How To Set Up Microphone For Recording

The vocals are the most important part of the mix.

Do you know when the quality of your vocals is decided?

In the recording stage.

Without a good recording, y'all can't produce good vocals. When recording vocals, you but can't fix it in the mix.

In this guide, I'm going to teach you lot how to record vocals at home that audio like they were recorded in a multi-million dollar studio.

Contents

Do you desire to make money from your music?
Recording Studio-Level Vocals (at Home)
Stage #one: Preparation is Fundamental
- Choosing the Best Room
- Positioning the Microphone in the Room
- Treating the Room Acoustics
- Choosing a Microphone
Phase #2: Using The Right Recording Technique
- Make Sure the Vocalist Is Happy
- Find the All-time Microphone Placement
- Cardioid Condenser Microphones
- Omnidirectional Condenser Microphones
- Dynamic Microphones
- Microphone Height
- Microphone Position (Centrality Orientation)
- Setting Levels and Recording
Stage #3: Getting a Adept Performance
Footstep-by-Step Song Recording Checklist
Bonus Tip #ane: Recording Bankroll Vocals
Bonus Tip#two: Recording Ensembles
Bonus Tip #three: Double Tracking
Do you desire to make coin from your music?

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Just if yous merely want to learn about vocal recording specifically, go along reading.

Recording Studio-Level Vocals (at Home)

There are several stages to a good vocal recording, but the procedure can be split into 3 vital sections:

Preparation
Recording Technique
Operation

Without expert preparation, the recording won't audio good.

Without good recording technique, you lot could brand the perfect room sound awful.

Without a good performance, you're wasting your fourth dimension.

Skip whatsoever of these key ingredients and you are doomed to neglect.

Annotation: Here'due south a bully video on Recording terminology:

The vocals are the almost important part of the mix. Practice y'all know when the quality of your vocals is decided? In the recording phase. Without a good recording, you can't produce good vocals. When recording vocals, you lot simply can't fix it in the mix. In this guide, I'thou going to teach you how to record v

Stage #1: Preparation is Key

Choosing the Best Room

Skillful preparation starts with pre-production. Make sure the song is ready for vocals, and that yous take a crude mix ready.

After that, you tin showtime to think well-nigh the recording location. Choose a room with lots of soft furnishings, and avoid rooms with lots of difficult surfaces or windows.

When recording vocals, you want the room to be every bit dead equally possible. This is for a diversity of reasons:

Reverb is not particularly desirable on vocals, neither are room resonances or reflections.
Reverb pulls the vocals back in the mix, making them harder to hear. You want the vocals to be in your face up right at the front of the mix.
Lively medium and small sized rooms impose an amateur element onto the vocal. This noticeable reverb can also make information technology harder to blend in artificial spaces in the mix.
Pitch correction isn't every bit effective when vocals accept reverb on them.
Due to the large dynamic range of vocals, heavy processing is often practical to balance out the volume (in the course of automation, pinch and limiting). If the vocals have a noticeable reverb on them, heavy dynamic processing will likewise affect the reverb and audio unnatural.

But a room can exist also dead.

Besides much absorption can lead to muffled highs and an unnatural audio. The perfect balance is a room that is absorptive plenty to prevent whatsoever significant reflections and resonances, but not so dead that the voice sounds noticeably muffled.

So chose a room with a lot of soft furnishings, like a bedroom or living room. Avoid kitchens and windowed conservatories.

Positioning the Microphone in the Room

Next yous demand to decide a position for the microphone.

There are two rules that you must accept into account:

Don't position the microphone in the heart of the room (due to a buildup of standing waves).
Position the microphone as far away from walls/reflective surfaces every bit possible.

The best place to position your microphone because these rules if just off the centre of your room. This ways you're a) not dead in the middle, and b) as far away from the walls as possible.

Take the room below as an example. You desire to avoid the cerise areas when possible.

Lesson 2 - Room Preparation Treatment Position

Treating the Room Acoustics

You don't need to spend a fortune on acoustic treatment to amend the acoustics of the room and dampen the reverb.

If you have proper acoustic panels, use them to create a temporary vocal booth effectually the vocalist.

Otherwise, yous tin can use materials lying effectually your home to absorb some of the audio.

Try mattresses, duvets, heavy curtains and anything else that would absorb a lot of sound. If you shouted into it, how much sound would it absorb? The more the better.

Create a temporary booth around the vocalist if possible.

