Why I Record Vocals Without a Vocal Booth

[@autobotsNdecepticons]

Back in college, I had a 4-track analog tape recorder and no way to add reverb. So I put the vocalist in the completely empty 1 car garage of the house I was living in. Instant natural reverb.

[@CANALDOSAXOFONISTA]

I think vocal booth is most needed for home studios that does not have a really acoustically prepared room. Then isolates noises behind the microphone. And the same effect is created with reverb / delay plugins using bus

[@nicholascowan1731]

thisaxlevy might as well just not even perform the vocals and use a vocal synth while we're at it

[@siriusfun]

Your vids are both refreshing and insightful, Ryan - well done! I've watched a few (fellow Warm Audio user so the shootouts are great!) and feel you're bringing something that some of the other contributors in this space are lacking. In other news: I'm a studio owner/producer/mixer and after 20yrs and 3 different studio locations am happy to state that I haven't used a dedicated vocal booth in years. The immediacy of working with the artist in the same space takes creativity to a whole new level... and that's the whole point to all of this, after all! Seems to work well for Daniel Lanois and Sylvia Massy, too... ;) Keep up the good work, Ryan!

[@RDYC]

Maybe it needs to be clarified that the vocalist is not in the control room, but in a studio. Most viewers probably dont have actual studios. Also, a vocal booth doesn't have to be dead. One reflection is good and reinforces the sound, and its assumed that there are no parallel walls and there is diffusion an absorption.

[@christo123]

Finally someone that doesn't UM and AR their way through their vid. great advice man thanks

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@niteshademusic5262]

so glad to hear i dont need a booth. love that song. thx for the great info.

[@hsbstudios7402]

that boomy drum isnt really making me feel it.... its way too much imo.

[@proutsos]

True, all useful advice, I track vocals in the (treated) recording room which is 4X5 meters and it is dry but not snuffed, now for reverb I don't know if you have tried this but I hang up a sheet of steel, play normally through the room monitors and close mic the sheet !!!!!! It sound cool and scoopy!! And of course Marshall reverb tanks work great too!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Ermis Adamidis Cool idea. Yeah, would love to have a real plate reverb. I've used a Princeton Reverb for a vocal effect once, it worked out really well. Really old video, but here is my reverb tank verb....just a reamping though. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHvCY3V-oLZ2lZY

[@imageofsin]

I really like the spirit of creativity here, and I usually use a ribbon on vocals because of the natural quality. However, I do totally prefer the vocal in a booth with like 3 different high end reverbs and a delay very subtly mixed in with it. I just like having a strong presence, with the effects enhancing it by adding depth, width, and space.

[@jamiegallacher6378]

Hey young man, really good, practical sound recording advice on your videos. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and expertise.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Jamie Gallacher Thanks!

[@G_handle]

+1 Definitely play with stereo/multimicing techniques to capture realtime reverb and room, then see if you can use it in the mix or just throw it out and add an effect. That said, the way you were describing your pseudo MS technique, with the side mic not aligned with the mid capsule and receiving the sound at different times, if you try to mono that effect watch out! Or put positively, proper MS can mono out (say on an iPhone) perfectly as the differences null. It's Mid + +8right to the Right speaker, Mid + -8left to the Left Speaker, and when you sum the L&R, the Mids double and the +8r and -8l cancel. You can also lessen the MS stereo effect if it's weird on say a vocal, by A) obviously lowering the side amount in the mix, but B) panning to say 75% L&R rather than 100% to make it less wide. You need to be precise though so the mono cancel. At least that's my understanding.

[@tihomir7]

I don't think it's good idea to use ribbon or 8 figure mic for studio recording. You will have lot of problems in mix and lot if problems with phase, and you can do nothing about that. If you really want to capture room reflections. Record with two microphones. One for dry vocal, and one on another track to capture room.

[@StephenTack]

Cool idea. A couple times I've added a figure 8 "room mic" right on top of (and slightly above) a close mic'd electric guitar cab, with the null pointed toward the speaker, with good results. My only foible with this is adding delay to the SIDE mic and still calling it Mid/Side...it might yield a cool result, but it's no longer MS...it's basically the same thing as moving the side mic about 1 foot back for every millisecond. :-)

[@creativesoundlab]

Stephen Tack Yeah I don't consider it true MS either.

