Vocal Recording

Rhino

I need to do some vocal recording. 90% of it will be male. 80% of that male voice will be mostly speech and spoken word (rest being singing).

This is a practice setup, but needs to be fairly accurate in recording vocals (low to no distortion, wrapping, etc).

Firstly, how would I set this up?

Mic -> Preamp -> Audio input/computer interface ?

Something like this for the computer interface?
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/m-audio-Audiophile-192.html

Also just one mic or two?

The budget we have for this is about $600 for everything (mic, cables and all recording equipment). We already have a computer with nice specs (C2D ES6700, 4 gigs of ram, SATA drives with tons of space) expect for the sound interface (right now it has the default on-board crappy reltek audio). Clean install of WinXP Pro SP2 (the only software that's been install is Windows Updates, windows patches and latest stable drivers for the hardware - oh and DirectX 9.0c I think; just in case we need that.).

The only thing we need to record right now is vocals. The most important factor of this setup is that it has to clearly portray the speakers voice. We don't want to make it sound better then it actucally is, but rather it needs to reflect what he sounds like (even if he sounds like crap, we need to capture that). Yea, I know we probably won't get 100% representation with a 600 dollar setup, but trying to get as "close as possible" [within this budget].

Also how do we setup the recording room? We have a few empty rooms that could be used...is there anything special we have to do to them? Some have hard wood floor, some are carpet. Which would be best? One room is small and echo's a lot... is that something we want or not want? Big room, small room?

racyrefinedraj

Rhino wrote: »

One room is small and echo's a lot... is that something we want or not want?

Wow, never thought I'd be able to do that and be on-topic at the same time.

Anyway, you are definitely going to want to minimize echo if fidelity to the original source is your primary goal. That is unless you are willing to accept "what he sounds like in a high school bathroom" instead of "what he sounds like." Unfortunately, this ain't easy. But this here web page ought to make a decent start. Also, minimizing noise is a big concern. You didn't mention whether this was an apartment or a house, but you are going to need to do a bit of work to make sure you get the voice and only the voice. A few hints:

-Use directional (shotgun) mics, not omnidirectional
-Don't put the computer in the same physical space as the microphone. Computers have fans. Fans make noise.
-Turn off the AC/Heat while you are recording. Make sure the toilet isn't running, listen for all of those pesky little noises that you won't notice until you go back and listen to the tape.


Honestly with your budget all of these problems are very solve-able. Hell, you can get a pretty damn good mic for 50 bucks. And it only gets better from there.

Rhino

Thanks.

Besides a mic, what other equipment is required?

pre-amp, mixer? Just a good sound card?

for the room, I don't know if we'll be able to modify things (like putting up new walls or such) - but we'll take note not to run ac/heat or water during recording. I'll also try to get some moving mats (like big dense blankets used for moving) to put up on the walls. They deaden/absorb the noise good (from getting in and getting out)

virgilsamms

I'd go for an external firewire or usb audio interface with XLR (microphone lead) plugs, phantom power and 24bit/96kHz recording quality, such as http://www.presonus.com/firebox.html. M-Audio and a few others make them as well so look around. The preamps on a relatively decent one will be fine. Phantom power is required for the style of mic that was posted so make sure it has that. Consider getting a pop filter as well (round screen thing between the mouth and mic) - it will help even out the air pressure from the voice.

Rhino

Also good point about the fans in the computer. I told my friend [jokingly] that I removed all fans from it and duct taped it up and then covered it with a bunch of blankets to absorb all the noise.

He was not amused.
I'll make sure to get some long cords so we can put it in the room next door.

What exactly is "phantom powered"? Does that mean it gets it's power from the jack (like a USB port) or does that mean you need external power source (like a SCSI connection).?

EDIT: also what's a condenser mic? Do I want condenser mic or um... non-condensered?

mooshoepork

Phantom power basically is what most condenser mics require. It needs an external powersource. So say you have a pre-amp, some actually come with phantom power so look into that. Basically it powers your mics. I use an M-audio Buddy pre-amp, and I'm happy with it.

