Recording Vocals

[HRose]

Would like to know what equipment might help me record studio quality vocals in my home studio. Running Pro Tools Studio on iMac. All software up to date. Rode mic and Scarlet i18 rack mount. Also have The Brick preamp. Can go higher end with solid recommendation. Thanks.

[Darryl Ramm]

Some clue what you are doing would help. What vocals? Male? Female? What type of music? or spoken word or ADR?

What exact Rode mic model do you have now?

What is lacking, or "wrong", in what you are recording?

Do you have a good recording space? Room treatment? Room sounds good/what you want? Artist is comfortable, standing up, seated etc. however they want? Got good monitoring for how they want to hear the cue mix/themselves so they can perform best?

Artist is using good mic technique, appropriate distance and direction from the mic? Using the correct side of a large condenser mic, using pop filters/shields as needed. etc.

Good playback/mixing setup? Monitors? Room treatment etc. so you can critically listen to the recording.

[nednednerb]

You would need the same equipment used in those recording studios.

This isn't a moot point. The specific sound of specific artists on specific albums in specific decades actually used the same specific kinds of equipment in a specific manner.

Same box, same setting, same sound. You need to figure out HOW to record, HOW to edit, HOW to mix, not just WHAT to do those things WITH.

Otherwise, just go for the most expensive gear if you don't have any specific aims. Expensive microphones, interfaces, processors.

Make sure to be fooled by the premise that hardware MUST be better than ALL software, so you stick to mostly equipment purchases and use Pro Tools editing tools to do what you could do with all that hardware and Garageband or Reaper, almost.

Learn the tools really well, speaking seriously, and you will go much farther with cheap gear for now. Decide what you can do, and THEN decide on specific gear for specific sounds, not just to make "studio quality".

[JFreak]

Before spending thousands on a super nice mic, spend hundreds for a vocal booth. Biggest problem in home recording is acoustics, which is usually... erm... suboptimal at best and problematic at worst.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Before spending thousands on a super nice mic, spend hundreds for a vocal booth. Biggest problem in home recording is acoustics, which is usually... erm... suboptimal at best and problematic at worst.

Amen to that! I put acoustics as the #1 thing to get right. Now you don't need to break the bank to improve the acoustic space for recording vocals. Some moving blankets draped over mic stands can solve a lot. Some kind of cloud above will also help, especially if its a low ceiling(or you can try one of the many reflection baffle products that wrap around the back-side of the mic).

As for mics, a "budget" mic is usually going to give "budget" results, unless you are lucky that the "budget" mic just happens to be a great match to the singer's voice(it happens), but there are several great mics that are very affordable(examples; Shure SM-7 is often excellent on rock/pop singers or the Miktek C7 holds its own next to a U87, but for a third the price). Just remember that the most expensive mic in the world might be wrong for the singer

3rd thing(my opinion) would be the preamp/recording channel. Any of the Neve clones are likely to make a nice improvement, but I'm also a fan of the API 312(or clone) for vocals, especially if the preamp is followed by a good compressor. I'm a big fan of the Warm Audio WA-2A(use any compressor gently while recording. You can always squash more with plugins, but its really tough to undo too much compression).

[Ben Jenssen]

I'd like to add one simple aspect to getting good sound; Even with all the good advice above, it won't help you much if you don't have a listening environment that is good, and that you know and feel comfortable with. Also experience and knowing what to listen for. Without those things you won't be able to tell the difference between a good and a bad microphone for example.

Good monitors in at least a dampened room, and lots and lots of listening practice, and learning how it translates on other systems. And do not rely on headphones!

[HRose]

Thank you all for your advice. I should explain something. I live in Vegas and went to a top studio in town to do vocals. Lost my voice within 30 mins. Why? Turns out they had sprayed Febreze all around the area just before I came in. That stuff is poison to me. So recording in my home studio would be a safe option. I booked another studio and explained the issue up front. Hope it goes well. But it would be great to get premium results at home. Thank you so very much for the advice.

[JFreak]

Whether home or studio, you need:
- good acoustics (or even killing worst problems)
- good mic that matches your voice
- good preamp and converter

Then it is up to you what gets recorded. Just like EQ, you need to kill anything that is offending. That will emphasize what you get.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by HRose

So recording in my home studio would be a safe option.

If you're not experienced with home recording, it will be a long road to get there. But there's one thing that might not be so easy to grasp until much later, and I think my DUC friends will agree with me; the problems with recording, judging, and mixing your own voice. This often results in terrible results. I've seen it so many times; the singer mixes his/her vocals too low, is very often very noticable to others.

I think the problem lies with the simple fact that when you hear your voice recorded, it sounds different than you're used to. I think this comes from the fact that we are used to hearing the resonance inside our heads and think it sounds strange when recorded and played back. That's why we can make strange decisions when mixing our own voice.

I am a vocalist myself.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

problems with recording, judging, and mixing your own voice. This often results in terrible results.

This is also why a band generally speaking should not master their own stuff. Better send for a pair of ears who have not heard it before.