Ableton Forum

Hello.

I have a pretty good mic and use Focusrite equipment.

I have fiddled around with the settings in Ableton, adding reverb, EQ etc. No matter what I try, my voice sounds nothing like it does on stage or even singing in my bathroom, which has great acoustics.

Are there any special settings and/or effects I should try or stay clear of?

Try recording in your bathroom!

Sadly, that's not a possibility.

So my question remains.

Make a booth even if its your wardrobe. As dry as possible signal is the best starting point. Even recording with a duvet over your head is a life hack though not simple to rap or sing like that! lol

You mentioned reverb and EQ but the first most important thing is relatively heavy compression.

5D

Thank you. =)

Would still love to get some pointers as to which settings/effects I should use to make it sound like "real life". My voice just sounds weird no matter what I do.

Impossible to say since we don't know what your voice sounds like in real life or how it is sounding in your recordings. Usually overly boxy vocals tend to be an issue for bedroom singers, so a bit of EQ reduction around 300-500Hz might help. Or not, like I said it's just a guess without hearing what the issue is.

Another thing to note:

You know how people always think their voice sounds weird when they hear it back recorded?

This is because everyone hears their own voice a semitone or so lower in their own head because of the voice travelling through the head to the ears as well as through the air from the mouth to the ears AND their is a certain reverberation inside the skull.

Ask friend if it sounds like you? Maybe this is the problem.

Or drop the pitch a semitone or so and see if that fixes it for you.

Alright, thanks lads =)

I'm now using these effects: "wide stereo", compressed room reverb, edges and less low more mid..


I have heard myself sing "raw" recorded and I don't sound nothing like this.

Try applying no processing at all to your voice, that will give you the “rawest” sound.

Also the mic used, your microphone technique (especially distance from a directional mic), the preamp, the room and the monitoring system can affect both the recording and how playback sounds. If you’ve heard good “raw” recordings you’re happy with try using the same mic with Live, that might help.

Another thing that might be worth trying is comparing the frequency plot of a good raw recording with what you’ve recorded into Live then eqing in Live to duplicate that.

Martin1977 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 09, 2019 12:38 pm

Hello.

I have a pretty good mic and use Focusrite equipment.

I have fiddled around with the settings in Ableton, adding reverb, EQ etc. No matter what I try, my voice sounds nothing like it does on stage or even singing in my bathroom, which has great acoustics.

Are there any special settings and/or effects I should try or stay clear of?

Vocal quality is a broad subject, what specifically you dont like about vocal?

1. Frequency/tonal balance
2. Dynamics
3. Noise
4. Reflections/reverb.
5. Nonlinear coloration (eg distortion)

What mic are you using? A condenser will have a completely different sound than a dynamic. Not only because frequency response, polar pattern, but also the proximity effect of being nearer or further.

I don't want you to feel like you're needing an upgrade, but the preamps on the Scarlet kind of sound dull and plasticy to me

I recorded a short clip in a loop, to let you know how it sounds.

Sounds weird, right?

https://instaud.io/3pVz

No clues as to what I need tl change?

Doesn't sound bad at all - depends on what you're going for, mate. Sounds pretty dense - maybe a bit too heavy on the reverb - could probably do some EQ scoops too to open it up a bit?

Everything sounds pretty level - compression seems good. How does it sound if you render with no effects apart from compression? What settings you got going on this sucker?