If you have been doing studio recordings and you are not happy with how your vocals turned out, then you are probably doing something wrong. If you are recording for fun, or to kickstart your career, then you should start making good studio recordings. Sometimes it’s not all about the equipment and the facilities of the studio. Here are simple techniques on how to make your vocals sound better on studio recordings.
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Prepare Yourself Before Recording Day
If you finally booked a schedule with the best Melbourne recording studios, then you should prepare yourself before the day of the recording. Never get too excited and rush into the vocal booth if you are still not ready. If this is your first time, it can be nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time. But do not be intimidated.
The trick is to practice before the recording. You can even try to record yourself before you hit the studio. Listen to it and take note of your corrections. You should be able to smooth out any challenges before the real recording starts. Do not waste your time and effort with mistakes that you could’ve avoided with practice.
Choose the Right Microphone
Do you wonder why some artists have their own microphone? Why they bring their own mic during performances? Simply because some of them have special microphones that make them sound better. Since you cannot do this in a recording studio, run through a frame using different microphones before your recording. Remember that a microphone mismatch can affect the quality of your voice.
Use The Microphone Technique
Those who are used to do studio recordings know that there is a certain way of standing in front of the microphone to get a better sound quality. While in the studio, your mouth distance to the microphone should be the same all throughout the recording process. You will be standing while recording so you should get used to it. If you make unnecessary movements, it can ruin the entire recording. Here are some techniques that you can try:
- Control Your Volume. As the volume gets softer, move closer to the microphone. On the other hand, if it gets louder, move farther. This will help outbalance the volume fluctuations and would reduce the amount of the needed compression.
- No Sibilance and Popping. Words that have P’s and B’s will usually make extra air noises. This is called popping. Sibilance, on the other hand, is the hissing sound produced when pronouncing S and F. To avoid this, try to adjust your distance from the microphone.
Tell A Story Through Your Song
While singing, you would want the listeners to feel the song. So use the lyrics to communicate through your music. You have to mean what you say, word for word. When it is a sad song, do not smile when recording it. How you phrase the words should be relatable to your emotions. Your listeners should believe what you are trying to convey through the lyrics.
It is true that practice will make it perfect. It may not sound good on your first recording, but sooner or later, you will get the hang of it. This is why it is important that the recording studio you choose should also have a good sound engineer or producer who can give you advice on how to make the result better.