress individual frequencies if you run an EQ in sidechain and duck the frequencies that negatively affect the sound of the recording. but vocal control will go 10 times further than a compressor.......

GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT.

How is the Shure SM57 with recording vocals?

The SM57 is still more of a live mic.

You can get an okay MXL or AKG for like 100 bucks or less.