Hey everyone!

Riley_Fields

Hey Dudes and Divas

I'm having a problem.
When I sing my intonation is good and I can sing in tune. But when I recorded myself doing the warm ups it sounded cringe worthy.(the top of each scale run is a semi tone off every time) I'm using earbuds and no mic. Is this my problem. Am I playing the track too loud. Should I use a mic to hear myself. Opinions would be greatly appreciated because I'm mortified at the recording I just listened back to.

Thanks in advance!

Furious_Phil

Hey Riley.

I find it easier to stay on pitch if I use the right earbud only, as this is the side of the mix that the piano is a bit louder than Ken's voice. As far as volume goes, only play it at a level that leaves your own voice prominent, while still being able to hear the piano notes. This should enable you to be more "present" in your recordings.

This works best for me, so give it a shot and let us know how you make out.

Cheers,

Phillip

Riley_Fields

Okay, good news! I lowered the volume dramatically and that fixed the problem of me thinking i was hitting the right note and wasn't. I tried having one earbud out. but that made me feel lop sided. (through the recording for that one came out better then with both earbuds in)
So I'm going to trying furthering my search for the best way that works for me.
Your way will be my default one for practice when all I have is my phone and earbuds.
I'm hoping running a mic and sending it to my headphones work better.
I'll message again once I give that a try.

Furious_Phil

Outstanding! That is basically the way I warm up while driving to rehearsals

highmtn

I have a practice setup that includes a mixer with a headphone output, mic, headphones and computer or CD player plugged-in so I can hear my voice "in" the mix with the workouts. It would be really hard to judge my voice if I didn't have a mic there to put my voice into the context of the audio I am hearing.

Another benefit of this is if I'm practicing a new song, I'm doing it into a mic, and using my "mic" voice. Have you ever learned a song in your bedroom and sang it well (you thought) and then when you get to a gig, you sound wimpy and totally off-balance? Singing into a mic/headphone or speaker helps you to get used to that environment.

Another cool thing is to play CD's or MP3's into the mixer and sing along. I can join in with the Beatles, the Eagles or anyone I have a recording of. They're all in the headphones along with my voice, too.

This is a little bit of an overkill setup, but I like it. The mixer is just a little $100 "Alto" ZMX122FX. Nothing real fancy, but it has reverb and echo if you like that. It's easy to record off of the mixer if you have something to record on.

Furious_Phil

@highmtn, that is damned brilliant! Kills 2 birds with one stone... an argument could be made for 3!
Training the KTVA stuff while learning microphone dynamics!
I have a ZOOM 8 Track I can do this with, or I can do this directly through my Helicon VoiveLive Play as well for full on processing that I can aux in my music!
Thanks for the great ideas :-D

highmtn

It's fun to have the Beatles over for a singalong session, as well. You can even turn your mic up a little higher than the playback and become the lead singer. This would work well for karaoke singers as well.

If you're in a band, then doing the same thing with a monitor speaker is good practice for hearing yourself in a room with speakers, but the headphone version is great to learn how to do the things you need to do when recording, and it also puts you into a quiet practice space where you hear all of the sound as loud as you want, but your family in the next room can hear their television program or music and barely hear your voice through the wall. Make sure to not blow your ears from too much volume. You are responsible for your own hearing protection. Be sane and safe.