Recording vocal's question.

Hi everyone!

 

I noticed yesterday that when I was recording my vocal track while listening to both the other track's and my vocal's through my headphones's all at the same time, something about listening to/hearing my voice makes it hard to keep on pitch.

 

So just now I decided to go to the UAD Console and mute my Vocal track, and when I recorded a new vocal take, my vocal was as pitch perfect as it can be.

 

Do any of you have similar trouble's when you record your vocals while listening to your voice in real time through your headphones's?

It's very common, and is usually down to the preferences of the singer. Sometimes, having the headphones half off the ear so that the natural vocal can be heard acoustically while singing is a good way to keep pitch. Some singers just can't do it all. Sometimes just reducing the level of the other vocals while recording can help, or increasing the level of your live mic.

 

You just need to try a few things to figure out what best works for you, and use that method from then on.

That makes sense des99!

 

 

You brought up the vocal volume level I'm monitoring by, and in my case my vocal monitor level is pretty loud, so instead of muting just my vocal, perhaps I should try bringing its level almost all the way down.

 

 

As I said, when I sang with my vocal muted, my pitch was perfect, one take.

 

 

I do note that when I'm listening to myself while recording, I'm reacting off what I hear (me ), my mind is analyzing what I hear, and I'm reacting to that performance-wise.

 

 

But when I don't hear myself, I'm just sing to the song, and I don't think of anything except singing

 

 

 

Does that make sense?

Yes, totally. You can't hear what you're doing if something else (your previous vocal take) is covering it up.

 

If you have to have a previous take audible (say, you're matching timing/phrasing between takes), you can try and experiment with level and panning (eg, pan the existing vocal to one side, lower in level). Also make sure you are using comfort reverb as well which can help you pitch better too. But basically, find what gives you the confidence to perform as required, it may take a little trial and error with some of these outlined techniques...

Will do!

 

 

Just to clarify one point, I am referring to recording the main vocal first, and there are no other takes, nor any other vocal tracks going on.

 

 

As stated, I seem to sing more on pitch when all I hear is the music in my headphone's, and not my voice.

 

 

That being said, even though I'm wearing headphone's, of course I can hear some of my vocal naturally from the room reflection's, but at least I'm not hearing my questionable vocal talent coming through them

 

 

Perhap's it's similar to when someone is singing along to a song in their car, and they sing great, but if you would put that same person in a studio and have him sing to the instrument track of the same song, and he hears his voice through the headphones, that might throw him off.

 

 

Or...................................................................................

 

 

I HATE my voice, and when I hear it while recording, it has a negative psychological impact on my psyche

 

 

Which ironically makes no sense, because when I hear the playback, it doesn't sound THAT bad.

 

 

 

Go figure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe everyone has a unique reaction to hearing their voice. That reaction evolves over time if you get used to recording it and hearing recordings of it. We're born and raised hearing most of our voice through internal conduction, jaw bone transmission etc... more so that acoustic wave propagation, so from birth we have a skewed perception of what we sound like, and we grow up identifying to it. And once you've identified to something, it's hard getting used to the realization that things are not the way you always thought they were. Imagine seeing photographs of you that look different than what you always thought you looked like. Something like that.

My pitching is much better if I have one headphone off and my finger in my exposed ear so that I can hear my voice in my head more. Other times, depending on the style, I find pushing the headphones into my ears helps.

Hi fusbur!

 

I'm still trying to figure out why the vocal take was spot on when all I was hearing in my headphone's was the music, and not any of my voice

 

I do remember about six months ago when I recording a vocal with a SM7B, I tried it without any headphone's, and instead of muting my monitor's like I always do (feedback), the SM7B's design allowed me to keep the monitor's on, and I sang along with them, no headphone's.

 

Again, the pitch was perfect, or at least as perfect as I can sing

As David explained, we all hear differently. It’s figuring out what you need to hear. I have a lot of vocalists come into my studio who are pitch perfect in rehearsal and go sharp when you put cans on them. I find singers sing sharp of the track is too loud, flat if it’s too quiet. it’s much the same as recording anything. The performer needs to be comfortable.

I'll try bringing my volume down in the UAD Console to see if that will help.

 

I do know that the volume is at max now, and when I'm recording with headphone's, I'm listening to my technique WAY TOO MUCH, and something tells me the best vocal's happen when one is bonding with the music, and NOT thinking too much about one's self

You’re answering you’re own question here. You’re figuring it out. Recording technology has always been about experimenting and figuring stuff out.