I have been trying to improve the vocals sound quality on my recordings. I record the vocals in a spare bedroom, but the vocals come out not as crisp as I would like. I am thinking I need to buy a sound proof booth. Would that help or do I need to sound proof the whole room. The room also has a window. I would appreciate any advice I could get

Ken Mattox

"crisp" vocals have more to do with your equipment than room treatment.

What mic are you using?

What is your interface? Are you going through a mixer?

Do you run through anything (pre-amp? hardware compressor?) before hitting the recording platform? Is that your computer? or a hard-disk recorder?

How are you processing the vocal in your mix?

All are important to consider.
The BOLD would have been my first question.
Too many immediately add FX/signal processing to vocals.

I'd suggest experiment on you next vocal track.
Track it DRY....that will tell much about your performance deliverance, staying on pitch, making sure no proximity effect is occurring, etc.
That experiment may also tell you how the mic actually works with your voice.
You may discover that just a slight bit of EQing will work best in most cases.

Also, some instruments may be stepping on or crowding out the vocal frequencies you associate with 'crispness'...just a thought.

Hope that helps....

I use a blue snowball direct USB into my laptop. I record into Sonar X3 software

Since you are using a USB mic directly into a laptop, you can easily "test" whether or not buying a vocal booth or room treatment will change anything for you....

Sit in a closet full of clothes (pushed to either side of you).
Or drape a heavy quilt or a couple of blankets over something to make a "tent".
Record something in there. It will be just as effective as an isolation booth.
See if it makes a difference.

From what I've read about your microphone, it doesn't pick up much other than what is RIGHT in front of it. The reviews I read said you have to be pretty close to it to get a full sound. And, not many of the reviews seemed to be from people recording vocals for music. More for podcasts and gaming narratives. (Though there were some who thought it worked well for vocals).

If you are serious about recording music, I'd investigate microphones and spend your money there instead of room treatment or isolation booths. You also might consider the smallest Focusrite interface - which includes nice preamps - though that would mean a different mic - since it won't take a USB mic (I don't think).

FYI the capsule in Blue Snowball mics is an electret condenser.

FWIW, we receive a lot of positive comments regarding Janice's consistent vocal sound. Other than that she is a fine singer (I admit to bias) our setup is a decent condenser mic direct to our iMac based DAW via a USB interface.

The room is a small workout/computer/music room that is a bit live with four windows...but curtained. We have a slightly quilted table runner hanging down a file cabinet with her mic about a foot from it. That's it. She sings facing the file cabinet

Point being (glad you got there Bud) is that everything floyd pointed about about effects we ditto big time. I think from having recorded vocals off and on since the 60's that the room has become less and less of a factor and processing more and more so. By processing I'm referring specifically to the "right" amount of compression, eq, reverb and delay for the voice and the style song. The plug-ins are a lot cheaper than a room remodel.

Bud

If you are hearing a 'room' effect (often a certain boxy or reflected sound), then room treatments may help.
Even then, experiment first.
While recording my daughter and a friend one night in her room I picked up on this.
I moved the mic from the room it was in and put it in the hallway outside instead (which opens to a stairwell).

The issue was instantly resolved .. plus I discovered that if I open the other doors beside where the mic sat I got an even clearer signal. These were likely direct side reflections.

Anyway, if this is the case I suggest experimenting a little first, as I found a nice spot for the mic just 8 feet away. And less effort. I've recorded many other tracks there since discovering this.

/The wife needs to be notified in some instances, as answering her phone could ruin a take!
Otherwise if it is actually just 'crispness', a compressor and EQ may indeed help quite a bit.

In addition to the equipment, and the signal chain, the room itself may be a dead room with lots of high end absorption from carpet, and drapes. Your singing technique can also play a huge factor. You can get crisp and clear recordings i some pretty unlikely places if you know what you're doing and have reasonably decent gear. You don't need top of the line stuff to get decent recordings. But, you do have to know what you're doing.


But enough with the guessing. Post a sample of what you're talking about in this thread. That way we can hear and that can possibly help with some advice that's more targeted to the problem.

Yes please post a sample of what you don't like and a link of what you wished it sounded like

I don't know what you mean by crisp ut if you use a USB mic you will tend to get a lot of noise.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Scarlet2i2SG2



Buy a good pop filter, and Bob's your uncle.


