Any advice for people recording without a mic?

RaccoonButler

Founder of The Church of Mawarine Shuu
Defender of Defoko
There's no way my parents are buying me a mic, even if it is cheap, because they view UTAU as a waste of time for me so I'm on my own.

I'm aware that you can use headphones as a mic, but my chromebook doesn't have a mic port and the mac is downstairs where everyone else always is, so it's going to be loud (and I can't move it upstairs because my dad uses it for college homework, plus he'll be annoyed if I move it for UTAU reasons).

I'm pretty much out of other options, so do you guys have any advice for making a UTAU sound as decent as possible on a default built-in laptop mic?
 

kthxsayonara

All Might is my Husband
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Edit the samples before importing into UTAU, so remove noise, add an EQ, mess around with a Comp, this sort of stuff, just mess around 'til it sounds better.
 

KNΞMΛTCS

Just an UtaForum user
Defender of Defoko
From my experiences, some phone mics can be better then laptop mics. If you have a smartphone, try the mic on that. Only problem with that is you can't use Oremo or stuff like that. And as Yersinia said, edit your samples.
 

sailor _ravioli

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
I only have two UTAUs recorded on my lenovo yoga laptop mic and the quality is kinda meh. If you use a laptop mic, leave plenty of pauses for audacity (or any other program) to pick up noises so you can remove them easily, and try not to be really close if you are recording a stronger vb as this will make your samples sound weird. Also as Tardis said, smartphone mics can be better than laptop mics; to add on I believe there are several ways to connect a phone as a mic through usb (though I haven't been successful). And for recording environment I recommend recording in a closet or if you can't, record under blankets (be sure to leave an air hole so you can breathe!).
Personally, I just hunker down in my 3x5 closet with the doors shut (both my bedroom and closet doors) the clothes and stuff will help keep the outside noises out. If you can use a smartphone mic test it out first before you record the whole vb bc the mic might be sensitive and pick up pops and stuff and you may need to put a sock over the mic as a makeshift pop filter

Here's a comparison of voices to help compare quality(all of which were recorded in a closet):
Lenovo laptop mic (excuse the oto quality these were from my bad oto days):


iPhone 4s:

Samsung Galaxy s6:


sorry for the long post, but i hope this helps!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: partial

Tadashi

Teto's Territory
First. sorry for my somewhat broken english

When I made Tarek's first vcv, I used my little sister's barbie microphone lol


Honestly like everyone said, edit your samples after recording them. Leave space in the recordings so audacity can pick up a sample big enough for noise removal and EQ them. I also recommend running a multi-band compressor on them, kinda like Maximus on flstudio, or a free alternative with basically the same engine like youwashock (https://sites.google.com/site/youwashockvst/) It'll make your samples way bassier and stronger, though this depends on literally everything.

Aaah, also! If you're going to record through a smartphone- be sure you're using the phone's actual microphone and not the microphone on your headset like I did once

For android, using your phone as a microphone, this guide worked really well for me:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-smartphone-windows-microphone/

Good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: sailor _ravioli

na4a4a

Outwardly Opinionated and Harshly Critical
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I can't believe I haven't seen this thread lol.

Your parents are assholes imo, it's your hobby and you should be able to do what you want. Next christmas/birthday ask for a CAD u37.
Use your phone. Cellphones have terrible mics but it will sort of work.
On Android you can get an app called "smart voice recorder" which lets you record to wav and avoids the compression of the built in app.
Search around if you have an iphone/ipod touch for a similar app.

The mic on your cellphone is akin to the built in mic on a laptop. They generally have very poor frequency response(they don't record all the frequencies) and/or are very uneven.
No amount of editing frm a regular user is going to be able to work around most of the short-comings of a built in mic.

As for noise removal, you only need half a second of noise, more is better but you don't need to go crazy. Just record some silence (not even breathing) and use that in something like audacity's noise reduction.
Keep in mind that this will add artifacts to your samples so use it sparingly or it can be even worse than without it

Okay, first. Recording correctly in the first place is more important and does more than whatever editing most of use could achieve.

And I can't stress this enough:
DON'T edit your samples! Unless you actually know what you are doing you are going to do more harm than good. You may be able to get away with a small amount of noise removal (which btw adds artifacting and distortion to audio) but don't try EQing your samples.
Noise removal ("reduction" is more proper) can only get rid of static-like noise and will not get rid of sounds like a television without destroying the audio.

idk what mic you are getting but if it's a condenser or desk mic then maintain a recording distance of around 1 foot. Being too close will add a low end boost that sounds gross on cheaper mics and being too far will thin you out and record too much room sound.
To avoid noise, get as far away from your PC and any other sources of unwanted sound as you can. Turn televisions off, fans off, etc. Record when no one is around so you can make sure you can have nothing running.

Try to avoid reverb:
reverb is that fluttery sound you get when you clap your hands, it's when sound bounces off your walls/"reverberates" and lengthens the time it takes for it to die out.
You can't get rid of reverb without treating a room so your best bet would be to record in a closet full of fabrics and to avoid hard, non-porous surfaces such as wood.
Don't fall for "portable sound booths". All those are are boxes filled with foam with the intention of blocking the sound. This does not work as acoustic foam (or any foam for that matter) is not designed like that. it'll cause combing issues as audio bounces off the foam and cancels out part of your voice.

Get/make a pop filter:
Pop filters block "p" and "b" sounds (these are called plosives) from distorting your mic. You can get a cheap one for around $5.
Please avoid using a sock. It's too thick and will muffle the sound. Plus the lint from it can damage the mic.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Soursop the fruit

KNΞMΛTCS

Just an UtaForum user
Defender of Defoko
I agree that you can't edit a mediocre laptop/phone mic to sound as good as a dedicated one. There's no doubting that (or people wouldn't use more expensive mics). I do however, disagree to some degree about editing your samples. I think you're best off learning how to properly EQ and use compression. Practice makes perfect; experiment with different settings and filters and find what sounds good (but don't overdo it!). Remember that even a studio-quality microphone will not eliminate the need for good editing skills - even though the samples may sound good right off the bat, editing will make them sound even better. Editing the right way is definitely a good skill to work on, even if the amount of extra quality gained when recording with a low-quality mic may be marginal.
 

RaccoonButler

Founder of The Church of Mawarine Shuu
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
Oh gosh, some of your advice is contradictory to eachother's and I'm slightly confused
>.< aa

But thank you guys for the advice, I was really not sure how to proceed at all so it really helps.
 

Chianachini

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Hay man your dedication is awesome if you really wanna do this!

I don't know if you've recorded a bank before, but I think you should go ahead and give it a whirl with what you have. That way you'll have more recording experience when you can get a real setup. I'm not sure if I should recommend batch editing in Audacity. A lot of samples require individual treatment, but I've saved a lot of time with it when editing experimental banks. Luckily Audacity puts these batch edits in a new directory, so you still have the original recordings.

You might wanna see if your school has any quality mics in their technology departments and ask to borrow it. That way you should hopefully already have a nice recording area and equipment. Maybe even some acquaintances of yours would be willing to lend you a mic.
 

Similar threads