If that's too inconvenient, place treatment behind the vocalists head. If you are using a cardioid microphone, this is the area that will affect the sound the most.

If you lot are using an omnidirectional microphone, place treatment backside and to the sides of the microphone too.

You tin can larn more than about DIY vocal booths in this video:

The vocals are the most important part of the mix. Practice you lot know when the quality of your vocals is decided? In the recording phase. Without a skilful recording, you tin't produce good vocals. When recording vocals, you simply can't fix it in the mix. In this guide, I'thousand going to teach you how to record v

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Choosing a Microphone

It's important that yous exam several microphones when recording a vocalist (if you have them available to you).

Matching the microphone to the vocalizer will guarantee that you get the best tone for that item voice.

The standard microphone for song recording is a large diaphragm condenser. For 95% of situations, this microphone blazon will merely work.

If you are recording at home, I likewise recommend that y'all utilise a cardioid microphone.

If you are recording in a well treated room, you could likewise try using an omnidirectional microphone for a unlike tone. Plus, equally there is no proximity outcome, the vocalist tin can move effectually more and get closer to the microphone for whispery parts.

You lot can apply a dynamic microphone for particularly aggressive vocalizer (think hard stone and hardcore music) or to brand a singer sound warmer.

Dynamic microphones also reject more than groundwork noise and so are bully if you lot are in a detail bad sounding room.

Make sure yous have all the appropriate accessories too. Apply a pop filter and shockmount to prevent noise from ruining your vocal recording. Use a stiff floor stand up that won't sag half manner through the session.

Phase #2: Using The Correct Recording Technique

Brand Sure the Vocaliser Is Happy

Before you start recording the vocals, make sure the vocalist is happy with the monitor setup and mix (always use closed dorsum headphones when recording vocals).

Get some h2o, a music stand and a stool if advisable.

Make sure there is a squeamish ambience in the room – you lot need the vocalist to feel comfortable. If they don't, they won't give a skilful performance.

UPDATE: We just released a great video on recording giant layered vocals:

The vocals are the most important part of the mix. Do you know when the quality of your vocals is decided? In the recording phase. Without a good recording, you can't produce good vocals. When recording vocals, yous merely can't set it in the mix. In this guide, I'm going to teach you how to record 5

Detect the Best Microphone Placement

Perhaps the biggest variable in microphone placement is the distance.

Everything you lot need to know about distance is covered in this video, which I pulled from my Produce Pro Vocals course:

The vocals are the virtually important part of the mix. Do y'all know when the quality of your vocals is decided? In the recording phase. Without a good recording, you lot tin can't produce skillful vocals. When recording vocals, y'all simply can't fix it in the mix. In this guide, I'm going to teach you how to tape 5

To detect the all-time position for the microphone, some experimentation will be needed.

If this is a vocalist you have recorded for the commencement time, spend twenty-30 minutes trying out different distances and placements if you lot accept the time bachelor.

Getting a bully sound at the source is simple. All you lot demand to do is gear up aside some fourth dimension to experiment with dissimilar distances.

There'southward no secret. Most people don't realise how important this step is.

Microphone choice combined with mic position is 80% of your vocal sound. Skip over either of these steps, and your vocal is going to be a lot harder to mix.

All singers are different. This stride volition be easier with some than others. Later on a while you volition learn what works and what doesn't.

If you are pressed for time, yous will have to resort to your go-to position. My go-to microphone position is slightly to a higher place lip level, pointing slightly downward, at about 6 inches away.

In general, it's best to chip a bit further away from the microphone when using a cardioid condenser microphone. This is because variations in distance (when the signer starts dancing around) volition have less of an impact on the tone and volume when the vocalist is a bit further dorsum.

To stop a vocalist from moving around too much when tracking, you tin use a pop shield as a concrete barrier for them to reference.

Carry in mind that the proper microphone placement depends on the blazon of microphone that yous are using.

Cardioid Condenser Microphones

With cardioid condenser microphones, you need to call back the proximity consequence. In almost cases, you lot don't want to go closer than iv inches.

Some former school engineers (like Al Schmitt) volition default to around 10 inches. For a modern sound, it's best to get a chip closer. Start at around half dozen inches and experiment from at that place.

It's pretty simple, really. The further abroad they are from the microphone, the brighter the sound will be and the more of the room you volition capture. The closer they are to the microphone, the warmer the sound will exist and the less of the room you will capture.

Far away (12 inches) = open and airy.

Close (4 inches) = warm and intimate.

