Getting the most out of low budget home studio

[dyna]

Now that I’m semi-retired I’m finally taking my time to get to know
my amateurish home studio better.
Surprisingly, I find it harder to record
vocals than guitars. At least my vocals…

I used LE 7’s for my Martin 00-15M and a Røde NT2A for the vocals
through a Warm WA 12 preamp.
This is a cover of ”Change” by Big Thief.

[KevWind]

First Welcome to the Record Forum
Second Yes vocals can be different but a lot depends on what you are doing (specific method of recording vocal ) and also how you are mixing it ..

Third unclear what LE 7's are remember to not assume people know what you know about your gear.


And last the soundcloud link is not working (at least on my system ) Did you use the "Share" Sound Cloud link under your track ? if so maybe it's an issue that your isp is based in Sweden I presume ?
Here is what i am seeing

[Rudy4]

Same for me. I see the exact thing that KevWind shows in his screen shot.

I Googled LE-7 and came up with THIS, a Mitsubishi rocket engine. That's probably not what you're using.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by dyna

Now that I’m semi-retired I’m finally taking my time to get to know
my amateurish home studio better.
Surprisingly, I find it harder to record
vocals than guitars. At least my vocals…

I used LE 7’s for my Martin 00-15M and a Røde NT2A for the vocals
through a Warm WA 12 preamp.
This is a cover of ”Change” by Big Thief.

I fixed the link for the OP.

[dnf777]

sE7? Perhaps a typo?

[dyna]

Thanks for the welcome.
(and even more thanks since I stumbled on in this embarrasing way. Oh well)

Yes, sE 7, my typo.
But doesn’t matter does it, since for the life of me I can’t
attach a Soundcloud file in this forum. And believe me,
I have tried ebery way, I think.
Yes, maybe it’s because I’m in Europe. We are different

Anyway, I was rambeling on about my cover of Big Thief’s ”Change”

It is here for the google-inclined:
https://soundcloud.com/orlunda

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by dyna

Now that I’m semi-retired I’m finally taking my time to get to know
my amateurish home studio better.
Surprisingly, I find it harder to record
vocals than guitars. At least my vocals…
...

What's so surprising about that? While our perspective on how the guitar sounds is a tiny bit skewed by the location of the guitar and the placement of our ears (vs. someone else's), the voice we've heard in our head for our entire lives is much farther from reality. Not to mention that singing [even passably] is, for must folks, a far different exercise than simply speaking. And, while you may have sung a lot, whether in church or even in front of friends, we don't hear our own [singing] voice until it's been recorded and played back to us, with the usual resulting dismay or shock .

All I can suggest is some time working on singing fundamentals, either with a voice teacher or perhaps something you can find online. If you watch voice competitions and the like on TV, you'll hear them often talking about breathing and having enough air to really support the vocal. Unless you spent years playing a wind instrument, it can be hard to not run out of breath, and that impacts the continuity as well as ability to hold a pitch, never mind that you'll still be hearing something in your head that doesn't really match what is coming out of your mouth, so having a good monitoring system while recording will help. Me I still tend to sing a bit flat, regardless, but knowing that helps, most of the time .

Lycka till!

p.s., you need to include the full URL, including everything from the https on. And, sometimes private tracks don't work for the BBcode embed, but the URL should work. (It did for me.)

[TBman]

Originally Posted by dyna

Thanks for the welcome.
(and even more thanks since I stumbled on in this embarrasing way. Oh well)

Yes, sE 7, my typo.
But doesn’t matter does it, since for the life of me I can’t
attach a Soundcloud file in this forum. And believe me,
I have tried ebery way, I think.
Yes, maybe it’s because I’m in Europe. We are different

Anyway, I was rambeling on about my cover of Big Thief’s ”Change”

It is here for the google-inclined:
https://soundcloud.com/orlunda

I guess I'm invisible again.......

[dyna]

Thank you TBman,
I really like your classical guitar recording!
What reverb are you using, if you don't mind me asking?

[dyna]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Same for me. I see the exact thing that KevWind shows in his screen shot.

I Googled LE-7 and came up with THIS, a Mitsubishi rocket engine. That's probably not what you're using.

Ha ha, that would be something 😁

[dyna]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

What's so surprising about that? While our perspective on how the guitar sounds is a tiny bit skewed by the location of the guitar and the placement of our ears (vs. someone else's), the voice we've heard in our head for our entire lives is much farther from reality. Not to mention that singing [even passably] is, for must folks, a far different exercise than simply speaking. And, while you may have sung a lot, whether in church or even in front of friends, we don't hear our own [singing] voice until it's been recorded and played back to us, with the usual resulting dismay or shock .

All I can suggest is some time working on singing fundamentals, either with a voice teacher or perhaps something you can find online. If you watch voice competitions and the like on TV, you'll hear them often talking about breathing and having enough air to really support the vocal. Unless you spent years playing a wind instrument, it can be hard to not run out of breath, and that impacts the continuity as well as ability to hold a pitch, never mind that you'll still be hearing something in your head that doesn't really match what is coming out of your mouth, so having a good monitoring system while recording will help. Me I still tend to sing a bit flat, regardless, but knowing that helps, most of the time .

Lycka till!

p.s., you need to include the full URL, including everything from the https on. And, sometimes private tracks don't work for the BBcode embed, but the URL should work. (It did for me.)

Yeah, it's always good to learn the fundamentals!
I've been recorded for decades, but I am not that good at recording myself (yet!) I notice it's more revealing to produce sparse arrangements with not much else than voice and guitar. A reasonably good condenser mic also reproduces plosives and sibilance en masse. But I'm learning 😊

[TBman]

Originally Posted by dyna

Thank you TBman,
I really like your classical guitar recording!
What reverb are you using, if you don't mind me asking?

NP, Thanks.

The reverb on the last tune (Sad Moments) was Fabfilter Pro-R on the Cathedral 2 setting.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by TBman

I guess I'm invisible again.......

Hey great song title

Lets see yeppers---- if I click the Share link (Not the Copy Link) and put it in the AGF Soundcloud link feature seems to work. Maybe the connection is gettin lost over the Atlantic

[dyna]

[QUOTE=KevWind;7426625]Hey great song title

Lets see yeppers---- if I click the Share link (Not the Copy Link) and put it in the AGF Soundcloud link feature seems to work. Maybe the connection is gettin lost over the Atlantic

[/QUOTE

This is what I get when I click the share link
and put it in the AGF soundcloud link:

https://soundcloud.com/orlunda/remix...social_sharing

not the part with all the numbers

OOPS! Now it works. Thanks everybody!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by dyna

This is what I get when I click the share link
and put it in the AGF soundcloud link:

https://soundcloud.com/orlunda/remix...social_sharing

not the part with all the numbers

OK so that is now showing correctly

So bacK to your OP First I think overall your track sounds pretty good. And I think your vocal sounds fine. It could perhaps use some very slight compression But what exactly is it you find difficult about recording a vocal ?