vocal help

[little_chick]

I'm always disappointed with my vocal.  To me, it sounds very thin.  What kinds of things can I do with the MBR to help enhance it so I don't sound like Minnie Mouse?

[launched]

What kinds of things can I do with the MBR to help enhance it so I don't sound like Minnie Mouse?

Ha - I love that.  

I feel the same way about my voice - It's never right and I'm never happy, but you have taken the biggest step by singing to your own music and posting for others to listen to. That takes a lot of guts and the practice really helps with the results after a few posts.

There are a lot of experts here that will eventually chime in and give you excellent advice. I have learned a lot from them. In the meantime here a couple of tips that will get you rolling in the right direction:

1. The least complicated way to enhance your vocals and make them sound more powerful is to record them to two different tracks and pan one track to the left slightly and the other to the right (Between 12 and 25 units left and right). Because it is humanly impossible to sing each track exactly the same way, the slight imperfections in each track will make the vocals stand out more.

2. Use a little reverb, but not too much. Set your reverb at the track level, and when you press the Input button, make sure the Rv: has a 0 next to it. 20 should be enough.

3. I'm assuming that you use the onboard mic. Try the ForNylon vocal effect, and turn the delay down to about 12ms. (EFFECTS:EDT:Cursor > 1:DLY:Cursor > 2:Dly Time 10ms. A lot of people use this vocal patch as it takes the tinny sound out.

This is just scratching the surface. There is much more you can do, but it should get you off to a good start. I'm pretty sure you will be happy.  

Have fun, and good luck!!

Mark

[Ferryman_1957]

Yup, what Mark said is right. ForNylon works great on vocal, although it often helps to have the input sensitivity above 0. And recording the same vocal twice and then mixing the two together as he suggests is an excellent idea. Finally, once you have recorded the vocals, try bouncing them to another track and using the effects to change the EQ. I often bounce vox to another track and use the mastering effects when I do the bounce to "fatten" them up. It's a slightly advanced BR tecjhnique but it's not that hard.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Geir]

one more important thing to remember. Try to hold the mbr as close as possible. 4-6 inches away and tilting the br some 45 degrees and singing slightly over it to avoid breathing sounds. If the "over" lights up turn down the input sensitivity til it disappears

[Greeny]

Reverb is great for adding some warmth and depth, but using the ForNylon effect will add this (plus some delay) for you straight away. See how that sounds before getting into doubletracked vocals (although there's nothing wrong with that - Lennon used them all the time).

Another thought is to try to sing stuff that your voice is comfortable with. I tend to write songs in keys that I can cope with, as I have a limited range on the upper notes sometimes.

Good luck!

[henwrench]

be confident, it works wonders...
               henwrench
                             
                                   www.soundclick.com/henwrench

[Glenn Mitchell]

Yes confidence works!. It helps to be alone at home or try recording in the car. (Not driving of course).

[Groundy]

Yes confidence works!. It helps to be alone at home or try recording in the car. (Not driving of course).

Thats a good one Glenn, I do a lot in the car.....alex

[Oldrottenhead]

i hate the sound of my own voice although others seem to like it, as a result i tend to drown my voice in effects to hide its weaknesses. like mark says doubletracking a vocal is a great way of giving it depth, though i would experiment with panning, i find panning both vox dead centre can sometimes work well but it depends on the song. when i do a lead  vox i tend to go for fornylon derigeur, that said if i am double tracking i record the vocals dry as too much effects can muddy the enunciation of the lyrics. another trick i use to fill out my vocal is to double track the vocals but singing each an octave apart one high one low and panning both dead centre, also have them at different levels and sometimes it sounds like one voice.

for backing vox i use the guitar effect 22 st steel i think and pan delay (cant remember the number but its ibn the 60's) and wack the reverb up to one hundred i tend to pan them full left and right  tho sometimes 30left and 30 right.
as i said earlier i dont think i have a particulary strong  voice but where i try to make up for it is by singing with genuine emotion trying to get inside the song and i think i'm okay at phrasing and putting emphasuis on the words at the right time.

like geir says how you hold the mbr can make a lot of difference too, always hold it at about 45degrees away from you, to prevent pops etc if you are singing quietly hold it near, if you are belting it out hold it far away, if singing really loud bring the sns down a bit. oh when using the guitar effects for vox turn the sns down to zero or the mic will pick up your heart beat.

regarding confidence, i'm not so sure that is important, a lack of confidence can bring a bit of fragility and humanity to a song.

some of my favourite singers  are not particullarly great vocalists but they get a song across. here is a list of singers i adore but i dont think have great voices but man they can sing. wayne coyne, neil young, elvis costello, tom waits, captain beefheart, frank sinatra, the guy out of kings of leon, johnny cash, nick cave i could go on, but what i am trying to say is just sing how you feel and hopefully your wee silver box will capture it and when others hear it the can relate to it as well, oh i forgot bob dylan and john lennon and a million others

[cuthbert]

This has been a very illuminating thread - thanks to everybody for sharing your vocal recording tips, and also thanks to little_chick for asking about it.

Bookmarking this one...