Started recording music about 15 years ago on my Tascam portastudio 4 track. Super primitive recordings with a cheap radio shack mixer and some yard sale microphones. Crazy loud in the red stuff that most speakers suffered to play. Nevertheless, the energy and simple songs made for an ok product. Since, these early recordings I have recorded music/records in all kinds of professional studios to basement dungeons. From Analog tape machines to DAT recordings, to strictly Digital recordings. Having some one else behind the board recording your music has many advantages and disadvantage. Less headaches of course, but certain aspects of the song may be lost in translation. Not every sound engineer will understand that you may actually want to sound like a scary mess of noise and chaos. I continued to record myself for song demos or riff ideas, and learned alot by watching others and asking a whole lot of annoying questions. I am by no means a sound engineer. I still consider myself a beginner that has a small grasp over spectrum of recording music. But, i sure have a lot of fun recording and saving my money to buy some better gear. And overall, the results are about the same from pro studios to my budget recordings---scary mess of noise....

I would really like some new ideas for recording trashy vocals. On many records I have used at 57, 58, or shure bullet direct into a guitar amp. Used all kinds of amps .... super high end tube amps to cheap pawn shop garbage. Super fuzz to moderate distortion. Typically I use this distorted track as a basis for additional vocal tracks and/or melodies. Clean vocals meshed with overdriven vocals. Most sound engineers producers frown upon this practice, but whatever. I love trashy vocals. And If the gain is not there on certain tracks, the vocal performance may sound dull and boring to my ear. Recently, i have used a universal audio LA610 to record vocals among other things. Sounds most excellent on bass. Highly recommend! Yet, I have a difficult time getting the gain---without digital clipping occurring. Have had very great results with the 610 on clean vocals using a Avantone CV-12 tube mic. Super rich. Anyways, what techniques do you use for vocals---trashy or clean? What kind of gear are you using? Thanks

Hey, I sure do appreciate all of these tips that everyone is offering up. Used the reamp trick on many occasions to get a more biting attack and frequency response. Great for overdriving bass! Bass amp in tiled bathroom...good results. And the hallway trick/method works outstanding! Joey Ramone vocals show how great this method can work in the mix. Gotta build me one of these contact mics. Really like some of the growl sound clips produced from taping a contact mic to the neck. Super cool

I have some experience with getting nasty tones and the cheapest/easiest way is (if you're using a digital/computer DAW to record, such as Cubase, Garageband, or some other thing; remember, you can download a lot of similar programs for free off the web, such as Audacity and Reaper) to simply tweak the graphic EQ of the recorded signal so that can be turned into anything you want. Even if you record a clean or dry vocal track/signal, you can EQ it to sound like a telephone or almost anything super nasty. Another fix (if you're using something other than a laptop, like a portastudio or some other stand-alone device), get a cheap graphic equalizer (like a guitar pedal or something you'd use in your stereo hi-fi) and sweep that to make the vocal sound nasty. Otherwise, if you want to make a microphone that sounds nasty (for cheap), pull the mouthpiece mic out of an old telephone and wire that up to be your mic.

I really do like the other ideas mentioned above. I make my own piezoelectric transducer pickups, too. They are cheap and easy and you can attach them to anything that vibrates and you can amplify/record it. Put one of those on the back end of a can and record yourself singing into that.
I am just trying to think of ways to get this effect for low/no cost...

I love this thread, great discussion topic. I love the link to cranksturgeon.com, too. That will come in handy.

Ha, I love how these engineers frown on new ideas just to end up implementing them later. Once you've been taught what you can't do in the studio it's hard to break those rules.

 

I think these days mic pre-amps you are what you want to own. It sounds like The Hydeouts are already on the right track for a killer sound. But these days, since we aren't working often with analog tape, it's best to already give some warmth and compression in the recording process before it hits the hard disk recorder. Another trick I've done to fix weak vocals is to run a standard vocal signal back through an guitar amp and record that on a separate track. The mixing of the original and the amplified can really produce a punchy yet fucked up sound. Also another dirty trick if you don't have a good reverb unit you can send your voice through an amp you can set up a condenser mic set up to record on the other end your room or hallway. You can mix your original track with this room mic track to give some space to the vocal and get a little room feeling with some amplifier distortion. 

Rather interesting mic indeed. I dont have too much experience with contact mics or pressure microphones. But, I sure would like to experiment with this kind of approach for vocals, as well as other instruments. I like that you taped the mic to your neck! Rather inventive! Hey, I really appreciate your responses. I can only become more rounded in versatile in my personal recordings by sharing info, experiences, and feedback. And there is very little information discussed on the internet regarding recording distorted vocals. Most blogs related to sound recording will say "Do not do this!" Kinda funny that a couple of the studio engineers I worked with in the past that frowned upon the practices of singing through amps, actually a few years later, put out records with vocals through an amp. Rock n roll.

Yesterday I tried out a new method on recording trashy distorted vocals. Ran my Avantone tube mic into a Summit audio 2ba-221 preamp and then processed that signal into the line input of my universal audio la610 then out to my hard disk recorder. Lots of tube front end before digital recording! Very light breakup on vocal track---moderate gain on both preamps w/ a medium amount of compression on la610. Doubled the vocal tracks --and the results were pretty good. Had breakup without considerable noise variables and a distinct track that fits interestingly in the mix. Still lots of room for guitar....sometimes an overly distorted vocal track can get lost in guitar sounds or vice versa. Track separation is rather important for balance in your mix. Trying to find the fine line whereby vocals still have a natural quality, but have some breakup to unleash some energy. And really i am referring to lead vocals....Need em loud and not buried. Still love overly distorted trash on background vocals and scream tracks where volume is not a immediate concern.

I'm really starting to have very favorable opinions regarding the purchase of Avantone CV-12. Sounds good for lead vocals, backing vox, and room sound. Pretty cool mic under $500. Also use a AT 4033 condenser mic. Although the 4033 is ultra sensitive and, as a result can pickup very light sounds (ie lawnmower down street, birds chirping, paper ruffling). Can anyone recommend any other mics to check out?

Yeah, Petulant Child bought himself a Piazo pressure sensitive mic, and these things can be very cool. You'll have to do some major experimenting but there are plenty of cool sounds you can come up with. I've taped these mics to my neck while doing a vocal take and had incredible results. It's not a dynamic or condenser, it's pressure sensitive. So you can tape these mics to drums, guitar, a table, whatever... and even plug them into almost any type of amplifying unit, P.A., guitar amp. Using these in combination with other microphones can lead to incredible results.

 

Here is a link to a DIY report about Piazo microphone.

 

http://www.cranksturgeon.com/PIEZOCRANK.html

i went to a workshop today and learned how to turn a patch cord into a contact mic.  you get a 80 cent mic from radio shack and splice it on to the patch cord and tape it up.  I cant wait to use it to record!

THIS IS A GREAT POST!! Great tips here for anyone who wants real raunchy vocals during the recording process. Most folks don't understand that you can distort pre or post recorded vocals with amplifiers and/or guitar distortion effect boxes with ease. Engineers are powerful beings when you find the right one for your music. But I have yet met an engineer who likes a good dose of vocal fuzz, that's shit you have to do yourself!