Recording Vocals

[Sex and Glue]

My band is currently recording a demo to hand out at our shows and everything. We are recording at some friends house, using some program and a mixer and everything... I'm not really too sure, because recording really isnt my speciality. Anyway, we have everything mixed and recored; Drums, Bass, Guitar. All that's left to record is my vocals... Which comes off as being a problem. It seems as though my screaming isn't as high/well-produced as it is when we play live, as my vocals are being put out of an amp. Anyway, does anyone know how i can get the "live" sort of sound on my vocals, and put them on our demo? We've tried micing the amp, but we get a medium/little amount of distortion. Any other ideas? Thanks a lot <3

[charlielikeYAY]

Well, I've come to realize that vocals through an amp are always going to suck, so you should just plug the mic directly into whatever you're using to record. If you're using a computer, it should plug right into the sound card. If your sound card doesn't have the right kind of input for it, you'll probably have to buy one of those small pre-amps to plug it into first. Can you find out what it is you're using to record?

[Hilikus]

If the mixer is a digital mixer (mine is) then just plug the mic into the mixer and mixer into the USB port of your computer. That should work perfectly fine.

[Sex and Glue]

Yeah. I'm not too sure what program we're using... But i know for sure that we have a digital mixer. So i guess when we record next i'll just try that, or just seeeing if i can tweak my vocals a little bit. Anyway, thanks alot for the help, It's greatly appreciated <3

[youcomebeforeyo]

Everyones nailed it already. The last thing to do with recording vocals is put it through an amp, it causes loss of tone.

XLR the mic directely into the computer interface/mixer and record that way.

A side note, got a pop filter? Find out from your engineer. Never record vocals without one.

[So Alarming]

Use a microphone pre-amp and Use a condenser microphone for recording (MXL 990/991 mic pack is good, and cheap). Add a light amount of reverb. VOILA! :)

You can also double your vocals, and pan them evenly to the left and right. You may recognize that sound by listening to some of the saosin songs. A lot of producers double vocal tracks and had pan them left and right. especailly for the adlibs.

[beenbrokenx]

Well, I've come to realize that vocals through an amp are always going to suck, so you should just plug the mic directly into whatever you're using to record. If you're using a computer, it should plug right into the sound card. If your sound card doesn't have the right kind of input for it, you'll probably have to buy one of those small pre-amps to plug it into first. Can you find out what it is you're using to record?

whatever you do. do NOT plug your mic right into the sound card. always always always use a pre-amp. the mixer should have some sort of preamp built into the channel. although, alot of times people still use an external pre-amp.

but yeah, i think everyone has touched upon it. sound through amp = bad. condenser mics are the best for vocals. if you want a relatively inexpensive mic...try the shure sm57...its an all around versatile microphone.

[btbam > you]

record direct to the mixer. going through an amp makes it sound like shit most of the time.