vocals

[asiankid95]

i just recently started audacity and when i rap i find that it sounds really bad in quality. how do i make it sound much much more crisper like in youre everyday song like im not soundinging like my mouth is right agianst the mic? i want it to sound better and crisp as well as clear, emphasis on more clear.

[kozikowski]

You can get clear sound by backing up from the microphone a little. Very nasty things happen when you get too close to a microphone, especially if it's a directional microphone. You can get rid of the P popping sounds by putting a blast filter between you and the mic.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/wynonna2.jpg

When you back up, the quality goes up, but so does the hiss noise in the system and the room noises and echoes. That's why it's important to record in a very quiet room with no bare walls.

I sometimes make a portable sound studio with furniture moving blankets to help with room noise.

http://www.kozco.com/pictures/boothFini ... op-mic.jpg

Microphone noise (hiss and distortion) goes down by adding dollars.

What kind of microphone do you have? You can do very well with inexpensive microphones, but you do have to be very careful about everything else.

Koz

[asiankid95]

i have a mxl 990 usb mic, is there any kind of effect for audacity that kind make my voice sound more clear and crisp like my voice actually is in the song, if that makes sense, because even if i stand a bit away (i have a pop filter btw) it still sounds abit wierd. and if i find that when i try i put echo i put waaayy to much (i put in like .5 and .2 last time) echo into it, whats a good number to put in for only slight echo? like listen to Kill by Earl Sweatshirt there is slight echo throughout the song but i dont know how to do that. would it be better if i got a new program?

[DVDdoug]

That should be a pretty good microphone, and it should be accurately capturing what it's "hearing". So, it could be the acoustics in your "studio". Also, make sure you are singing/rapping into the correct side of the mic... not the back side or the end.

Boosting the highs with the equalizer tends to add more "clarity" and "crispness" to the "T" and "S" sounds.

if i find that when i try i put echo i put waaayy to much

You might try some reverb. Reverb is the echo-like sound you get in a concert hall, without the distinct repeating of the sound you get with a true echo. Reverb is a natural effect, whereas echo is a special effect that almost never occurs naturally. Most vocals recorded in the studio have some reverb added. The amount of reverb (and kind of reverb) is up to you... You are the producer... But, generally, the idea is to use enough reverb so it's not too noticable... So you don't really notice it, but there's something missing when you switch it off. (Of course, you can use reverb and echo together if you wish.)

Another effect that's used on most vocals (and everything else) is dynamic compression. A compressor can make "everything louder" and "constantly loud" without boosting/distorting the already-loud peaks.

And... you might try working on improving your voice! We hear through our heads, so we don't hear ourselves the way other people hear us, and our recorded voice usually sounds "funny" if you are not used to hearing it.

[kozikowski]

And since this is happening on two different threads, do what I said in the other one.
http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 02#p172802

Koz

[kozikowski]

you might try working on improving your voice!

My voice is perfect. It's only when it gets into that stupid microphone...
Koz

[Trebor]

listen to Kill by Earl Sweatshirt

do I have to ? ... http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=byjtrzBluyM [warning contains typical obscene lyrics ]

… there is slight echo throughout the song but i dont know how to do that.

The stereo reverb on that vocal has an unusually long delay time: approximately 1500 - 2000ms, (that's 1.5 - 2 seconds in old money).