Vocal tone - BR80 Settings

[henwrench]

Audacity has a pretty decent graphic EQ with presets, I'm sure there is a top cut...

                                                        henwrench

[AndyR]

Found the linkie for the EQ Primer:

http://www.menet.umn.edu/~kgeisler/EQ/primer.htm

I cannot stress just how much this article represents the "secret" to the technical side of much of what I do on recordings . There's a well-thumbed copy of it right next to me (on the table with guitar picks, slides, capo, a coffee, an ash-tray and assorted guff). After the BR itself, it's the most important bit of kit in the room.

Most of the time I use the "Recommended Frequencies - Expanded" section. But every now and then I reread the whole thing. There's always something new that I gain from it (that I didn't understand last time I read it!).

When you've got access to EQing that does the job for you, give it a go. And remember it's just guidelines - you can actually do whatever you like!!

But like Henny says - getting the source as near right as possible seems to be the thing. When it comes to mic'd stuff (for me that's vocals and acoustic guitars) I've been gradually learning from what I've found myself having to do to a track later with EQ.

For example, if I had to do a bunch of boosting at 200Hz to make my voice warmer in a mix last time, I find myself thinking "how do I get a warmer vocal in the first place?".

Some of the things I've tried are:

• Singing differently
• Approaching the mic differently
• Changing the position in the room
• Hanging blankets on the walls to remove early reflections

It sounds to me like you've probably been doing some or most of that sort of thing already? If so, keep at it (and when you do hit a "sweet spot", or even just "sweeter", try and figure out why you think it's sweeter - so that you can get back to it again when you need it...)

There's something else that might be worth considering - Sometimes I find I just can't get the sound in my head (or I can't get it to sound pleasant to listen to ) and I have to change the entire approach to what I was putting down. For example, my last one, I went into it expecting to think "child-like" while I was performing (as I'd originally written it 20 years ago). That version was coming out a bit, well, I wasn't publishing it!! Then I heard a rough live take (via Mrs R's mobile) of me doing "wot I do" when I'm just performing without thinking about recording.

I decided that that was what I wanted in the "studio". But I couldn't achieve it with my current mic/blanket/etc set-up (I suspect I never will in a "studio setting" with me doing the engineering). Just before I started re-arranging the room to give it a go, I actually noticed the entirely different performance that was trying to get through on to tape... so I went with that - I kind of relearnt to sing it that way instead and after a few days I got a take I liked.

Now, the mic itself (this is what I wanted to say earlier, but the pesky job got in the way!). I don't have any experience with the NT1-A myself.

My main condensor is a Rode NT1000. I have to admit that early on I wasn't always getting the richness I thought I deserved - my voice was thinner than I wanted (and believed it could be). This was especially after we moved to the new house - I thought my vocal sound went downhill then (I hated the vocal sound on Shine, the first one I finished here).

I even found I preferred the vocal I got from my rusty old SM58 I used to use for gigs (which severely lacks top-end now). I even switched to an SM57 as my main vocal mic for while. (I Dream You was recorded with an SM57 with a foam pop-shield. Stoman reckoned I pushed it too much in the mixing/mastering, I hear what he's hearing, but what caused most of it was me singing with my nose and top lip resting on the microphone like I used to do live in a rock band - the plain vocal track actually sounds like that - I even cut 200Hz when mixing that one!)

But after that one, I'm now back to the NT1000. What I believe I've worked out is that the Rode was picking up more of the early reflections from the walls in this little box room. And that I didn't like the effect this was having - I didn't like the sound of my voice in this room, and the Rode was picking it up better than the other mics did. So I deadened various bits of wall and tried various corners, and now I have an area that I can just about fit into with a guitar and that gives me close to the vocal sound I want.

What you're reading about the NT1-A response could indeed be true, but I suspect that you can get over the worst of it with more fiddling around on how you use it, and then fiddling around with EQ afterwards. I seem to have combined the two approaches and ended up learning one from the other. But it all took time (and several recordings that I'd like to go back and redo but don't have the energy now!!)

It is possible that it's just not the best mic for recording you - but, like you say, that means, oh dear... (money!)

I hope some of that helps... good luck!

[Burtog]

Haylie - I've got the same mic, its took me a while to get somewhere near used to it, this is where I am with it so far.............

I am recording into a BR800, I dont use any COSM effects on vox now like I did on the previous Behringer mic, just a bit of reverb/delay if required in mixing.

