If I had to guess, most of you are recording in a square-shaped room made of drywall: literally the absolute worst recording environment. We’ve got to make sure all the mic picks up is your voice...not room ambience. And for monitoring, a well-tuned room will go a long way toward better mixes. As a full-time music producer in the age of Covid-19 I’ve spent A LOT of time in recent months helping people get killer vocals at home before they send them to me. It’s really easy to spend tons of money on acoustic treatment but these _____ tips will help you get it done for a fraction of the cost.
Sound absorption
If you’re using a large-diaphragm mic in an untreated room you’ll hear a phase-y, chorus-y sound in your vocal tracks. Often it’s so bad that it’s impossible to fix it with EQ or compression techniques. This is called reflection (imagine a bullet ricocheting back and forth off parallel surfaces). One way to fix this is sound absorbing acoustic panels. You can order a 6-pack of 2’x4’ 2-inch-thick pro-grade fiberglass panels for just over $100, including shipping. Look for Owens Corning 703 on Amazon. And then choose the fabric of your choice to wrap them yourself. This trick could save you thousands.
Corners Are The Enemy
Other than the walls, the second biggest problem I hear when artists send me DYI vocals are the corners. It’s a hallow sound like you’re recording through an underground water pipe. Sometimes you can EQ this sound out but then it can make your vocal-tone suffer because it pulls out out necessary low-end. Also when monitoring, those corners are probably doing funky things to everything below 200-400 Hz…all your essential low-end. You can use OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, or craigslist to look for used bass traps. Or YouTube how to make your own.
Mattress Vocal Booth
Some of my favorite DYI vocal booths have been made with mattresses. Seriously. It’s actually a time-tested trick used on massive, commercially-successful songs. If for some reason you have access to additional mattresses (at least four), try making a booth with 3 walls and a roof. Then use a mic shield with your mic on a stand and record with you and your mic completely inside the booth. Make sure your back is facing the back wall of the mattress-shelter. If this isn’t an otpion for you right now, a second option might be a closet full of clothes.
Whip Up Some Clouds
The concept of a cloud is it helps minimize the reflection bouncing off the ceiling. It’s one of the simplest ways to tighten up your mixes. And it’s essential if you’re recording vocals in your control-room. I’ve seen this done lots of ways. One way is to run wires or cables across your room about 4-6 inches below your ceiling and between 6 to 16 inches apart. Then spread out thick blankets/comforters on top of the wires. Fold them to create as much density as possible. The more the better. Another thing you can do is double-up the sound absorption panels from the first bullet-point to create 4-inch thick panels. hang the panels a few inches off the ceiling using hooks.
Diffusion
Angles are your friend in a recording environment. Create more surfaces that aren’t parallel to help minimize sound reflection. Back in the day many home-studios used egg-crates for this but honestly I don’t think it’s a very effective (or aesthetically pleasing) way to do this. There are lots of ways you can create your own diffuser walls or panels. There’s countless resources online for this, depending on your level of craftsmanship. But this could be a fun way to get creative in your studio space!