If y'all don't have trained ears and aren't 100% confident with your decisions, it's better to be farther away than too close. The proximity effect can quickly ruin a good recording. half-dozen inches is a skilful starting point in lxxx% of situations.

Omnidirectional Condenser Microphones

As omnidirectional microphones don't showroom the proximity effect, you can go much closer without affecting the tone.

It'south still better to err on the side of caution and position the vocalist a few inches away – especially if they similar to move around a lot.

For quiet, intimate sections you can ask the vocalist to go right up close to the microphone – about 1 inch away (or less). This is a great technique for whispery vocals.

Dynamic Microphones

These microphones are designed to be used up shut. The low end is artificially lowered to account for the proximity event.

For this reason, it's a much simpler procedure. Simply ask the vocalist to become right upward close to the microphone. This works peculiarly well for aggressive rock vocals (and even screaming).

You can still experiment with positioning the microphone betwixt six-12 inches abroad. Some engineers like to use an SM7B at 12 inches – at that place are no rules. But I generally observe that these microphones piece of work best when used up close (as this is the purpose they were designed for).

For more than info on the different types of microphones (and what instruments they sound all-time with), brand sure to grab the free mic crook sail below. It has all the info yous need to make you're using the right mics to get a swell sound.

Download information technology here:

Microphone Height

Microphone height is another big variable in the tone of the song.

Loftier frequencies are the most directional and emit from your mouth in a downward cone. Therefore, a microphone positioned nether lip level will sound brighter than a microphone positioned above lip level.

Just there is another variable to consider – a lower microphone will besides be nearer the chest. This increases the bass response.

On the contrary, every bit you move the microphone above lip level, the highs reduce as well as the bass. This leads to a more pronounced mid-range.

The go-to height for most people is lip level. This is adequate in nigh cases, simply tin sometimes sound banal and lead to increased plosives and sibilance.

Some other technique is to position the microphone a few inches above lip level (at eye level) pointing slightly downwards. This leads to a distinct heave in the lower midrange as nosotros have reduced the bass from the breast also as reduced the highs from the mouth. That midrange heave can complement some voices and help them to cut through the mix.

This is also a peachy way to reduce plosives and sibilance. Use a visual aid to end the vocalist from pointing their caput too far upward and singing directly into the microphone.

I pulled another video out of my Produce Pro Vocals grade to evidence yous how much height can impact the tone:

The vocals are the most important part of the mix. Do you lot know when the quality of your vocals is decided? In the recording stage. Without a good recording, you can't produce good vocals. When recording vocals, you simply can't fix it in the mix. In this guide, I'k going to teach y'all how to tape 5

Microphone Position (Axis Orientation)

Yous can rotate a cardioid microphone to reduce plosives, reduce bass response, increment treble and capture more of the room. Try rotating a microphone 20 degrees to brand a small change to the tone.

As well as rotating the microphone, you can rotate the vocalist. Most people have an asymmetrical confront, then sound slightly different on either side. Some vocalists will sound slightly better from the right side, for example.

Placing a microphone off axis can significantly reduce plosives and sibilance.

Setting Levels and Recording

One time you accept decided on a good position and are happy with the tone, you need to make sure the levels are right on your interface and any outboard equipment (I recommend tracking vocals with some lite pinch if you lot have a hardware compressor, but this isn't essential).

Here's what you should aim for:

Averaging around -18dBFS
Peaking around -10dBFS
Never peaking higher than -6dBFS

You can see the dBFS level in your DAW on the channel meters (or you can utilise a defended metering plugin).

You can read more well-nigh setting levels and the gain sweet spot in my recent commodity on gain staging.

Ask the signer to belt it and accommodate the proceeds until the book is averaging around -20dBFS (they will probably sing even louder during an actual take, and so set up the levels a touch lower than necessary).

Phase #3: Getting a Proficient Functioning

When recording vocals, it'due south your task to encourage the singer and make sure they are delivering their best operation.

Make sure they feel comfortable and are really getting into the music. Never criticize them during a vocal sessions, and compliment them at regular intervals to increment their confidence.

Ask the vocalizer to read back the lyrics and think about their meaning. Inquire them to go into the aforementioned frame of listen they were in when writing their song.

What emotions were they feeling? Where were they at the fourth dimension? What was happening that inspired these lyrics?

If the lyrics were written by somebody else, become the vocalist to imagine how they felt when they wrote the lyrics.

Encourage them to lose themselves in the song. And I mean Really become lost in it. Information technology ofttimes helps to inquire everyone to leave the studio.

