Peter, my advice to you is going to be very basic.

First, get a decent condenser mic. No need to by a $3000 Neuman, a nice Rode for around $400 will work and I've heard some amazingly good vocals recorded on $100 condenser mics. It's often said if you put a novice into a million dollar studio, you will get a novice sounding result. And if you give a pro an inexpensive bedroom rig studio, you will get a professional sounding result. It's not so much about the gear as it is knowing how to use that gear properly.

As far as vocal processors to "make your voice sound better".... no... generally, unless you have a good foundation in recording with a mic, they can really mess things up and make the learning process longer. People with processors tend to rely on the processor to "fix" the poorly recorded vocal and never really learn how to record an outstanding vocal track in the first place.

Just take the time to work on recording your voice. Technique for singing beats processors and a great voice every time. Observe the pro's and copy what they do. Mostly, they sing close to the mic. Even a condenser. Use a pop-filter placed about an inch from the mic, and get right up to the pop filter. As you sing low and soft, be in close. I often am touching the pop-filter. As you get louder, back out but don't go too far... a few inches is good. You don't want to lose the quality to the room and you don't want to overload the mic capsule.

Work on getting a nice, full, clean, dry sound. You can process later with FX plugs. Not much more than slight reverb and a touch of compression and possibly some EQ in the form of high pass is needed to make a vocal sound good. In a good DAW, you can be recording totally dry and hearing the sound in the headphones with reverb and EQ so it sounds "good" while you record. With vocal FX... LESS IS MORE.

Listen closely to the vocals of your favorite artist. Listen to the tone, the EQ, and the reverb levels. You'll find them all to be very subtle. You're mostly hearing a very natural sounding voice. That's what you want to try to imitate and replicate.

It's just a matter of learning how to make things work properly. Having a nice processor and a vocal booth and treated rooms are fine, but they won't matter if you don't have the basics under control and know how to get a good mic'd vocal into the DAW.

It's not magic, but it will probably take you some time if you're not yet recording vocals you are satisfied with. One of the biggest obstacles is getting used to the recorded sound of our own voices. The goal is to accept that you don't sound like your favorite artist, but it is totally possible to get the most out of the voice you have by learning how to properly record vocals. Experiment, and record, record, record. There's no substitute for pressing that record button and going for the best sound possible. You gotta do it a lot. One day, you'll hit the playback and it will hit you that you have found the formula. And once you get there, it will be a natural every time you record your voice or someone else's voice.

Hope this helps you a bit.


Last edited by Guitarhacker; 12/01/16 07:08 AM.
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