...okay yeah I really think I figured out something

[solarbird]

There are a couple of things I've really disliked about my singing voice on recordings. I figured out something a few weeks ago with airflow in my sinus passages and have been playing with it, and I can in fact turn this problem on and off now at will, which is awesome because really there's no reason ever to turn it on as far as I'm concerned but you never know.

Anyway, I've been playing with it standalone for a while and finally today in combination with instruments (brought their own surprises, like you'd expect) and I think I've got things mapped out now more generally. It's going to be a difficult habit (or really, set of habits) - to break. But it's worth it. I mean, I'm not turning into Ella Fitzgerald or something suddenly, but the thing I hear in recordings as a weird brittleness/confined tone that drives me a little bit crazy pretty much go away when stop doing these little things I've been doing since more or less forever, and I want that better sound kind of a lot.

Weird set of habits tho'. I wonder how I got into them? I wonder whether the airflow-in-sinuses thing is related to my grass pollen allergies; that'd make a kind of sense.

Comments

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! I love figuring out stuff like that. I suspect my voice may not be salvageable, but it doesn't stop me from poking it and trying...

[daspatrick.livejournal.com]

I hate, HATE, the sound of my voice on recording. Usually after a first listen of a take I will cry, drink, bury my head in my hands, etc. Then I turn to the compression, analog delay box, simulated tape echo, reverb, EQ, slaving away until the combination of effects or outright familiarity gained from a million listens makes the effect palatable. Which is bad because I also look down on engineers who use all those studio tools to try to make things sound better, so there you go. When people don't like things I record, it's usually because of all of those over-wrought tweaks I've applied in post (of course they never had to hear the raw recording!).

On the upside, it makes recording anyone *else* really fun because it immediately sounds great.

[solarbird]

Usually after a first listen of a take I will cry, drink, bury my head in my hands, etc.
Exactly. Only add "hiding from the microphone for three days."

Then I turn to the compression, analog delay box, simulated tape echo, reverb, EQ, slaving away until the combination of effects or outright familiarity gained from a million listens makes the effect palatable.
Clearly these are tools with which I should become familiar.

That said, Anna got me to demonstrate what I was talking about last night in person and thought the difference was clear and better.