Tracking in a small room home studio

[stunnacee210@icloud.com]

I need advice for
great vocals I’m mostly doing rap and hip hop stuff
I have a slate ml1 with the linear preamp a bluebird sm57 a sm58 an Apollo twin x Apollo quad FireWire digi 03 mbox 3 and 192 and a avid sync also didn’t buy the had native yet tho so I can’t run hd
I have no booth setup just acoustic foam and an primacoustic kit and a very cheap reflection filter I get fair results on vocals but I feel it can be a lot better than what I’m getting I need help any tips are well appreciated
My mixes are finally starting to translate and now I wanna really step up my vocal tracking skills I really need a mentor with this I’m been doing music for 10 years I’m 26 bouta turn 27 next month and feel like I’m stuck please help me ..I can use any advice


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[JFreak]

Hi, your post count is so low your posts with links and pics go to manual approval. Please refrain from posting such for now, this forum system is sometimes pretty nazi.

[albee1952]

The photo is really dark so we can't tell much from that, so here's some general guidance:
1-the foam on the walls is not helping much by itself and it looks like you have nothing extra in the corners(which is where bass builds up) where bass traps should be used(lots of info on the web on this). Grab a pair of tall boom stands, set them up like a big letter "T" behind you and drape moving pads over them to help(everything helps)
2-after the singer, it starts with the mic, which you don't mention. If you are using a budget mic, your next purchase should probably be a good mic(I can highly recommend the Miktek C7(Keb' Mo' liked it so much, he redid all the vocals on a recording he did several years back after demoing this mic). Do use a pop screen.
3-next in line is the preamp/interface(which you also didn't mention). If the interface is not great, a good preamp would be my next purchase. Either a Neve clone(Warm Audio, Heritage, Vintech, etc) or an API-312(not the 512) or a clone(Warm Audio or Five Fish).
4-(all these could be in a different order), mic technique! Experiment with the distance between the singer and the mic(closer has more "beef", but this can overshadow the clarity and air you get by backing away 10-14". Once you find where it sounds the best, move the pop screen to keep the singer back that amount all the time(at least until you know the singer has really good mic technique so they move in for soft stuff and back away for loud stuff).
5-there's more, but this is enough for you to digest for now. The specific gear I mention is based solely on my own hands-on use of those products

[EGS]

Originally Posted by stunnacee210@icloud.com

... slate ml1 with the linear preamp ...

Don't know that mic specifically, but it should be decent.

Originally Posted by stunnacee210@icloud.com

...I wanna really step up my vocal tracking skills ...

How do you feel your skills are lacking?
Two fists away from mic. Pop filter. Hi-pass filer at about 90hz. Little bit of compression. Maybe a slight 1db broad-q hi-end boost.

[Bob Olhsson]

The SM57 is my best friend in a small room!

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

The SM57 is my best friend in a small room!

Small room, small mic. Michael Jackson mastered it.

[albee1952]

Sorry, I missed the Slate mic(and the rest that was between the pics). Having owned that mic, I know it should do a solid job. The C-12 and 251 models are quite decent. I also see the benefit of the SM57. Use the Slate preamp and the VMR with the Slate Neve preamp model. Follow that with a good EQ and compressor plugin and a Pultec plugin for some top end "air"