[@alvagoldbook2]

That's a very cool trick. I've never thought of doing something like this, but I could see so many applications where this would come in handy on vox. It wouldn't work on everything, but it's certainly a nice trick to have in your arsenal. I've always avoided setting up vocal booths just to avoid the hassle, and just grabbed a few gobos. Maybe next time I'll grab a ribbon instead!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Alva Goldbook Yeah, I just started doing this one day. It's handy when you don't want to eat up processing power for a plug in, or use in rough mixes and can many times sound good enough for part of the final mix.

[@Theocidestudios]

I always recorded in a large room, but now, I'm moving to a place where you can sometimes hear a dog barking or some other things. That's why I need an isolated booth, but I don't have much room and your video really scared me. Do you really think is that bad?

[@creativesoundlab]

Well, a vocal booth can often have a build up of low end. So they are nice, but you need 6+ inches of treatment in them. The best scenario is to be in a large room, and have thick curtains surrounding the singer, so you get the dead sound, but non of the low end resonance like you would in a small room/bathroom/iso booth. Use a iso booth by all means if that's what you have to do.

[@mateodelcastillo1756]

Lucas Toledo put up moving blankets in your room all over Or open your closet spread the clothes to both sides Put microphone inside and sing Instant vocal booth

[@mladigospon]

I would never record vocals in a untreated room. To me it sounds awful. The only exception I can think of is recording a vocal in a large hall-type studio. Otherwise the mic picks up room noises which arent that pleasant, along with reverbs that are similar to recording in a bathroom. Compression is just going to accenuate the noise. Find a dead space such as a closet, if your space is untreated with acoustic panels or foam, then add reverb later with a plugin or such, if neccesary. That is just my experience, recording in a home environment, with a condenser mic.

[@AdamRainStopper]

I was at a friend's home-studio, he had some dirt cheap tiny little behringer omni-directional condenser that he uses to record a little Valco 1x10 combo in his bathroom (amp in the corner of the room with a Sennheiser E609 up close, the little omni in the center and up near the ceiling) and the natural reverb it picks up from the entirety of the bathroom is really cool. He reamped a vocal through it for me, the chorus lines on this (yes, the drums are fake, I was working out of a tiny corner of a bedroom myself): kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKenZ5KaotZlhrc It came out sounding like a space way bigger than a bathroom, and like it was a room designed specifically for this purpose, when in reality the room was actually designed for pooping. I don't remember *what* the omni-directional condenser was designed for, some kind of testing purpose I think, not even meant for recording, but it was less than 50 bucks and I know people who use pairs for a second pair of overheads to blend in with their drum mix, and even 3 or 4 to pick up a choir or other large group of singers or instrumentalists. It's really crazy how good things can be when you deliberately pretend not to know what they are made for. I've built stereo dynamic mics out of old pairs of 40mm or 50mm driver headphones, run harmonica mics through guitar compressors and echo units for a dirty rockabilly type sound, all kinds of crazy shit that I might never have thought to try if I didn't grow up in poverty. I gotta email that kid and find out the model of that behringer omni now.

[@AdamRainStopper]

Ok, I messaged him on facebook and he said the model is ECM-8000 and it was more like 60 bucks, but according to him, it works really well for any application where you'd use a pencil condenser as long as you don't *need* directionality, and it can even carry the full-range pickup for vocals like a decent budget large diaphragm condenser. I think I'll splurge on a pair. And yes, I know I just made up the word "directionality." I don't care, it is a word now.

[@creativesoundlab]

I love this mentality dude by not using things they are intended for. After all didn't they say in the 50's that guitars shouldn't be distorted...How have you been?

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks for the update. I've heard of that one before, and people say it's really good for getting the job done. I'll have to get one when I can.

[@creativesoundlab]

I've made up a lot of words. My wife gives me shit about it all the time.