Regards,


Bob

But, wait, you're Bob.

We used to have a chain self storage storage units here called Uncle Bob's. They rebranded as Life Storage, but I liked the name Uncle Bob's better, because, well, easily store your stuff (they even offered a free truck with a unit rental) and Bob's your uncle.

Okay, back to on topic now...

What they said!

That package also includes a cool software bundle and the 2nd Generation Scarlett drivers, that reportedly have really low latency.


That interface alone sells for $150. With the package you get a condenser mic, phones, 2 DAWS, and some sweet plugs. A no-brainer.


Regards,


Uncle Bob

I'm stealing your link for another thread.

^^That was your credit/citation for using it. Thanks

Thanks, I am going to use your ideas.

There is still risk that your lack of crispness is not equipment related but environment, technique, or signal processing related. Can you post a sample of your non crisp vocals?

this is Austin, seems like the vocals are muddy

https://soundcloud.com/user-223323291/austin

Can't listen right now. Will try later with nice earphones.

IMHO, the vocals need attention to EQ and compression.
They should stand out and be clear.Use EQ to define them, then Compression to create the focus.

If you need to adjust the EQ on other tracks to accommodate this, do it.
Then re-evaluate.
Like I said; this is just my impression/opinion on first listen. The vocals need their space, and definition.

I listened to a few of your songs on SoundCloud. To me it sound more like singing technique. Sounds like he does not open his mouth nice and wide when singing.
Kind of like this guy;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZipm9Ae1nI

Try getting him to sing harder and without headphones covering his ears fully. (I don't mean yelling or straining his voice of course!) He probably thinks it sounds sweeter and more in tune if he doesn't sing too hard. Actually, he will sound dull and will be in danger of singing flat. You hear it all the time with nervous karaoke singers. My guess is that if he pushes it a bit harder it will still be in tune (as he's obviously musical - unlike my wife) and brighter more interesting. I have the same problem especially with headphones when streaming. As said previously, opening the mouth is all part of it. I've had the benefit of several classically trained professional music singers as teachers and lots of singing lessons, so I do have some experience in this area. (I remember one Opera Diva yelling at me "Sing Neil, Sing - Be a man not a mouse!") But boy, up in front of a thousand people singing "Bless This House", there's no choice.

Good news is you don't need a new mic. In addition to what rharv suggests there are two other issues; the multiple voices are contributing to the mud as they are not exactly precisely hitting consonants at the same time. That is one. Second is that the vocals are not high enough from a level perspective in your mix.

Before doing rharv's suggestion for compression, I would do two things: 1. try mixing the song with only one of the vocal tracks. Mute all others. When you do this, also cut out all of the reverb and delay effects. Mix that one vocal track so it feels like it's uncomfortably loud. Then print that mix and post it back to soundcloud and put the link here. As you do that then you can assess if EQ will help, perhaps starting first by high passing the single vocal track at 100-150hz. Move the filter frequency through that range and even higher than that until it starts to sound 'thin', then leave it there and boost that tracks level by 1-3 dB and perhaps more. I think you will find that the clarity improves significantly.

If you haven't applied either reverb or delay on your vocal tracks then you have a recording environment issue to deal with, because it certainly sounds like these have been applied either to the vocals or the whole mix and if not then your recording space has too much mid and high frequency reflection tendencies.

First, you have too much reverb on the vocals in particular and the mix as a while. That makes for a weaker sounding mix.

Getting a good vocal takes a bit of experimenting. Record them dry. Set the EQ flat or use none on the incoming signal.

On the mix, you have too much reverb and the guitar solo was way too low.


Folks tend to try to hide behind reverb when they think they don't sound good singing. They think it makes them better.... I know, because I used to do it too. But when you take the time to work on the vocals by themselves.... and ditch the FX.... try to get a good sounding vocal track with nothing but the input signal.... suddenly, you are forced to confront the problems head on and with a bit of time and effort, you will be able to find that place where the vocals sound good. Same thing applies to everything else in the mix.

Don't shotgun it, and don't throw it all in the mix hoping something magically works and sounds good. Take the time to work on one thing at a time.....make it good without FX and then you will have nice sounding mixes.

Herb, we should work together!