Finally been able to record something with my own vocals again! I wrote this a few weeks ago but I've not been too well, so I was glad to finally be able to actually put the song together.
I have found that there it is so much harder to put together a song with a vocal recorded at home than the vocal samples I've been working with. My singing is improving but I still struggle with pitch control but it's also the other sounds in the room which is making it harder to mix it all. I'm not sure if the microphone is part of the problem as well. I've used a De-Verb plugin on this one but it's hard to get the balance right between removing the sounds in the room and taking away from the vocal performance. Any tips for improving recordings at home will definitely be appreciated!
I mixed this in Studio One and used the CLA Vocals plugin and a saturator plugin on the vocals as well as Waves Tune for pitch correction. I also used Waves AudioTrack on the instruments and the vocal, I do like that plugin for compression and EQ.
_NEONROK.STY. Neon 80's Rock w/ Synths RD: RETROPOP^08-a:Bass, LoudSnare, b:Bass, HardSnare :Ed (Great Oz) Clare RT639: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm HardRockThrash Ev 085 , Darin Favorite RT642: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm HardRockThrashHollow Ev 085 , Mike Durham RT2324: Synth, Rhythm Rock80s Ev 120 , Miles Black
Lyrics: When I look right through the crowd I can see that you're standing alone And you're looking right back at me
I take the time to catch my breath And find the courage to take a step Cause somehow I know we're meant to be
Now that I've found you I know that I see
When I look in your eyes I hope that I Find The future in your eyes I can leave the past behind
As I move across the room I don't know what it is that I should do But so much is said without words
I can't picture the words to say But it doesn't matter anyway Cause you take my hand and speak first
Now that you've found me I hope that you see
When you look in my eyes I hope that you Find The future in my eyes And you can leave the past behind
When I look in your eyes I hope that I Find The future in your eyes I can leave the past behind
And when you look in my eyes I hope deep down that you find The future in my eyes Cause when I look in your eyes I know what it is that I find I can leave the past behind
When I look in your eyes I hope that I Find The future in your eyes I can leave the past behind
There are reflection filters for reducing room reverb, but as this video points out, what you really want to do is minimize the reflections that are coming in from in back of you. If you can somehow hang a blanket behind you, that can be pretty effective. So can placing the microphone in a clothes closet, albeit often not very convenient.
Oversaturating your vocals makes sense in this style, but personally I think your voice sounds better without effects.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not sure I have any way of hanging a blanket behind me at the minute. But I've ordered one of those things Rustyspoon recommended. Hopefully it'll help!
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not sure I have any way of hanging a blanket behind me at the minute. But I've ordered one of those things Rustyspoon recommended. Hopefully it'll help!
It's isn't perfect but it's a cheap start & portable etc. I use a pop filter and screen that curves across the back of the mic. I'm lucky enough to have a room for my noise and it's filled to the brim with stuff including book shelves and 1000s of cds to help diffuse any reflected sound. I also have a couple of bass traps etc. The more stuff in a room the better - the more uneven surfaces and soft things to break up & partly absorb stuff the better too. Better still is an uneven room with bass traps for the corners, diffusers, clouds and good monitoring but that's expensive and unattractive in the living room or spare room in rented premises. Rustyspoon uses one and his vocals are pretty clean.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
There's a lot of skill on show here from creating the song through to arranging it, performing it and producing it. You've got talent!
In relation to recording... my setup is similar to rayc's. I have a mic with a sponge rubber semi-circle behind it (to absorb some sound echos) and a pop filter in front of the mic.
Recently, I've also started using 'subtracting' background noise in Reaper using a Reaper plugin called ReaFir. I like this.
With this plugin, what I do is to find a section of vocal track where the mic is on and recording and there no vocals. I then build up a noise-frequency profile of this section and subtract those frequencies from my vocal. I find this works well. If you are interested in how this is done, have a look at the 13 minute video clip below...
That's a good suggestion, hopefully that plugin works in Studio One and I can give that a try. I've been using the SPL De-Verb Pugin and it's OK but it seems to take a lot away from the vocal when you set it at any high levels.
Thank you very much for the positive feedback and taking the time to listen to the song. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you very much for taking the time to listen and give feedback. I've put together a slight remix with different effects on the vocals but I'm not sure which version is better so I thought I'd link it on here.
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I thought it flowed nicely, and you made good use of those RealTracks. Nicely catchy as well. Thanks for sharing!
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