I finally realized my mic placement was killing my vocals

Been recording vocals in my backyard shed studio for about 8 months now, and I could never get that rich, full sound I wanted. Everything came out thin and boxy. Last week my buddy who mixes for a living came over and watched me record one take. He stopped me after 30 seconds and said "why are you standing 2 feet back from the mic?" I told him I thought that's what you do to avoid plosives. He laughed, walked over, and moved me to about 6 inches away, angled the mic slightly off axis, and told me to just use a foam filter instead. The difference was night and day. All those months I was basically recording my room echo instead of my actual voice. Has anyone else had that moment where a small adjustment to their recording setup completely changed their sound?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_lewis9219d ago

Gotta chime in here because I spent a good six months singing into my mic from across the room like I was performing at a stadium or something lol. My vocals sounded like they were recorded inside a cardboard box and I just thought that was my voice. Turns out I was picking up every bird chirp and lawnmower from three blocks away too. Its wild how such a small thing can make you sound like a totally different person.

betty_ward19d ago

That "cardboard box" thing is so real, idk how we all just accept bad microphone habits for so long. It's like how we'll keep doing something the hard way for months before someone casually mentions the obvious fix.