{"id":168,"date":"2021-03-05T15:06:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T15:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rapfame.app\/blog\/?p=168"},"modified":"2021-03-25T17:14:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T17:14:58","slug":"how-to-record-vocals-well-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rapfame.app\/blog\/2021\/03\/05\/how-to-record-vocals-well-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Record Vocals Well At Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Short<\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tips will boost the quality of your home vocal recording and help you add your voice to the vibrant, global rap music scene!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Try recording in different rooms at home to find the room with the best acoustics<\/em>;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Make a simple pop filter by yourself at home (or buy one cheaply) to reduce unwanted noises in your audio take<\/em>;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Practice recording yourself rapping!  Rapping into a microphone has its own unique challenges so build up your recording experience and know-how.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What they want you to think\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rappers and vocalists of all sorts often face a stumbling block early in their creative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because we\u2019re all used to seeing pictures and videos of artists in studios surrounded by expensive, high-tech gear \ud83c\udf9b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re fed the illusion that we can\u2019t make music that sounds good without a lot of money \ud83d\udcb0 and an army of producers and engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…what you should think!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But none of this is true!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can record and develop vocals with just your \ud83d\udcf1from the comfort of your \ud83c\udfe0!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the Rap Fame<\/a> app for rappers, producers, and hip hop fans lets you record yourself, experiment with different beats, and interact with a huge community of like-minded people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s go through three tips to help get the most out of recording your rap vocals at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Home Recording Tips for Vocals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Try recording in different rooms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Every room at home is different.  Each has its own function and layout and therefore its own acoustic properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rooms such as your kitchen and bathroom \ud83d\udec0 may have a lot of hard and shiny surfaces, such as tabletops, counters, windows, and mirrors, which can be problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These surfaces reflect sound a lot.  If you\u2019re recording in these rooms, your vocals will bounce off these surfaces \ud83c\udfc0and be picked up too much by your microphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Much better are rooms with lots of soft items like beds \ud83d\udecc, cushions, and rugs.  Soft things absorb sound more, making your recording less cluttered by reflections and more neutral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also avoid larger rooms as they have more space through which your vocals will travel and reverberate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you may like that high reverb sound, which is fine!  However, it\u2019s much better to leave effects like that to the processing stage after recording.  If your original vocal recording is heavy with reverb, then you are limited in how you can process your vocals, which is a huge problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say the room you recorded in gave your vocals too much reverb?  You wouldn\u2019t be able to reduce the reverb because it\u2019s recorded into your take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say you wanted to compress your vocals after recording (as you should in most cases)?  Then you would be applying compression after reverb, which creates a very particular sound.  This sound can work amazingly in some tracks, but it\u2019s unusual and you don\u2019t want to be stuck with it \ud83d\udeab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about effects after recording<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, as a default, record your vocals so as to limit reverb, then apply effects afterwards in your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) or console as you like!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re absolutely sure that you want to record your vocals with high reverb in the original take – perhaps because you know it will fit the style of your track and you have experimented with your rooms at home – then you may want to try recording in the shower (without the water running, obviously\u2026\ud83d\udca6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is because showers are often surrounded by highly reflective tiles.  Also, bathrooms often contain large mirrors and are relatively small, meaning sound has more opportunities to bounce off of surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These properties are what make you sound so good when singing in the shower \ud83c\udfb6!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Home-made pop filter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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What\u2019s a pop filter?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A piece of gear that you will find in most recording studios is a pop filter, also known as a pop shield or pop screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s only used with condenser microphones such as the one in the image directly above (or this one \ud83c\udf99).  Generally microphones with spherical ends (like this one \ud83c\udfa4) are dynamic microphones and already have inbuilt pop filters (check your mic specs online for this).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pop filters are an essential item to make your vocal recording sound professional.  They do this by filtering out \u201cpopping\u201d sounds or \u201cpops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are pops?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pops are a natural thing that happens every time you say the letter \u201cp\u201d (and \u201cb\u201d less noticeably).  You can explore this now by holding your hand very close to your mouth and saying any word that begins with the letter \u201cp\u201d, say \u201cpardon\u201d \ud83c\udf2c\u270b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will notice that the letter \u201cp\u201d produces a burst of breath that you feel against your hand much more than any of the other letters you are pronouncing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because, in linguistic terms, the letter \u201cp\u201d is a plosive consonant, which means that it is produced by pursing your lips \ud83d\udc44to stop air from leaving your mouth then suddenly releasing that air with some force \ud83d\udca8.  Again, if interested, you can explore this by slowing down the process of saying the letter \u201cp\u201d and noticing how your lips move to control the flow of air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst pops are harmless in ordinary speech, they make your recording harsh and unprofessional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You can get around this by practising pronouncing your \u201cp\u201ds very lightly, or manually automating the volume of each pop down in your DAW or console, which I did for three years and would not recommend…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily there are home solutions!  The most common is to put a sock \ud83e\udde6over your microphone.  This works well, just make sure to use a clean sock\ud83d\udc43\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, be careful because over time socks, particularly cotton ones, deteriorate, leaving lint and dust that can collect and cause damage.  Never leave the sock on the microphone, take it off when you are done recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, to get more creative and avoid the problem of degrading socks, you can fashion your own pop shield out of paper and tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch this video<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in DIY-ing a pop filter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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