What should I invest in first to record vocals?
I enjoy recording covers as a hobby and have been thinking about investing in something to improve the quality, but I'm not sure what.
I only have about €100 and have been recording with an Auna 900b mic so far. However, I've also read that particularly good microphones aren't worth it if you don't have the hardware to support them. Is there anything I can get for that money to improve the quality?
I would be grateful for any suggestions, tips or recommendations.
(1 votes)
Loading...
Even good hardware isn't worth it if the room you're recording in isn't suitable and sounds bad.
So before you invest in expensive hardware or microphones, you should acoustically optimize your recording room.
Or you can place the microphone in the classic way in front of the open wardrobe.
Nowadays, almost all interfaces over €250 are suitable enough to produce passable vocal recordings.
You can get a good microphone for as little as €99.
Could you achieve the same effect by pulling a wool blanket over your head along with the microphone?
And do you have any recommendations for a mic that would be an upgrade to the Auna? I bought it four years ago for about €60.
I built myself a booth out of stage felt. It's quite inexpensive and effective. I hung it from the ceiling, but you can also build a system out of stands.
In the low price range, I consider the Audio Technica AT2020 to be quite good.
The closer you are to the mic, the less the room becomes noticeable. For vocals, it's more common to speak to the mic from a short distance.
Nice idea, but if you get too close to the microphone, you might get an unwanted proximity effect.
This may be desired but often it is not.
A “pop guard” is not a spacer but fulfills a different function.
But feel free to tell me more. As a trained event technician and sound designer, I'm always open to sharing your knowledge.
For this purpose there are spacers, popularly known as plop protection.
First, get a good microphone. I'm also a singer and use Sennheiser microphones. You can get one for around €70, which is perfectly adequate for your needs. Later, you can think about a speaker system.
For example, there are tuning programs. Notes that aren't quite right can be corrected.
But that won't help you if the quality of the recording is simply poor.
I do use an EQ sometimes, but tuning it too hard doesn't sound right to me. Still, do you know of any software you'd recommend?