|
|
|
07-13-2019, 05:44 PM
|
#1
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 26
|
Recording Vocals without Headphones
Greetings,
In my home recordings I've gotten some overall recordings sounding pretty darn good (imho) in instances where I haven't used headphones to record the vocals.
In some instances I've actually taken the audio doubles in a duplicated track and have gotten some pretty cool delay like effects from having the mic picking up the room noise.
What I've found, is that when the mic picks up the room noise it adds to the overall mix by making it sound fatter, more natural, etc.
Also, I'm much more comfortable just using my ear and playing live.
I read an article that said some engineers use this "trick" on certain recordings because of the reason of giving it almost a natural reverb.
Of course, Microphones, Placement in relation to the Studio Monitors all that stuff is important. Of note I am using:
MXL V63M Condensor Studio Microphone
Recording Space is very small - not sound proof, etc.
*I'm thinking I will get even better sounds if I were to try a Dynamic Mic, stay within the right range of the microphone rather than just singing in the small room and using it as a Vocal / Room Mic.
I understand how it would drive some engineers absolutely bonkers not to have the "clean clean clean" vocal performance, however according to my ears It sounds pretty good so far... Attached are my results so far.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiMM3Flv1TozgeBc...0e15Q?e=oF9dEC
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-QX...ew?usp=sharing
Regards,
-Fred
Last edited by fredmatthew25; 07-14-2019 at 12:33 PM.
Reason: added links for audio example
|
|
|
07-13-2019, 07:22 PM
|
#2
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Somewhere PRO
Posts: 1,049
|
For vocals in the control room, no headphones, with the nearfields on but down fairly low, you can try using a dynamic hypercardiod (beta58) and face the Mic directly away from the nearfields... so the nearfields hit right into the nullpoint of the Mic.
That should work fairly well, in fact, if the control room is big enough it is my preferred option for louder, faster stuff.
Room size is a big factor.
However, every man and their dog, tracks vocals in a silent room or booth, with cans, and for good reason.
__________________
"REAPER... You're simply the best" - Tina Turner
|
|
|
07-14-2019, 01:45 AM
|
#3
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Tx
Posts: 707
|
A cool trick is to record the vocal with the speakers on, then with the same mic position and gain settings, etc. let the song play and record it on a different track. Invert the polarity on one of the tracks and usually about 50% of the room noise disappears
|
|
|
07-14-2019, 12:28 PM
|
#4
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 26
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aeolian
For vocals in the control room, no headphones, with the nearfields on but down fairly low, you can try using a dynamic hypercardiod (beta58) and face the Mic directly away from the nearfields... so the nearfields hit right into the nullpoint of the Mic.
That should work fairly well, in fact, if the control room is big enough it is my preferred option for louder, faster stuff.
Room size is a big factor.
However, every man and their dog, tracks vocals in a silent room or booth, with cans, and for good reason.
|
Cool, thank you for the input - I appreciate the tip on the microphone as well. It's good to know that it is a preferred method in certain situations by another - and you have been calculated about it. By happenstance I think I came up with a good recording (out of necessity - two headphones going out) My bandmate looked at me like I had two heads when I suggested we try it
|
|
|
07-14-2019, 12:29 PM
|
#5
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 26
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by bls
A cool trick is to record the vocal with the speakers on, then with the same mic position and gain settings, etc. let the song play and record it on a different track. Invert the polarity on one of the tracks and usually about 50% of the room noise disappears
|
Awesome, thank you, I will try this. I think this is similar to the method mentioned in this article when I started reading up on different techniques and IF headphones were actually necessary for recording vocals.
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniq...out-headphones
|
|
|
07-14-2019, 12:36 PM
|
#6
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 26
|
Vocal Results without Headphones
Here are my results - so far - from recording vocals without headphones. It still needs some vocal de-essing / needs some work on the mastering portion, but here it is so far... (I now included these links in the initial post as well)
Vocals recorded with studio monitors on, with the mic mentioned in the initial post:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-QX...ew?usp=sharing
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiMM3Flv1TozgeBc...0e15Q?e=oF9dEC
One of these is a Google Drive Link and the other a OneDrive link - I'm a PC guy for now
|
|
|
07-16-2019, 02:06 PM
|
#7
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,651
|
I know I'm late, but Airwindows has a plugin called VoiceTrick for exactly this scenario.
https://www.airwindows.com/voicetrick/
|
|
|
07-16-2019, 10:34 PM
|
#8
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 2,905
|
This works for guitar as well
Grinder
|
|
|
07-17-2019, 02:38 PM
|
#9
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 26
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by poetnprophet
|
Awesome, thank you! Checking it out --- Also, Grinder - thank you, very interesting - I forgot to mention in the original thread both the acoustic guitar and vocals were done with the room mic on (which is in the mix provided) I did have the acoustic going direct as well, it did make for some of that delay effect (done purposely in the beginning) I was able to do that with the guitar volume picked up from the room mic.
Cheers, thanks again everyone!
|
|
|
07-18-2019, 08:33 AM
|
#10
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Ontario
Posts: 1,676
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by poetnprophet
|
OMG, this is exactly what I need! I must try this.
__________________
"I've never trusted Klingons and I never will. I can never forgive them for the death of my boy."
|
|
|
07-20-2019, 04:54 AM
|
#11
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 2,695
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredmatthew25
|
Yes, sounds fine to me too.
|
|
|
07-25-2019, 07:24 AM
|
#12
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 26
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by martifingers
Yes, sounds fine to me too.
|
Thank you Marti -- I'm still not convinced headphones are absolutely necessary when it comes to a solo artist mixing / recording their own work. The Airsoft plugin recommendation is also huge Airsoft has a LOT of stuff going on - very very cool stuff that I barely understand (as of yet)
My thoughts are that if you are playing something live, then a microphone picking up your song in "real time" captures a quality in the final product (yes, after lots of mixing / mastering stuff) that people try to get through those SUPER CLEAN vocal tracks.
Maybe its just a differing philosophy / approach. I enjoy music through my ear and want to MAKE music through my ear - and there's nothing like just picking up a guitar in a living room with a few folks and pickin' some stuff out. It's RAW in a way that CAN get lost in recordings unless whoever is mastering is really good (I imagine).
*********Question*********** (from someone who's learning)
***Can someone who is more advanced than me give me an example of something that I can not do with the vocals here because they were not recorded with an "ideal" setup?
|
|
|
07-25-2019, 09:56 AM
|
#13
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Somewhere PRO
Posts: 1,049
|
You'll bump into all the known problems pretty soon.
For example, you'll be fine if you only track a guitar and Mic live, with no editing...
... but if you do e.g a 3 part harmony on vocal, your bed track has now bled three times into your final mix, which will wreak utter havoc upon your mix.
Plus, if you do any editing e.g cut/paste, those "bled" tracks will be out of sync, which will be even more disastrous.
I hate using cans with a passion, and I'll avoid it whenever feasible or possible, but vocals are a special case.
It's not much more effort. I just turn the monitors off and listen through the cans instead. When i/we are finished, I simply turn them back on.
__________________
"REAPER... You're simply the best" - Tina Turner
|
|
|
07-25-2019, 01:25 PM
|
#14
|
Human being with feelings
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Hertfordshire, England
Posts: 1,965
|
Frank Sinatra didn't use headphones when he was recording in the studio.
Case closed.
__________________
Chill at home and stay well.
|
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:36 AM.
|