[@AdamRainStopper]

creativesoundlab Well, I am healing physically, able to breathe better now....meanwhile the state is suing me for over $94,000 for the "cost" (as assessed by a private corporation that runs the facility) of incarceration. I have a lawyer, and I am trying to get it down to a number I could pay without having to sell my house, but in the meantime, I can't eat or sleep as well as I need to while I am still healing. The government is literally trying to kill me. Again. Other than that, great!

[@russwilson2305]

1:44 The C 414 is one of the best mics for screaming rock vox.

[@luoyisishimisi470]

Thanks for this video. I also like his vocals.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Luoyisi Shimisi Thanks, yeah his vocals are so raw and rough, but I was really happy with how the mic records his voice.

[@scohills]

As always, awesome! Just wanted to clarify..I think there is not enough distinction made between a "fig. 8" mic, and a "stereo ribbon". Can the first technique can only be achieved through a "stereo ribbon" or two figure 8's in XY?

[@creativesoundlab]

+Scotty Hills I think that you can always record a room while the vocalist is tracking. For this, I happen to have a mic built in to the same package. In the final mix I delayed it, so you really don't need two mics on top of each other. I would not do a stereo mic technique for vocals, I would only point one mic at the vocalist with the idea that one side of the mic is the main sound. The mic pointed off to the sides is a nice benefit. Pointing a figure 8 mic with it's null at the vocalist will allow you to capture mostly room, while being fairly close to the vocalist if needed. If I didn't use an R88, I would pry use a 414, NT2000, or K2 in figure 8 mode anywhere within 5 feet. No reason on that, just a feeling about the placement knowing my room, and using the gear I have available to me. You can always ad in 20 ms of delay to help give it a different feel, but it's harder to not have delay if your room mics are too far away. It's just free reverb....if your room doesn't sound good, no worries.

[@scohills]

+creativesoundlab Gotcha! Thanks a lot. I've got a K2 that I'll try in the room. I noticed a picture of the singer, singing into a 57 and your R88. How was that sound compared to the tracks in the vid? Love the out of the box thinking! And your live room sounds great!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Scotty Hills That 57 was actually quite good when used in a mix. It didn't have the life like sound that the ribbon had, but a totally usable sound.

[@crap641]

Me @ 13:55 : Ehh...I'm not convinced... Me @ 14:44 : ...That's fucking cool man. You are a fucking cool guy... Me @ 17:16 : Boss.

[@creativesoundlab]

+crap Ha, great comment!

[@MarcosCerutti]

Man, thank you very much for your videos. I learnt some precious things! by the way, what song/artist are you using on this video? Cheers!

[@creativesoundlab]

Marcos Cerutti You're welcome! Thanks for the feedback. I was a jerk and didn't credit the artist. His name is Flint Zeigler and I put his website in the video description.

[@sundownchasing]

Great ideas, man. Big thumbs up.

[@creativesoundlab]

Anthony DelPlato Thanks!

[@Brockweston]

This is awesome! All i need now is a nice sounding room.... haha p.s have you tried this with guitar cabs?

[@creativesoundlab]

Brockweston Yes, works great with guitar cabs.

[@JUNK_ZONE]

These videos are great and everything, but watching 15 minutes of stuff that any new comer doesn't need explained before I get to the 5 minutes of info I clicked on the video for. Just saying. Cut back a bit.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks for the feedback. My newer videos are shorter, and will continue to be. Smarter Every Day is a channel that covers many technical things, and he has comparable length videos.

[@peekpen]

there are memes from the narrator in a YT tutorial that convey comprehension of the art being telecast. I use the slider in the YT tut after awhile because I figure I can predict the tut makers style after about a minute of 1st being introduced to the tut maker.

[@marweentrabelsy]

so how can you hear the song with him at the same time while he recording??

[@lukeyoung6527]

Great sounds! Couldn't you get a similar dynamic reverb by just having the EMT send be pre compression?

[@creativesoundlab]

***** Sure, it would be dynamic but not that similar because it's a different sound. This reverb that you capture during recording with an additional microphone is for free and doesn't take any more time to get or UAD or DSP processing - that's the point I was trying to make. It also would be unique to you as it's your room and space, verses the plug in that anyone could apply to a vocal track. If you own a EMT, then I'm sure the plate would have a unique character, as no two are exactly the same.

