Hello Again!, thanks for the Advising on the last Topic " Drums! " im a newbie and any help its truly apreciated!, well i have here a 36" Diaphragm Mic, Called Kam2Face, well, its was what i could afford, i dont know if its good, but, well, i would like to know the tricks to record talking e screaming voices, because with the screaming or something like that its distort, i think the singer could be a little distance from the mic when screaming but some people talk about just lowering down the vol and get some compressors and eq treatment, is that so? is there anyone that could help me?, i would like to record voices like beyonce style, adelle, gaga.

Thanks for any effort helping me. This king of situation makes me proud of the internet, to find people that really like to help the others!. God Bless you!, Greetings from brazil!

 

Oh, darn. Where to begin?

First off, you don't have a 36" diaphragm mic. That would be a new world record if that was the case (oh, crap what a big case it would need).

Buy a nice stand and a nice popkiller for the mic. Get a good preamp (and good XLR-XLR cable), and turn down the input gain on the preamp. That usually works for loud singers. ;) If you want whispers, get close (but whisper away from the mic, just like you do when recording whistling) and turn the input gain up.

Record in a sound treated and nearly "dead room". Place a big rug where the singer is standing (or even tell the vocalist to take off jewlery and shoes). Popkiller could be a fist(length) away from the mic, and the mouth could be a fist from the popkiller. Roll off the low end (lowpass) at about 130Hz to remove rumble.

To improve input signal into computer, use a compressor at 3:1 ratio in, maximum. Don't compress too hard (you can do more compression later ITB). Fast attack, medium release. Set threshold to taste. Some singers are very dynamic, some are not.

If you (or someone you know) sing like Beyonce/Gaga, then it will be recorded like Beyonce/Gaga. Maybe you need a Neumann U87 mic, NEVE preamp and a Urei compressor to get closer, but if you don't have good vocals from the get-go you won't have good vocals. You can get great results with fairly cheap gear. Just make sure the singer can sing.

/King of situations

 

Hi Baxter!, thank you!, well im using a Presonus Audioxbox USB with a Presonus TUBEPRE, it will serve? thanks!

 

I'm sure it will do just fine. Just read up on microphone techniques, mics, levels, connections, etc and it will all work out. Gear isn't always top priority. If you know what you are doing with what you have, you can still get great results.

I think you have a "xbox" finger muscle memory, as you wrote "Audioxbox".

 

Tip if you have a extra loud vocal, and you are using a mic preamp, boost your DAW or console input fader above 0db, this will allow you to turn the mic preamp down to preserve headroom and prevent distortion at the preamp.

Example: Set Input fader at +10db

turn down preamp to maintain recording level

You just added 10db of headroom at the mic preamp.

Your singer can now sing or scream 10db louder without distorting the mic preamp

*Note all this happens before the limiting process. Do this before using compression or limiting or EQ.

Another tip: Louder mix in the headphones = louder vocals
Also vocal way louder than the music in the headphones should make your singer either sing softer or back away from the mic

Good Luck and remember There is no cure for a recorded distorted vocal, leave lots of headroom

Headroom is the amount of volume a source can suddenly get louder without distortion

 

I also own a tube pre and comp16. just a suggestion, the cheap chinese tube that come in the tube pre is cheap garbage. vey bright and tiny sounding. perfect for crunchy guitars *yes* i bought some good quality russian (they make the best valves) replacement tubes for my tubepre, for laess than 20 bucks. and it really made a HUGE difference. not so tinny and sterile sounding. much warmer and way more gain. you can look at the tubes and see the difference immediatly. the stock chinese tube is wrapped sloppily, extra glass where it was sealed. the russian ones are perfect looking. jsut a suggestion....... ive been exactly where you are right now

i actually use a reflexion filter in my closet/booth with some deadening on the walls and ceiling. i can get pro results in my closet *yes*