Accept more breaks than you think necessary. Take a 5 minute break every half hour. Set a timer to remind you.

If the vocaliser delivers a few bad takes in a row, it's time for a intermission. The all-time takes usually come straight after a break, so have as many as you tin (within reason).

Footstep-by-Step Vocal Recording Checklist

Now that you know how to tape vocals at home that sound professional, you need to get away and implement all of this.

Information technology's useless reading all this information if y'all never put it into exercise.

Here is a pace-past-step breakdown of the unabridged procedure:

Before the session, choose a room with very piffling reverb.
Use some audio-visual treatment. Create a vocal berth out of mattresses or audio-visual panels.
Set upwardly your equipment. Make sure you have all the right accessories. Apply a shockmount, pop shield and sturdy flooring stand up.
Get a rough headphone mix going.
Position the vocalizer 6 inches abroad from the microphone.
Add together a modest amount of reverb to the song. Apply direct monitoring for the dry vocal combined with a 100% wet reverb version of the song coming from your DAW.
Go the vocalist to warm up. Play the song through a few times. Effort removing i ear. If the vocalizer doesn't feel comfy, consider monitoring on loudspeakers.
Fix proper levels (averaging around -18dBFS).
Utilize subtle pinch using outboard equipment if possible.
Go for a total vocal rehearsal. Record information technology just in case it's the best take.
Tell the vocalist how amazing they are.
Move a few inches, tape over again.
Motion close to around 4 inches, record again (merely in case, it'southward usually better to be further away).
Listen back – which end of the scale sounds best, close or far? Or does the standard six inches audio good? Detect a compromise.
Record 3 total vocal takes minimum on different tracks or takes (depending on software).

Think that a good vocal is made in the recording phase. Focus 80% of your free energy on recording vocals and xx% on mixing.

This will get you the all-time results (and mixing volition be like shooting fish in a barrel).

Now it's time to move onto the backing vocals.

Most people overlook the importance of the backing vocals – don't be ane of those people.

Bonus Tip #1: Recording Backing Vocals

You don't demand to spend as long on backing vocals, only don't underestimate their importance.

Gear up aside a separate session to tape backing vocals if you lot are using the same vocalist, or at least take a long suspension after the main recording session.

I like to swap the mic out to get a different tone (attempt using a darker mic and so that the bankroll vocals aren't every bit bright as the atomic number 82) but this isn't essential if you're running out of fourth dimension.

Layering different vocalists (rather than overdubbing the same vocalist several times) will e'er sound thicker and fuller.

The quickest and easiest fashion is to get great sounding backing vocals is to enquire the vocalists to take a pace back from the mic. Singing from an extra 6-12 inches away from the mic will give them a more natural, open audio. They will naturally sit farther backing in the mix and won't crave every bit much processing.

This might non work in specially bad sounding rooms as you lot will capture more reflections and reverb, just give it a endeavour.

Bonus Tip#2: Recording Ensembles

Equally with backing vocals, the more than singers there are, the further away the mics should be. This will ensure a skillful remainder betwixt singers.

When recording several people information technology's worth using ii microphones and recording in stereo. Use a matched pair of small diaphragm condensers in an X/Y pattern to avert phasing issues.

Use the same technique for larger choirs merely besides add in a pair of microphones using the spaced pair technique. This will widen upwards the stereo image and capture anyone standing on the far left and right.

Bonus Tip #3: Double Tracking

It'southward worth double tracking the choruses or climaxes of the song if you accept a skilled vocalizer.

Double tracking can also create an interesting effect for bridges and verses when the 2 vocals are panned difficult left and hard right.

For double tracking to be successful, you need a singer who can repeat a phrase nigh exactly.

The exact same pitch, the verbal same timing and the verbal aforementioned dynamics. Any fluctuations in pitch and timing can lead to phase problems when mixing.

Record double tracked vocals in almost the same way every bit the main vocals, only endeavor moving slightly closer or further away from the microphone to create a different tone. This volition assist to create separation between the original vocal and the double tracked vocal. Information technology can also enhance the stereo imaging when using the hard pan fox (this involves panning the two song parts difficult left and hard correct).

Do you desire to brand money from your music?

You don't demand expensive gear, connections, or god-similar knowledge to kickstart your career.

This free Masterclass reveals the key steps yous Actually demand to brand a reliable income doing what you lot honey in 2022.

Catch the full Masterclass here:

Audio professional, musician and founder of Musician on a Mission.