Karaoke Forums

You know, I've only been at this a short time but recently I've normally been recording my vocal track separately in a program I use with the music on a second track of course.  Depending on how well I've done the vocal usually sounds pretty good to me on the headphones--lots of clarity and detail.  Just recently I tried listening to a few of my things on my speakers and jeez, on some of these I sounded like Jabba the Hut (and please don't tell me, "Michael that IS what you sound like" or I'll package myself in a crate marked "Cuba, Attn: Fidel Castro").

I use Vegas Video (the audio tracks) do do my things.  I'm not too bright but it just dawned on me that the audio tracks already automatically have the equalizer option already there (there are other audio filters on this thing you can pull down in addition to the equalizer).

My question then is: when mixing this stuff, should I turn the bass and midrange (whatever that middle one is--hard to believe I worked in radio at one time) down and the treble up a bit more? I'm sure the answer will be "use your speakers to listen and adjust to taste" will be the answer but I just wanted to see if this is how it's usually done when making these recordings.

My apologies for sounding to cocoanut headed here, but any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Michael

Mastering is the last process (setting levels etc) in preparing for burning to a cd.  But recording vocal only is the best way to tailor it in the mix down process using various sofwares. If the vocal was not recorded after a compressor the first step is using a software plugin or analogue to compress the peaks especially if improper mic tecniques were not oberved.  The next step i use is using a parametric EQ (shelfing of frequencies) to compensate for different singers. One example is if they cant reach certain highs I will EQ and accentuate the highs. Then I bounce the vocal down to a stereo track, normalizing to an approximate level when needed. Then Fx are used to tailor for desired effects for different singers and genres. Then all tracks are played back in unison and mixed using different levels on each track and bounced or mixed down into a final track for the mastering process The same tecniques are used for the music tracks that are imported and syncronized with the vocals. These are the basics....

I would suggest two things;

Do your headphones and stereo speakers replicate sounds in the same way?  In many cases what you hear through the headphones isn't anywhere close to what you will hear through a stereo system.  If you are doing this on your PC your sound card has a lot to do with what you'll hear as well.

So the suggestion, which you already anticipated, to listed through speakers is a good one.

My other suggestion is pretty much the same as karyoker's.  When you sing karaoke at a club it's likely that the sound sytem you are singing through has been set up to maximize one's singing voice.  The EQ is set, effects are added, etc.  If you are working with a good KJ, the EQ will be matched to your voice, otherwise you'll be working with generic EQ.  What you are hearing at home is your voice without any EQ or effects and that's why it sounds strange to you.  

So learn how to set the EQ for your vocal.  If you don't have anyone to show you how to do this, experiment until you have a sound that pleases you.  That's going to take a lot of trial and error but eventually you'll catch on.

Larry

_________________
"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"

Sometimes I unintentially jump into the tech aspects.. If you are recording with a comp it is economical toget an older version of software such as this ... Then all you need is a good clean recording of the voc al in a wav file. You then import it and the original karaoke mp3 into Cakewalk.. With various plugins and tools you are virtually unlimited as to what you can do.. You make a change play back if it isnt right you undo and try again with whole tracks or sections of tracks. It is not complicated all it takes is a little experience and imagination.

Bring a flash drive to our show and we send you home with a few vocals in wav files. Then you can mix and master for burning a good quality cd.  My buddy recently did some for a guy to make a cd for his folks at their re-union.

Something I learned on this forum.  Did you add a little echo or reverb?  When doing a recording, the echo you hear in normal life does not record.  Therefore, it is important to add a little echo to the voice track.

That's why all recordings have echo.  You are not really supposed to hear the echo but if its' not there, a vocal will sound just as you describe.