[@reyz4864]

Do you really think without vocal booth you do a better work with vocals

[@creativesoundlab]

Yes totally, because vocal booths don't absorb low frequencies at the lower register of someones voice, and you can still have resonate build up. No booth = clear low end. This is only the beginning of why I don't use a vocal booth.

[@1000vox]

creativesoundlab This is in fact, generally true for singing vocalists. However, in the voice-over biz, we absolutely need the deadness a well designed booth can provide, and if the booth is large enough, bass attenuation of -80 to -60dB can be achieved at normal speech levels, especially with the new "booth on comb casters" systems that further isolate low bass frequencies, by creating a vibration-free environment very similar to what in effect, a shock mount does for a microphone. Imagine a huge "bed of nails", with the nails touching the floor, and the entire booth mounted on the top side of that "bed". Rich Dad Company's Vocal Booth has already started incorporating this, and I've heard that Whisper Room is looking at it as well. NBC now has 200 of these FOA "Floating on Air" systems at their Rockefeller Center facilities. Just F.Y.I.

[@creativesoundlab]

1000vox That's really interesting. My experience is with the vocal booths from vocalbooths.com, which are very heavy and well constructed using layers. I'll have to look up those FOA systems you mentioned.

[@altrmind]

Good stuff. like your setup dude

[@creativesoundlab]

+Ivan Robles Thanks man!

[@muchammadnurwibowo8255]

Do you like focal solo 6 be vertical or horizontal?

[@SoundBoss5150]

Different frame-rate detected! ;-) Excellent video though

[@SinisterSkyler]

where does he explain about why he doesnt use the vocal booth?

[@creativesoundlab]

+SkylerXV basically all of these thing I mention can't be done if you put your vocalist in a booth instead of using an open room. The bigger the room the better - less low end resonance at low vocal registers.

[@NateTheNoble]

+creativesoundlab Would you still recommend a portable vocal booth? Even when in an open room? Or just get ride of every kind of vocal booth altogether?

[@creativesoundlab]

+TheDeLaKore I've never actually recommending a booth, but they do serve there purpose. I can't name anyone that I admire recording with one though. Everyone is recording in an open room.

[@NateTheNoble]

creativesoundlab Thanks for the response. I've always wondered why people recommended vocal booths when in fact some of the best songs I've heard were in open spaces. I have a Behringer Pro B-2 in my bedroom and I'm going to start recording with it openly. Not as much reverb as my basement, but i think its still decent.

[@SmokinFoolz]

Creative Sound Lab huh?

[@robertbrixius9789]

Thanks!

[@deathlord3768]

great videos dude, thank you for sharing! :)

[@creativesoundlab]

Death Lord Your welcome. thanks!

[@Lloydgetscared]

This is legit advise man thanks!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Bradley Lloyd Thanks!

[@jayflorida]

Those monoprice headphones doe!

[@fallpornogrind]

when I plug my rode nt2a in my audio interface it produces wind noise it's new and I have not used it much can anyone tell me the reason and solution. thank you

[@creativesoundlab]

Rode has amazing warranties that can go up to 10 years. Why not contact them directly so they can help?

[@fallpornogrind]

no not at all :(

[@StyloTheDon]

Hey buddy , does your interface connect through a USB ? If so the power current which it pulls power from is intersecting the audio which it has to process , causing the wind kind of static noise. Get your self an Apollo twin , that’s what I did and I never dealt w that issue again. Key to remember , the better your pre amp the better your mic . And your interface must be supplied by its own power source and not a usb. Luckily the Apollo provides both . Good luck. Alsoooo dynamic mics pic up much less noise from the room. Sm58 w the on and off switch 🙌🏽

[@arbogast4950]

It's funny that people aren't recording room in their recording room.

[@i_Am_LOADING-dz6xd]

26,000th viewer

[@creativesoundlab]

Haha, congrats!

[@jesse_cole]

And I was the 36,976th viewer. What are the odds?