Helpful ReplyRoom for recording vocals

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Kamodulation
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2015/11/16 05:08:30 (permalink)

Room for recording vocals

Hello!

So I tried to pitch to my mom about hanging up a blanket in my room but it did not work. She said that she doesn't knock me for covering, but she just doesn't have much stock in it and this house is all she has. To put it simple, she doesn't want anything nailed or glued to her walls so she suggested that I move into the backroom. It's a bit smaller and the ceiling is flat unlike my bedroom right now that has like a castle roofing.
   
The ceiling is like the equivalent of a small house and pretty high. I'm only recording vocals and mixing, I'm not playing any instruments.
 

 
The screenshot above is of the newer room I'm planning on moving to since it's a lot smaller, the ceiling is lower, the flooring is carpet, and the walls are a bit more proportionate.I believe itll be better because my room right now has a kind of airy reverb . Now just so I don't have to repeat myself later on: I cannot buy acoutic panels, hang up blankets or anything. My mom is ex military and the word "no" is her catchphrase; I have a reflector shield connected to my mic stand and that is all, but other than that I feel I may get cleaner recordings in the back room.

My bed and everything will be moved to this room since the doggies need somewhere to sleep too just to be fair. So is this move to the new room a good or bad choice?
post edited by Kamodulation - 2015/11/16 05:38:38

Noone is going to help you...so help yourself and in the end you'll have the last laugh
#1
AT
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 10:27:16 (permalink)
Personally, I'd stick with the bigger room and those nice ceilings.  That depends upon the room shape and size, of course.  The smaller room may be better shaped (rectangle not square).  Just listen to it.  Then buy a small can of Dap or other filler and tell your mother you only need to put in two nails.  Show her the Dap - it is easy to use.  You can use a butter knife to fill in the holes if you don't have the right tool, just be sure to clean the knife before the dap hardens (and bless your mom's training, she's prepping you for a spouse).
 
Use some twine or wire to hang your blanket in the corner and you can take it down whenever you aren't recording (or mixing if it makes that much difference).  The blanket should be behind you for the vocal recording, so you are singing toward the middle of the room and the blanket is helping absorb the reflections of your voice before they can bounce off the wall behind you and get picked up from the microphone's sensitive side you are singing into.  A cardioid (heart)- pattern mic will dull and attenuate the sound coming in from the sides and rear (but not eliminate).
 
If your studio space has a bed, bookcase etc. it should help even out the bass response.  Walk around and clap and listen for the different reverb to get a good idea where to place the mic.  Traditionally, the middle of the room is the worst, but in my humble little space off the center (just outside the ring of the ceiling fan) provides a very nice sound. 
 
Good luck.  And if one room doesn't work, pull the nails and use the dap, move the bed and start in the other room.
 
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#2
Kamodulation
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 10:36:51 (permalink)
Thank you! Well she said no hanging up whatsoever and the back room has less of a revern than my old bedroom. My brother used yto have that room and he liked it cause it was quiter, especially since it's in the back of the house, rather than the front(which is connected to the bathroom)

Noone is going to help you...so help yourself and in the end you'll have the last laugh
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batsbrew
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 11:16:59 (permalink)
i use these in my space:
 
http://www.audimutesoundproofing.com/audimute-sound-absorption-sheets-materials-that-absorb-sound-soundproofing-blankets.aspx
 

 
you use these to hang them,
so the only issue you would have,
would be taking the anchors back out of the wall in the future,
and having to patch the 1/4" holes with spackling.
 
other than that,
they work really well, they are designed for the task,
and they are not permanent.
 

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#4
Kamodulation
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 11:18:42 (permalink)
Thank you but as I said,before I can't hang anything on the walls. Tried convincing her but she cares about her house

Noone is going to help you...so help yourself and in the end you'll have the last laugh
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joel77
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 11:41:13 (permalink)
Hi IME,
 
I commend you for listening to your Mother. It is her house, after all.
 
I see window coverings in the pix you posted. Maybe try standing in front of those and seeing if that helps control the reflections you're getting. In addition to the reflection filter you have, it might be the best you can do. Would your Mother allow you to hang more from the current rods, if it was necessary? 
 
