growlingsoulpup : appreciate the attempt man i think it's something to do with your rep must be higher than mine in order for mine to be increased. or something. not like it matters heheh . just here to help people to help themselves.
parkertr :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKVrp8J35ZU was fully done on the old zoom H4, but very mixed la. the guitars and vocals on the mic, then the bass DI. I recorded this song for them for free thinking it's just a simple "cheap" recording test on the H4. never would I have expected it to hit 32'000 plays on their
myspace and eventually leading to a malay version. Ku Berjanji
the other example would be
http://www.myspace.com/farhanborst (or you can hear at my site in clearer sampler) , farhan recorded himself using Zoom H2 (via virtual recording) with me guiding him over MSN / mspaint drawing diagrams on how he should mike up best catered to his own vocals and guitars as if i'm there.. then he sent me the tracks to mix/master and I sent him back, payment via ibanking without even meeting each other at all lol.
I would love to help out produce esp with you recording on the Zoom H4n, it sounds so good but my hands are really full right now, infact I'm free now posting in soft cos I'm uploading practise mix mp3s for the bands before they continue recording. I can only see some blanks on my calendar from jan/feb/march 2010 onwards unfortunately, but I do wish you best of luck in the production process.since you guys are keen, I'll go into further details on my tips earlier -
[lyrics]
make sure the words make sense, keep with the flow and relevance.
[tempo]
to combine "lyrics" with "tempo" also includes "syllables" , ever felt that you were trying to squeeze too many darn words into a short melody ? sometimes little/simpler, is better.
[pitch]
some people have trouble hitting right notes. i see some sing the tune together with the piano key to help practise. but to combine "tempo" / "pitch" together with the situation, sometimes fast songs are damn hard to sing cos the pitch goes low then mid then high then low high low high you can't tune your vocals fast enough to keep up, then my suggestion is sing the song 2 to 5 times slower like some celine dion titanic song. then slowly learn to speed up.
[pronunciation]
Don't mumble!
e.g Can't
american - k-air-nt.
british - Cu|\|t (sorry james lol)
e.g Take
good english - T-ay-ke.
goot engrish - tek.
if you wear braces or born with lisp or short tongue, exaggerate your pronunciation! you'll feel dumb but you'll sound good!
another one is, keep that smile on your face when you sing. It reduces the "P-F-T-H" i believe it's called sibilance. I read about an experiment that a guy tried to sing infront of a burning candle and no matter how he sang the candle blew out. when I smiled as he sings, the candle flame stays. one very good example is, observe Jon Chan (hope i got the name right) of plainsunset when he sings. he looks a little cramped with his face at times but who cares if you sound great?
[feel]
there're times. there's a fine line drawn between "corn" "cheese" and "cool". (as in corny / cheesy lame) , but sometimes corny lyrics or tunes may fit just into the song simply because the song is chirpy or funny , comedic or just simply feels like rainbows and sunflowers are coming out of your pants. remember if it sounds right, if feels right, it wouldn't be wrong right?
[tone]
combine with "feel" : falsettos/vibrato/spunkypunkyhusky/sexy/sounds like you're singing with a penknife on your wrist.
mysterious like muse? grunge like kurt cobain ? cannot-take-u-serious-voice like poppunk tom delonge of blink182 ? some people possess the voice that's a double edged sword, as much as 100 people love it, 100 people hate it. e.g I hate suede's vocals.
check if your vocals have a distinct feel and study how you can use it to your advantage.
[condition]
I've been laughed at for these methods by certain fools who think too highly of themselves just cos they hold a decent "reputation" in the local scene. but hey, I laugh last cos they work great for me.
study on what foods you eat that may compliment or totally screw over your vocals.As I always say recording vocals is like recording a shapeshifting tube amp! I forgot to mention also dont drink cold water before recording, shrinks your wind pipe or something.. don't sing when you just woke up duh.. some people sound great after they drink beer, personally for me, tabasco sauce clears up and opens up my voice cos I read somewhere contains some kinda content found in COUGH syrup. I'm immune to wasabi (came in handy during my gatecrash wedding day lol), I eat like green tea icecream. so tabasco has more punch effect
for smokers, if you had to record the best take of your life. try this , first 1 cig. sing, after that another cig. sing, when you feel like your vocals giving way and out of breath, one shot 2 to 3 cigs. this is highly hazardous (but hey, i'm sure you've read the warning labels before you started to pick up) , and go for it! them cigs act as some kinda steroids or painkillers like how some cancer patients smoke weed to numb the pain. but as I already said, you know the warnings, very bad for your health. music is your life right?
every vocalist like tube amps have their own character, some perform under moods, like 11pm last bus a phone call comes and say "Ron I got the mood, i'm heading over to record" or some vocals are sadomasochistic , it needs to be abused for the 1st 3 hours , then it'll sound super great for the 4th, and 5th hour it starts to melt and rot. hahah. some need to record blindfolded, or with aircon off, or with aircon or with pegs on nipples like me, j/k, but I've literally been through it all, it's true haha.
I'm still learning and testing more DIY self invented methods and tricks. but these are some of my findings so far hope it's useful to you guys to perform your best.
blessings n more powwa to u!
