2. The room and placement
What weighs most on a home vocal: where to record, how to stop reflections with what you have at home and how far from the mic to sing.
A condenser mic picks up a lot of detail, and that includes your room. The echo of an empty bedroom sticks to the voice and doesn’t come out well later. That’s why, on a home vocal, half an hour of blankets pays off more than any plugin.
Reflections: the real problem
The sound leaves your mouth, bounces off the walls and comes back to the mic a few milliseconds later. That bounce sounds like “a voice in a bedroom”, and later, when compressing, it gets even more noticeable.
The surface that matters most is behind you
A cardioid picks up mostly what’s in front of it. And what’s in front of it is you and what’s behind you. That’s where the most absorbent thing you have goes:
- An open closet full of clothes, with your back to it. It’s one of the best home options.
- Thick blankets or quilts hung behind you.
- A mattress leaning against the wall.
Where to stand
- Away from parallel walls, and never in the exact center of an empty room.
- A small room with stuff is better than a large, empty one. Furniture, clothes and books stop bounces.
- Avoid the bathroom and the kitchen: hard surfaces give everything back.
A quick test: clap once where you’re going to sing. If you hear a metallic ring or an echo that lasts, keep adding soft things or try another spot. If the clap dies right away, you’re fine.
Silence
The NT2-A picks up noises you no longer notice. Before recording, turn off the fridge, air conditioning and fans, and close the windows. Move the computer away from the mic if you can hear its fan.
Distance and position
It stops the blast of air from p's and b's before it reaches the capsule. It's mandatory with a condenser. It also marks your distance: you can't get closer than you should.
Closer adds lows through the proximity effect and the voice sounds more intimate, but the level differences are bigger. Further sounds more natural and more even, but more room gets in. In an untreated room, the close side of the range works best.
The direct air passes below the capsule, which reduces plosives. It also keeps your head up and your throat open, without looking down to read the lyrics.
You sing toward the front of the mic. If you’re not sure which side it is, sing from one side and then the other and watch the meter: on cardioid, it picks up much less from the back.
The room stays stuck to the voice forever, and no plugin removes it well without leaving marks. It's the most cost-effective thing to solve before recording, and it costs no money.
Common mistakes
What NOT to chase yet
Quick path: the spot in 15 minutes
Quick path
- Choose a small room with furniture, or an open closet full of clothes.
- Stand with your back to the most absorbent thing, or hang blankets behind you.
- Clap test: the sound should die right away.
- Turn off the fridge, air conditioning and fans.
- Pop filter at 5 cm; you at 15–25 cm.
- Mic at mouth level, angled slightly down.
- Record 20 seconds of silence and listen to them turned up.
Expected result
Expected result
A take where the voice sounds close and dry, with no bedroom echo and no constant background noise, with the p’s and b’s under control. If the room doesn’t appear when you turn it up, you’ve got the hardest part. What comes next is how you hear yourself while singing, which defines whether you sing in tune.