Another idea might be to build a frame of PVC pipe that you could drape a blanket, etc over. If it would pass your Mother, of course! lol
 
If nothing else, you might try using a reverb removal plugin to tame your vocal tracks.
 
Best of luck!

Joel  Glaser
Studio 52     

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mettelus
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 11:45:15 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby joel77 2015/11/16 21:46:26
Not sure of microphones you are using, but in situations where environment is not ideal a good dynamic microphone is useful.

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Kamodulation
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 12:14:16 (permalink)
Thank you so much! Is there a reverb removal plugin you know of? And yeah I love my ol' girl, she made me the woman I am today

Noone is going to help you...so help yourself and in the end you'll have the last laugh
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batsbrew
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 12:14:54 (permalink)

Bats Brew music Streaming
Bats Brew albums:
"Trouble"
"Stay"
"The Time is Magic"
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mikedocy
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 12:22:56 (permalink)
Make a temporary vocal booth using boom mic stands and packing blankets.
Use the mic stands to support the blankets. Make a "V" shape with the blankets so it surrounds the singer, open in back. Place a pillow on the top, over the microphone to stop ceiling reflections.
 
When done recording, fold up blankets, and put away mic stands to keep Mom happy. :-)
 
 
http://blog.sonicbids.com...als-on-home-recordings
 
 
post edited by mikedocy - 2015/11/16 16:47:32
#10
bapu
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 13:27:40 (permalink)
batsbrew
then get one of these:
 

 
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=602650


Uhhhhh she has one. It's in her first pic in the OP.
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batsbrew
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 13:29:55 (permalink)
yea, but it's TINY

Bats Brew music Streaming
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"Trouble"
"Stay"
"The Time is Magic"
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tlw
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 16:28:49 (permalink)
A less reflective room is often better for recording audio, because it's easier to add reverb than remove it. The Transient Shaper that comes with Sonar is pretty effective for reducing reverb, just adjust it so the reverb tail gets cut down. A noise gate or expander can be useful as well, but if there's lots of reverb gating can sound like Phil Collin's drums from the 1980s. An effect that has its uses but possibly a bit much if on every vocal line.
 
I'd probably go for the smaller room with the carpet, but without hearing both it's difficult to say. Clapping your hands in a room is useful if you want to hear how it reverberates.
 
Controlling room reverb can be tricky. Thin absorbers like blankets or even thin acoustic tiles are really only useful at dealing with treble frequencies. Egg boxes, packing foam and similar do nothing at all. If your mother won't let you attach anything to the walls, might she accept a free-standing screen as OK? You can buy them but if they're any good they're heavy and expensive. But it's easy enough to build a cheap and effective one using a simple box frame made of timber with heavy sheet rockwool (the stuff used for insulating houses) in it with the whole thing covered in hessian to stop the fibres escaping.
 
You could then stand it somewhere a few inches from a wall or prop it across a corner of the room and record with your back to the frame and the mic reflection screen you already have on the other side of the mic to catch anything coming in from the other end of the room.
 
You might find these useful - https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec07/articles/acoustics.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct10/articles/qa-1010-2.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spg4y5_zsMs (video tutorials for building a frame for rock wool)

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joel77
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/16 21:50:41 (permalink)
Some good ideas posted here. As Michael (Metttelus) suggested, using a dynamic mic will pick up WAY less room reflections. Easy enough if you have one. Not so, if you don't! lol
 
Kamodulation
Thank you so much! Is there a reverb removal plugin you know of? ......



I bought this one recently when it was on sale for a few dollars - https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/spl_de-verb.html Works decently enough.
 
If you don't want to spend the money, then spend a little time reading to find out how to remove reverb with plugins that you may already have - https://riddlermike.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/deverb-for-free-removing-reverb-using-free-plugins/
 
Best of luck and keep us posted.
 

Joel  Glaser
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sharke
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Re: Room for recording vocals 2015/11/17 13:20:21 (permalink)
If you do have money to spend, you could always think about an isolation booth....

http://www.clearsonic.com/IsoPacs.htm

James
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