A Beginner's Guide to Decent Vocal Recordings
This page should contain basic info for newbies who want their vocals to sound OK, without having to invest a ton of money. This won't handle how to actually sing well, but will just cover some basic and maybe not so obvious points of getting a decent sounding recording of singing and getting it to sound OK in your mix.
When recording vocals, you generally need to keep some distance (usually about 6 inches) from the mic, otherwise your recording will sound very bassy and your consonants will be extremely loud. You should make or buy a pop filter, to prevent your plosives (p and b sounds) from peaking out. You can stretch a sock or some panty hose over a coat hanger if you're totally broke, but you'd probably be better off just buying a pop filter at your local music store fro $20-40 if you can afford to do so.
Once you've got your vocals recorded, there are a few basic ways to process them. First, you need to roll off the bass so you can blend your vocals into your mix properly. Generally you'll want to put a hi-pass/lo-cut EQ filter on your vocals anywhere between 100-200Hz. After that there are two essential "effects" for vocals: compression and reverb. Human voices have really huge dynamic range, which can be hard to blend into a mix. Compression will make the soft parts louder and keep the overall level of the vocals more the same. Generally you'll want to apply a medium compression level, with a relatively short attack time. After compression it's generally a good idea to at least put a light touch of reverb on vocals. Usually there should at least be some reverb that can be felt, if not explicitly heard.
See also: How to sing \"properly\"
All but a few entries to SongFight! have some kind of vocals. Some who feel they can't sing at all try to avoid it by using any or all of samples, computer generated voices, and rapping. Others smother their vocals in effects, or bury them in the mix. Some use a pitch correcter plug-in. Generally, though, if you're going to sing you should really focus on getting your vocals as on-pitch as possible, because off-pitch vocals can quickly make a song unlistenable, no matter how good a song it is.
The major "trick" is to just sing a lot, like all the time. If you only sing at all at 2am the night before your song is due, your voice isn't ever going to be "warmed up". The muscles involved in singing are a lot like any other muscles, and singing is a lot like any other exercise. It's a lot more physical than you might think. When you start out, your range and the amount of time you'll be able to spend singing will probably both be very limited. Still, if you stay within your range you'll have an easier time staying on pitch. That will help you develop some confidence and comfortability with singing.
Other than trying to get in the habit of singing, one technique people use is to record an instrumental guide to the melody they're trying to sing. Lay down a keyboard or guitar part playing what you want to sing, and sing along to that. Another technique to try is to lay down a track as best you can, apply pitch correction to it, then double that track, and remove the pitch corrected one. This may help you sing more accurately when following the pitch corrected one, but then your final mix is clean.
You should also try to figure out the right levels in your headphones when you're getting ready to record your vocals. It could be that finding the right blend of your monitored voice, your natural voice, and the recorded tracks will help you hear yourself and make it easier to hit the right notes. Many singers swear by leaving one earpiece off entirely, thereby hearing your voice naturally and not through the monitoring channel.
You can't really invest too much time working on your vocals and your singing in general. Try to leave plenty of time in your budget for them, because if you don't you're going to get hammered by the critics.
And if all else fails and you decide you are just not a vocalist, that's OK, too. One of the great things about SongFight! is the potential for collaborating with other members of the large and enthusiastic community. Try posting on the boards to find someone to sing on your tunes, or if you want to find someone you can collaborate with in person you could always try Craig's List, though don't expect folks you meet over CL to be as cool as SF! people.
Singing Tips
*Keep your nose open. It may sound awkwardly nasal to you while you do it, but it sound fuller and more passionate to everyone else.
*Keep your head relaxed. Avoid "reaching" for "high" notes by stretching your neck, or "diving" for "low" notes by bowing your head. Your head should feel relaxed.
*Stretch before singing. Hands above head, bend to touch toes, rise up slowly. Breathe deeply. Relax.
*Record several vocal tracks with various styles (loud and screamy, soft and controlled, etc.) don't worry about sounding beautiful or even in tune at first: just record and listen. The playback might surprise you.
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