Recording vocals in untreated room

Hi here is my room I can’t really do any room treatment as living with parents  but I’m planning on getting one of those Isolation shield to put at the front eg that corner where the mic is , the shield screws into the mic stand . Then using a boom mic stand behind me in a T shape with my duvet hung over it  to stop reflections behind me .

 I gather that the shield will take care of forward & sideways reflections  plus I have a choice of two mics. My Samson C01 condenser  cardioid & behriger xm8500 dynamic (cardioid I think )  not sure which would be best  the dynamic one I gather would be less likely to pick up extraneous noise in such conditions . 

The foam panels are not great...they will soak up a bit of wall reflection but Id just hang a duvet / blanket / rug on the wall.

spark240 said:

The foam panels are not great...they will soak up a bit of wall reflection but Id just hang a duvet / blanket / rug on the wall.

Thanks , can’t really hang a rug on wall but can put a duvet behind me on a T shaped boom mic stand .  At least I’d have the isolation shield for front & sides .  Some people online say use pillows 
but then you’ve got to store a load of pillows lol 

Although we would all like a great totally dead space to record it, and I have had that with a vocal booth I built in 2020 studios you can get perfectly usable results in any kind of space with mundane stuff like blankets and cushions. Your XM8500 is a moving coil mic, like an SM58,  so more designed for live use but that less sensitive capule and cardioid pattern can be  beneficial in a home studio environment where traffic and dog barking  can be a problem with more sensitive  condenser mic recordings. 

This promo was recorded with Katy stood in a corner of my room with a blanket thrown over her head (my dogs blanket) singing into a cheap condensor .. Behringer C1 I think  .. it's a large-ish  room with hardwood flooring and not much furniture so quite bright normally 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRP7NTWjLtA

This is John singing in my front room into an SE 2000 condensor but the mic is placed against a canvas print on the wall filled up with rockwool .. no other treatment 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB68XH8SBLY

Neither of these examples are great compared to a real studio but both got the job done 


 

Fantastic  I don’t have a blanket but I have some thick throw type things I can Chuck over my head . Thanks Danny that’s great . Must be great working with Katy singing those classic songs reminds me of being young again in the late 70s 

Danny sorry again , any tips for EQ treatment  for under the blanket vocals?  I love my channel EQ in Logic I think I’ve also got that nectar elements 4  plugin from Izotope in the elements suite 

hollywoodrox said:

Danny sorry again , any tips for EQ treatment  for under the blanket vocals?  I love my channel EQ in Logic I think I’ve also got that nectar elements 4  plugin from Izotope in the elements suite 

Kinda depends on the voice but normally for a male vocal a good starting point is high pass at 110Hz ish, scoop down a little around 380 to 500Hz with a low Q and slight boost around 5K 

Every case is different but that's a starting point for me rather than starting at zero EQ ... if you track it flat then there's no harm done as the EQ is all post anyway. 

Danny1969 said:

hollywoodrox said:

Danny sorry again , any tips for EQ treatment  for under the blanket vocals?  I love my channel EQ in Logic I think I’ve also got that nectar elements 4  plugin from Izotope in the elements suite 

Kinda depends on the voice but normally for a male vocal a good starting point is high pass at 110Hz ish, scoop down a little around 380 to 500Hz with a low Q and slight boost around 5K 

Every case is different but that's a starting point for me rather than starting at zero EQ ... if you track it flat then there's no harm done as the EQ is all post anyway. 

Awesome m thanks so much , have a great weekend & stay safe in these winds 

A handheld SM7B works and EQ's nicely.

Vintage65 said:

A handheld SM7B works and EQ's nicely.

I would imagine they do at about £350 lol  they’re nice mics