Rhino

The thing that worries me about this Firebox is that it says it runs on WinXP SP1 or higher. That happens if in two years I upgrade to vista and it breaks the drivers? How well are these things supported? Are they a good company? $500 for just the pre-amp/comp interface is a lot and willing to spend it if it's supported, but don't want it to suck ass in two years when I upgrade OS or get a new service pack.

EggyToast

Yes they are a good company, Presonus has been around for a long time and I doubt that they will not release Vista drivers. It may be overkill for what you're doing, though, especially since there are interfaces with 2 mic inputs for $300 or less.

Also, something like this would be a good investment if you're going to do a lot of vocal recording but not spend a lot of time fixing up rooms (or plan to move the recording system around a lot):
http://www.zzounds.com/item--SEERF
or
http://www.zzounds.com/item--STOMTG

As far as condenser mic or dynamic mic, a condenser will pick up more of "everything," whereas a dynamic will pick up what's close to it and the quiets will be quieter and the louds will be louder. If you only want to record someone speaking into a microphone, a dynamic will work. If you want to pick up someone whispering or speaking softly without a lot of electrical hum or other byproducts of increasing the volume, a condenser would be more ideal.

I personally think the Firebox is more than you need for recording essentially mono vocals.

Rhino

what about this?

http://www.presonus.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=75

EggyToast

yeah, that would work. I assume you're using Windows computers, which is my only caveat about using a FireWire device. Windows XP SP2 intentionally gimped FireWire causing it to run slow. I have no idea why they did it, but in order to use FireWire devices correctly you have to do this: blah.

I personally love FireWire but I know some people have issues using FireWire devices on Windows. The negative reviews here seem to mirror that.

There's also something like this:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOFTRACKPRO

which will work via USB 2.0. The major problem with USB 2.0 is sustained bandwidth, but with 1 or 2 track vocal recording you won't have to worry about that.

As for mics, I'm torn whether to recommend a condenser or a dynamic. I mean, I think something like this would work very well for your purposes, without breaking the bank:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--AUTAT2020

The cardioid pickup pattern means that it'll pick up more of what is right in front of it (the person talking) rather than other sounds in the room. It also won't break the bank. I'm a firm believer that a budget can mean you don't have to spend all of the money, after all

So if you got the M-Audio thing and that mic, you'd be spending $300. Then you could even take a trip to a Home Depot or Lowe's and see about making a makeshift isolation booth. Wouldn't have to be perfect, but would probably help with recording stuff in general. It may be out of your group's abilities, though. You can certainly record just fine without one, just do it in the non-echo, non-hardwood floor rooms.

Rhino

Great! Thank you so much. You guys so helpful!

Then you could even take a trip to a Home Depot or Lowe's and see about making a makeshift isolation booth

Basically I just want to make a "U" shaped box (when looking at it from over here).

So overhead view would be:

_____
| * |
  X

Where the * is the mic and the X is the person.

So, few pieces of wood and then pad it all up with something? Some blankets or packing mats?

EggyToast

Actually you want to make more like a bowl shape. 90 degree angles are bad. 45 degree angles are good But you can be less severe than that (like 60).

The cheapest method is to make it with OSB and lay some comforters over the top. The "best" method would be to make them actually frames and pack the interior with very compressed 5" insulation. You know, the stuff you normally put in walls and ceilings. Here's how you would do that:

make a plywood backing, and get something like 2x3 or 2x2 hardwood. Cut corners at 45 degrees to create a basic frame shape. Using a large plastic sheet (even a cut open garbage bag will work) and rope, place the insulation inside that frame and use the plastic sheet and rope to compress it down to 2 or 3 inches. If you think it looks ugly, you can use plain burlap or other loose-cotton fabric over top of the frame. Ta da!

But yes, comforters over plywood or OSB would work too, just not as well. Depends on how much time and effort you want to put into making something that's more "acoustic treatment" than "blocks other sounds."