Vocal Recording in Every Room of the House!

by Jason Johnston I have many conversations with people about where and how to record vocals at home. They ask, "Should I record them in the bathroom? The kitchen? The cold storage room?" And I say, "Sure, why not! What do you want your vocals to sound like? The bathroom, or the kitchen or the cold storage room?" You can record vocals anywhere you want, but just remember that you are not just recording the vocals but you are also recording how the room is responding to the vocals. So, you must always keep the room in the audio equation. A good test is this: go into each room or the house and sing loudly without a mic and ask yourself, "Is this the sound I'm looking for in the end?" Most good recording engineers have a problem with commitment. They are typically perfectionists who do not want to commit anything to track that cannot not be reversed at a later point unless it is absolutely necessary. This makes perfect sense and keeps you the most flexible in your final sound. For this reason, most vocals are recorded completely "dry" - no reverb - little or no compression - no EQ. All of these can be added and tweaked later. And this is why typical vocal rooms try their best at being a non-room. That is, a room that sounds like nothing. No bounce back from the wall, no reverb, no external sounds coming in. A typical vocal booth has a sonically pleasing shape like 6 X 7 X 8 (come to my Acoustics 101 class Jan 14th for more info!) and almost completely covered by Sonofoam or such material. It takes the room out of the equation and allows you to add room sound later if you like. You can get similar effects by opening your closet, placing the mic slightly inside and singing into the closet. (Don't take the clothes out!) Some people have made "sonic tents" out of 2 X 4's and heavy quilts. Another way is to dedicate a corner of your recording room to vocals, with heavy deadening material - just don't forget the ceiling. So record your vocals anywhere you like, as long as you like the sound. The myth that the best vocals are recorded in the bathroom was spread well before the time of being able to add artificial reverb after the fact. However, if you like the way you sound in the shower, then go for it! But you might want keep the water off and put some clothes on.