Help polishing off raw recorded vocals.

It sounds real breathy... do you have a nice pop filter? Work close to the mike and sing with the breathing as part of the style rather than as a by product.

...and it doesn't hurt to have a deal with Warner Bro's either.

best,
mike

You say you're using your equipment for the first time?

You need to get to know your equipment before you even start getting good results. Recording and Mixing are arts that takes time to develop, just like singing. My advice to you would be to read about these subjects as much as possible and put everything you learn to practice. You can start with this song you just recorded. But eventually you'll start learning how to record vocals with mic techniques that involve not only how to position the mic, but also how to sing into it (you probably know about the latter if you're used to singing through a mic).

Anyways, the vocals from the video uses FX that are common on vocals like EQ, Reverb and Compression. With EQ you have to learn how to compliment the vocals depending on how they were recorded and create the necesary space for them. Reverb adds ambience and depth to the vocals while the compressor can be used to bring out the softer parts of the vocals, and also as an FX to make them breathe as in the video. There are different techniques used to accomplish this that would take too much time to explain (especially if you have no clue about signal routing). Star learning the basics of how to use these effects, and how to best record an instrument and you'll get there. Just be patient and practice as much as you can.


Take care!

Lots of pitch correction and compression will do you fine, cut all frequencies below 150Hz too.

ORIGINAL: PC1211

It would be much easier to give you pointers if we could hear what you've recorded. "Bland" could mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people. There's no way for anyone to appreciate what you're hearing without hearing it for themselves.

That's actually a not altogether crap idea there. We already have the target sound so we just need to hear the source.

(nobody mention HarBal)

The sound level seems right, its just lacking depth and other qualities that good vocal recordings have

If your vocal doesnt sound good dry, it wont have the qualities of a good vocal. Fixing after the fact isnt really a great idea for vocals or any other instrument. Get it right and it will sound good with no effetcs

Cj

I usually keep the mic about 2 inches above my mouth or at nose level and about 3 inches to 15 inches away from me, depending on the sound i want
Cj

Its not that the vocals dont sound good dry, it sounds "good" dry as far as dry vocals can sound, but I'm aiming for a sound that is a bit more "professional". I'm sure most pop artists use all sorts of effects on their voice to get a nice commercial sound, and I know its different for everyone but if I can nail a generic sounding effect I can tweak it to my voice.

I do want to record my vocals and guitar with Sonar and not FL Studio, and thats where the trouble comes in, because im not familiar with doing it on Sonar. I read through much of the help, and have added some fx, but is it better to add the fx after the raw recording? And if so Im not sure how to go about adding effects after the track is recorded, and on top of that, what effects are generally used in vocals.

Hi MiykPace. Some good advice, from Jose in particular.

Learn how to "play the mic." Think of the mic as the ear of a girl or a guy you want to seduce. Because that's what the mic is: your listener's ear. Come in close, move out further, as the singing dynamics change with the needs not only of the melody and the arrangement, but with the lyrics as well. Anywhere from 18 inches away to practically kissing it. Seduce, and it won't be bland, performance wise.

Record at 24 bit, for useful and flexible dynamic range, and don't worry too much about levels. Don't clip, which is not that difficult, even when recording without a compressor on the input side.

While you're seducing the mic, don't get seduced by technology. There are lots of cool plugins you can buy, and lots of free ones that are as cool as those you buy. But none of them are necessary at this stage in your recording experience.

If you've got Sonar 8 Producer, you have enough choices in all the main processor categories to get you comfortably familiar with what they do, no need to chase down this or that plugin just someone says it's better than that or this one. The difference between one compressor and another or one eq and another won't matter much until you have a better idea of how to use them in the first place. Swapping one for another isn't going to make THE difference in what you're producing. As for hardware, at this stage, if anyone tells you you really need to get some fancy piece of outboard, tell em thanks, but no thanks. It's a bridge to nowhere. Learn to use the tools you've got until you actually know why, exactly, they suck.

BTW, VST isn't synonymous with fx or plugin. Some of the plugins that come with Sonar are VST. Others are the DX variety. So it's possible that you have more fx than you think. The Sonitus plugins that come with Sonar are DX. They're very good, and well designed, and great for getting your ears wet. As for the difference between VST and DX, for all practical purposes, it's a difference without a difference. I wouldn't worry about it.

It's not possible (or it's at least not convenient) to actually record plugins along with your voice or anything else. Just as well, again, especially before you really know what the plugins generally do, and what you specifically need them to do. (And even then, it's not necessary.) In fact, the best way to learn how to use these things is to mess with them AFTER you've got a reasonably decent recording, when you can actually hear what they're doing to the sound. Recording dry is the way to go.

OTOH, it IS possible to record while you monitor the track (or input) through fx. Just make sure you're comfortable with the sound, and that you're not creating latency (time lag) that interferes with your ability to perform.

Um.... generally....?

Try to have a good idea of what you're actually trying to accomplish. Do you want to showcase a singing and/or songwriting style? Are you hoping to make something that sounds like a professionally recorded and produced record? There's a huge gap -- and lots of intermediate goals -- between those two things. The first, you might already have. The second, is likely to take a while.....

