Vocals recording

[Soulthief]

I've got completly no experience on how to record and mix vocals.. and now i need to record the vocals for my band and try to mix it.
My first attempt failed big time! I used a condenser mic and recorded the vocals twice but when i dragged them into my mix they sounded like there was a big fat ugly chorus effect!
Also the "S" of "TS" or whatever letter combo where very.. very soft wich resulted in a......... well.. let me put it this way.. it sounded like sombody who was singing through his nose and having a hard time pronouncing "S" sounds... basiclly.. our vocalist sounds like he is mentally disabled....

Also we have like... no buget to buy new stuff.. the mic used is also used as overhead for our drummer and besides the basic cheap drum mic's we've got a Shure SM 58 and 57 and an audio technica pro 61.. is i'm correct.. so that is what i have to work with... mic goes into my Line 6 UX2 (with no effect! tried it with effect... horrible!)

So any tips, advise or something?

(once again sorry if my english is bad)

 

[ChuckLee]

Yep the POD Farm presets for voice suck big time!
I think you should try to record with the SM57 rather than using a poor quality condenser mic. If you sing clean, a dynamic mic is fine.
Try to check the POD Farm mixer, you hear the chorus because you're probably recording using a guitar preset (weird, but it happend to me the first time). Also check the hardware settings.
For the T, S, B and P I've tried everything but the only solution is getting an anti-pop filter.
Good luck dude!

 

[Soulthief]

thanks for the tips, I'll try them out soon.
What I also wanted to know is, how many time to record the vocals?

Our vocalist has basiclly a clean voice with a litte raw edge to it...
something like godsmack but then.. not that raw..........
Also the occasional grunts and/or screams but they are not to commen in our songs.

 

[Antenna]

Dude You have an SM58, thats all you need in to the UX2. Run it through one of the vocal preamps. I like the modern one personally. Then do what ever post processing you have to do to get it in the mix. The SM58 is alittle dark but those preamp models line 6 has can warm and brighten it up pretty well.

Second, the Chorus effect you're hearing is because doubled vocals sound chorus like before you start mixing them. You can EQ that sound out and lower the gain on one of the doubled tracks, and it will start to sound right.

 

[Soulthief]

Second, the Chorus effect you're hearing is because doubled vocals sound chorus like before you start mixing them. You can EQ that sound out and lower the gain on one of the doubled tracks, and it will start to sound right.

If you can explain this to me in more detail... please... i'm using cubase 5 and i really have no idea on how to do this.....

 

[Antenna]

First take which every sounds the least good of the doubled vocals and lower them on their mixer track til they sit better with the main vocal track. You need to add a compressor on that and the main vocal track to smooth them out a little. Then add EQ onto the vocal mixer tracks and EQ them to sit better in the mix. Problem areas consist of the lower mids right around 250 hz and 400 hz for me, and also between 6khz - 8khz. One of the most important areas to preserve is the 2.5khz - 4khz because thats where you get your vocal presence. Thats the most I can give you the rest is on you bro!

 

[Kurkkuviipale]

You doubled the vocals so your chours issue must be the doubled vocals phasing. Pan the vocals 25% left and right (or less, NOT more) to prevent that from happening.

 

[Soulthief]

First take which every sounds the least good of the doubled vocals and lower them on their mixer track til they sit better with the main vocal track. You need to add a compressor on that and the main vocal track to smooth them out a little. Then add EQ onto the vocal mixer tracks and EQ them to sit better in the mix. Problem areas consist of the lower mids right around 250 hz and 400 hz for me, and also between 6khz - 8khz. One of the most important areas to preserve is the 2.5khz - 4khz because thats where you get your vocal presence. Thats the most I can give you the rest is on you bro!

You doubled the vocals so your chours issue must be the doubled vocals phasing. Pan the vocals 25% left and right (or less, NOT more) to prevent that from happening.

I could read this the wrong way but, if i make the track that sounds the least good lower in volume, and the pan them 25% left and right, i will get a volumes diffrence between left or right or did i understand Antenna wrong?

 

[Antenna]

Nah you combined the two. I put one way that I've found to mitigate the phasey sounds and Kurk was giving you another way. You figure out which on you like bro. If you pan them they need to be at the same volume. If you leave them centered, then do what I said. It's all about tweaking, just do it til it sounds right, no matter how long it takes, thats how I got where I am.

 

[Kurkkuviipale]

Yep, I think it's more 'normal' in the commercial world to use the panning, but both ways are used. I'd imagine that the Antennas choice would work better on verse/bridge/non-chorus applications, and panning would give chorus-like parts a little wider stereo image.

For the "s" sounds, have you tried de-esser? It's something that should remove all the not-wanted s' from your mix. Apply the de-esser plugin to your vocal track(s).

 

[Antenna]

yeah I use mine for harmonies. I've never tried doubling for choruses but I may now using some panning, thanks homie.

 

[Kurkkuviipale]

Oh, I thought that it's common around the music scene.

...to add: hard panning two screams sound br00tal.

 

[Soulthief]

Allright, I tried antenna's method first, at least.. I think I did ;-) so I hope I did it right.
so please take a listen: SoundClick artist: Burning Source - Some people call us power metal, some people call us groove metal, but to call ourselfs power groove
The vocal recordig failed big time so the vocals are being re-recorded soon. But still, let me know if this sounds at least 'ok'
Also I did take Kurks advise to pan the screams (in my case, grunt) hard left and right.

Also, this is just 'mixing the whole thing together' I don't know how to master the stuff... there is nobody in the area where I live to explain how to proceed to 'mastering mode' orso in cubase 5.

 

[Soulthief]

 

[Antenna]

Yeah you pretty much got the gist of it. Now you just have to tweak it to perfection. Remember also Kurk said pan it to about 25%, I probably wouldn't hard pan (75%-100%) it like guitars. Good job man!
Mastering is when you actually put the finishing touches on the mix in the Master Track using EQ, Compression, Multiband Comps, and Limiting. You only do this WHEN THE MIX IS FINISHED.

Kurk - yeah doubled vocals, especially for choruses. is pretty much an industry standard I've just never thought to try it.

 

[Soulthief]

Alright! thanks for the advise! Apart from the vocals, any other tips on the other instruments?