I tried singing more at the body of the mic not direct to the top as normal and also tried to soften the surroundings to the rear of the mic (opposite to the sound I'm singing), that seemed to help.

Generally, the Rode is more powerful and hears every little thing compared to the Behringer but the results are slowly getting better. Next I'm gonna get a cheap surround booth type thing from Thomann, they help stop some of the unwanted deflection from the room, about £80 and attach to the mic stand.

Hope any of this helps!?!

[AndyR]

... and also tried to soften the surroundings to the rear of the mic (opposite to the sound I'm singing), that seemed to help.

This could make a difference, big difference. EDIT: Also soften the surroundings the other side of you:

SOFT - Mic - You - SOFT (wall with blanket or something)

I tend not to sing at the mic at all. I think in terms of using the mic to pick up the performance I'm putting out - I have it off to one side and have trained myself not to sing into it (originally I was using a dummy mic to sing into to stop myself turning towards the live one).

[64Guitars]

I'm plugging the Rode directly into the BR

Directly? Where's it getting its phantom power from?

Do you guys have parametric EQ on a BR-80?

Yes. The 3-band Track EQ in the BR-80 has adjustable high and low frequency and gain, and the mid-frequency control has adjustable frequency, gain, and bandwidth ("Q").

Haylie: See page 64 of the BR-80 manual (rev 4). If you press the [ENTER] button while you're in the Track EQ screen, you'll be able to edit the advanced settings (freq, gain, Q, etc.). See page 65.

There's also a 4-band EQ insert effect (page 6 of the BR-80 Data List document). It has adjustable frequency, gain and bandwidth for the Low-Mid and High-Mid bands, and adjustable frequency and gain for the low and high bands. But it's usually best to record vocals flat and add Track EQ later during mixing.


The product manual for the RØDE NT1-A has some good tips:

http://www.rodemic.com/download/nt1-a_product_manual.pdf


I assume you're aware that the NT1-A has a cardioid pickup pattern and the front of the mic is marked by a gold dot which should be facing toward you when you sing. If the dot's facing away from you, you'll get a very thin sound indeed.

Because it's a sensitive mic, it will pick up not only the direct sound of your voice but also any reflected sound from the room. To reduce reflections, record in a room with thick carpet, soft furnishings, drapes, etc. rather than a room with bare walls and hardwood floors, for example.

Proximity to the microphone will greatly affect the sound. If you're too far away, the sound will be thin. If you're too close, you'll get the boomy radio-announcer effect. Experiment to find the proximity that gives you the best sound.

[Geir]

I'm plugging the Rode directly into the BR

Directly? Where's it getting its phantom power from?

I was wondering about the same. And if you plug it into the guitar/mic input (big jack) have you set the switch on the back to "MIC"?

[Hilary]

Thanks for all you help guys, I really appreciate it - it'll make such a difference when I do finally crack it.

I will come back to this later - just a couple of points for now

I hang a towel at the back of the mic to try to deflect some of the sound which helps and was thinking about making one of those vocal deflectors, it does help (how well is that gonna turn out   )

Sorry, don't plug in directly (I meant not via a mixer) but via a Behringer PS400 phantom power unit - I broke my Behringer preamp but it's much better without it, it was very noisy and yes I switch the control to mic at the back of the BR.

Yes I have the gold dot facing forward - I'm not though (ha ha)

Will look at the rest later today xxx

[Hilary]

Ok I'm vaguely excited boys (trust me that doesn't happen very often)

I've changed the room and made a vocal booth out of a pair of my old knickers (well a sleeping bag, the knickers were too big) - photos attached

I think the sound is much improved (appreciate got to work with what god gave me) - sample attached - no eq just slight delay and reverb on the BR settings (although I have found the EQ button on the BR - finally)

Also had to sing off centre as the mic couldn't cope with the resonance, particularly on the oooo vowels.

Still got to address the EQ, but at least a can record stuff for now - thanks xxx

(should point out - it won't come as a shock to any of you, but it's not me playing the guitar - I got it off Youtube from a man called Rui Nagae - with permission - his site is www.youtube.com/user/myamywinehousetribut)

[AndyR]

Cool, can't listen at work, but I suspect that this should give you some decent improvements.

And mebbe you could make a bit of extra money by selling vocal booth kits round these parts -"Haylie's Old Knickers" Vocal Booth (TM)

[henwrench]

Those vocals are sounding great!!