What's the purpose of the recording? Are you doing it *only* for fun? Do you want to become next year's big thing? Here again, if it's the first, then none of this matters and you're already there (in fact, you're always there.) If it's the second, then the truth is, you're unlikely to actually get there if you first have to get on top of every aspect of recordmaking, by yourself, in your room, on your own credit card.

It's easy to get seduced (there's that word again) by the whole thing. Since it's relatively easy to record stuff that sounds alright (modern recording technology is awesome), it's even easier to get on a never ending quest for better. Nothing wrong with that; better is better is better. Problem is, you can end up spending most of your time clicking from one contradictory interview with an engineer to another, and trying to figure out which anonymous posters on some forum know what's what and who are simply repeating blah blah and trying to convince others to take the same path they took, and whether you should subscribe to Sound on Sound or EQ, or maybe Mix, or maybe all of em. You can end up with a stack of books by legendary knobbers which you're not REALLY interested in reading and whose main value is as nonprescription sleep aides.

Basically, know what you want to accomplish. Know what it involves. Know what your interests and strengths are. Know what your patience is. Try to involve others with complementary interests, strengths, and patience. (Complementary technology is also nice, but again you already have more than you need to get further than you're currently capable of going.) Don't believe what you read on message boards. Don't even hang out on message boards (some on the boards might know what they're doing, but not one of them knows what you should be doing.) Don't believe the hype. RTFM. Work fast. Don't be afraid to suck. Kill your idols. Watch the parking meters. Seduce everyone. Don't seduce yourself.

Lots of great information in their Marah, and thank you.

I guess its just frustrating, because I can sing and play guitar well, its just when recorded it doesn't sound quiet the way I wanted it to come out. Im sure its not the gears fault either, the quality is more than I can ask for, its more of the overall sound its not quiet as "crisp" as I want it to be.

Its also frustrating when opening up all these EQs, Compressors and such, and not knowing what in the world to do with them! Even when looking through manuals and websites my knowledge of how to use them is still lacking. Tomorrow chances are im going to put up a recording of my vocals and guitar, and see what you guys have to say about what I can do with it to make it sound more desirable.

Sorry if I'm asking to much, but I am actually having alot of fun learning and doing this, I mean I have been in my basement for the better part of 6 hours now researching and testing out recordings and have enjoyed every minute of it. Of course my experience is lacking, but thats what I love about forums with people that have the experience.

EDIT: Oh and right now I am just covering a song, because I wanted to get a feel for recording at home before I jump into my own content. :]

I guess you can get this sound by boosting high frequencies, feeding it through a compressor followed by the Modern Analoger and/or the Camel Crusher (names may not be correct), a chorus or flanger and a reverb.

Wilko

ORIGINAL: Marah

Also like I said, check out the Sonitus plugins. As a set, they're good for learning, partly cos they all have the same straightforward interface, so there's no visual overhead or distraction. And their sound is good (least I think so... but everyone's different... )

The Sonitus Suite and the old Cakewalk plugins rock!!!


To OP,

Everything you need in order to make a professional recording (that's right, professional) is included with Sonar Producer Edition. I totally agree with everything Marah said, especially how we all get sucked into thinking that this next plugin (or gear) will make my music sound sooo much better. That's why I've stoped worrying about that and just focus on what I have. Cakewalk has put an excellent package with Sonar that will get you the results you want provided you learn how to use it. Remember, you can have the best equipment in the world and make bad sounding recordings (the opposite is true as well). Just keep at it. It'll take time, but it's all worth it.

Take care!

I usually use a delay (routed to a buss) to really spice up my vocal tracks and I use a VERY small amount of reverb on a second buss, i.e., Perfect Space, with the dry signal set to zero and the mix signal adjusted as desired. This along with a little eq and compression on the vocal tracks usually give me the results that I'm looking for. (Unless the vocalists themselves just plain sucks, then there's nothing that I can do ).

A lot of great advice here MiykPace. And here goes another round. What kind of Mic are you using? Brand name and type.
I don't care what anyone says but a "good" microphone can make a world of difference in recording vocals.

ORIGINAL: CJaysMusic

thats the best adviceIve seen from you sir

Ib was drunk when posting that....

LMAO @ CJ :-D

Oh, sorry if I sounded like an arrogant egotistical ass when I said that... I just wanted to make a point that pitch correcting and singing techniques is not what I'm really concentrated on, because I learn that from my teacher. (I don't have private lessons, so of course im not amazing, but 1hour of instruction a day helps:]) And that im more interested in actualy effects used after the vocal and guitar piece are recorded.

Tonight im defiantly going to do some more research, currently im messing around with the Sonalkis plugins(Compressor, EQ, gate, ect.) and have no Idea what im doing! Im not complaining about that fact, there is no reason I should know what im doing because this is my first time using products like this to an extent, but the manuals confuse me even more haha. Oh well, its a road we all go down, and once I learn how to use them im sure it will carry on with the rest of my recordings:]

Also thanks for the amazing advice everyone.

Edit: Oh and just clearing things up, currently using a MCA SP1 Consender mic with a popfilter. No shockmount yet, it was on backorder but I should get it soon.