Vocals

Whats up,
I've recorded a couple songs, but the vocals don't sound professional. How do I get it sound like radio qualities. So I'm asking what do you guys do to your vocals to sound at professional standards, from EQing, to compression. Can you tell me in detail, but where I would understand.

Thanks

I have sonar and protools

1)Get the tracks burnt to cd or pack up you mpc.
2)Go outside
3)Get into your car
4)Turn on the car
5)Drive to the nearest studio
6)Hand the c.d. or mpc to the engineer
7)Go into the booth,and rhyme....etc.

J/K but if you want radio quality sound you gotta go to a pro studio.

You gotta have the right mic first and foremost...then you gotta have the right equipment to process those vocals...trial and error, see what works for you...

Compression & EQ....

If what you have got sounds ok but a bit thin, experiment with sonar & pro-tools plug ins. A lot of compressors have pre-sets for vocals that are a good starting point.

Experiment with the step before this: ie, where you have your mic set up. You are using it on a fixed stand, not hand-held aren't you ?!?!?!

Another thing to try is work with the vocals you've got in a raw, lo-fi direction.... like they are coming through a phone or a cheap radio.


Don't forget the vocals on most records these days will be put together from lots of different takes.

You can eq and compress and make a million adjustments with your mic.You can even buy a $30,000 mic but it makes no diff.You can somewhat mix in a home studio environment but if you want that radio quality sound you have to have your music mastered.THere is a big difference between the 2.