How do some Users record such perfect voicebanks?

MintyR

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
I'm just baffled at how some users voicebanks come out so perfect, without any background noise or static-y sounding parts. I've tried recording in a completely quiet environment with nothing that my mic can possibly pick up running in the background but still there's something. Please teach me your ways!
 

liure / mira

Momo's Minion
One thing for me personally that has helped me improve the quality of my vbs was cleaning it up with noise removal in audacity (and removing extra breathing in the beginning if you recorded in oremo w/ guidebgm)
Audacity allows you to mass import and export your samples. Usually I would use an equalizer/compressor to bring up all the noises including the random bg noise (I try to record in quiet environments. But it’s somehow still there??)
Then I get the sample of the “empty” noise with the noise removal/isolation tool in audacity, then remove it. It’s successful if it doesn’t need reduce the quality of your voicebank—you would most likely know.
If that doesn’t work, then try to find an environment—like a closet—that doesn’t have so much going on and try again.
Make sure your mic isn’t making extra unnecessary static noises either. Oh and remember You don’t need to pay $$$$ to have a “perfect” quality utau. Good luck and have fun...
 

HitCoder

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
It may be noise generated from your mic if it is low quality or cheap. Some microphones have amazing frequency response but bad noise floors.
That aside, have you tried different resamplers? Some resamplers bring up noise more than others. IMO the default resamples is the worst for it, and I can tell if people use the default resampler from a mile away.
Find a resampler that works well for your VB.
 

WinterdrivE

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
Honestly, the biggest factor is mic quality. It sounds contrived at this point, but the mic is so high up the production chain, it has a profound effect on the final result. Lower quality mics often create a lot of static and noise on their own, regardless of any environmental noise, and they also tend to not pick up a full frequency range, resulting in recordings that sound muffled or tinny or a dreaded combination of both. If at all possible, I'd recommend investing in a good USB mic (no rock band mics or Snowballs).
 

HitCoder

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
I'd recommend investing in a good USB mic (no rock band mics or Snowballs).
Somewhat seconding this, but, I'd go a step further and say that if you're REALLY serious about UTAU, get an audio interface and an XLR mic, as that can save you money, and get you better quality. Only reason I'd say you have to be serious about utau is that it's a little bit more of an annoying setup to have.
But yeah, microphone quality is very important. I use a Polsen RC-77-U which seems somewhat better than the Blue Yeti, but it's very much limited by being a USB mic.
I hate to discredit opinions, but, Liure/Mira wasn't fully correct in saying you don't need to spend a lot of money. You'd be spending at least $40 for something that sounds sufficient AND has a low noise floor.
 

Ivy!

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Not sure if it would help, but if you can find a car to record in you should try that. For me I have access to a car that's in a garage and it sounds completely dead in there, which seems to do well for recording
 

WinterdrivE

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
I agree with HitCoder, but I'm of the opinion that for most people, a USB mic is totally fine. If you have ~$200 in expendable income and recording for UTAU is that important for you, by all means, i recommend getting an interface and a proper XLR mic, cuz it'll be better than a USB in most if not all regards. But if you're on a tight budget, a good USB mic which'll probably run you from $50-$100 is enough to get a high quality VB

Edit: Also, i want to clarify that while what Ivy suggests may work to eliminate environmental noise, no amount of isolation will reduce your mic's self noise, which is a matter of the mic itself.
 
Last edited:

Pyremageyun

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
I want to add on to what WinterdrivE said, in some cases the driver that the usb mic is installed in can affect the quality as well...um let's say you're having a friend overseas help you record but the only way they can help you is through discord. Sometimes the driver can mess with your mic sensitive to the point where you no mater how much you mess with it your friend can hear what's going on in the background (Even if you have your mic sensetivity very low they can still hear what's going on in the background.) ...and sometimes viceversa

(So much money wasted on new headsets thinking it was a faulty wiring when it was the driver)
 

MintyR

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
I agree with all of you and for the most part I use the noise removal tool on reaper and I’ve recently upgraded my mic from my CAD to a AT 2020+ usb version cus I can’t afford an interface lol also idk how to use one I’m just starting to believe it’s just the breathiness of my singing voice lul
[doublepost=1554480919][/doublepost]This also seems good but I have no car and no garage
 

liure / mira

Momo's Minion
I hate to discredit opinions, but, Liure/Mira wasn't fully correct in saying you don't need to spend a lot of money.
Not to kick a dead donkey...horse, however that phrase goes idk lmfao
But oh yes I’m aware of that part. Inevitably ur gonna have to spend some money
I’ve just heard of people say they buy $1000 mics (not exaggerating) and you do what you want with your money, but it’s not that you NEED the most costliest thing to have good quality
That’s what I was tryna say
 

Kitcat190

Defoko's Slaves
Defender of Defoko
Hi,
I don't post often but I think there's a lot of reasons why you may be experiencing background noise or static. Like others have stated, the microphone may be the first cause. Use a pop filter, record in a low noise area that will also not produce any reverb into your feedback, ie. an empty room will do this.
Find the sweet spot to your microphone, don't record with very quiet samples - ***This is not to be confused with a quiet bank, but rather your microphone not having recorded your voice fully enough. You can still have a soft bank but recorded fully. An easy way to see is to look at the wav files loaded up, are they tiny and low or full and take up most of the space***- As I noticed when running through utau, you get far more static and bg noise come through. Also, try not to rub, over breathe, or make subtle noises. I often rub my legs while recording and I find that can occasionally be heard.
Make sure your settings are correctly down and you're actually recording with the microphone. Some USB mics, like my blue snowball, can disconnect without you realizing or arent fully connected.
For when it comes to actually putting it through utau, utau will butcher your samples to a nice pulp no matter your quality. Use the right resampler, or resampler combinations, flags, velocity, etc. If you're experiencing static or robotic like noises on longer samples, chances are it's your oto and it indeed can be fixed. I use TIPS as a resampler and the oto and amount of recorded line to work with heavily influences this. Velocity also influences the stretch factor that may contribute to any noise. Experiment with what resamplers work best, I find moresampler to be fluid, but very fuzzy sounding. Lowering the envelopes in utau can also be a way to limit the bg noise. For example, and end breath or note with static at the end - lower the end of the note with the envelope.
Lastly, there is no perfect bank. Many banks may not have as much of some qualities as others, but it really comes down to how it's used in UTAU and mixing. A lot of the sound you hear in the raw samples can be removed while actually mixing, and some static and robotic sounds can be masked with the actual song and mixing. You may think an utau sounds really nice covered by the owner or someone else, but that may change when actually using it.
If you don't want to spend money on utau, its fine, just work with what you got. I've only devoted around 75 dollars to it and there are always ways to deal with issues.
I hope something of that mess was helpful, as I assume that's what you meant! : 'D
 

MintyR

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
Hi,
I don't post often but I think there's a lot of reasons why you may be experiencing background noise or static. Like others have stated, the microphone may be the first cause. Use a pop filter, record in a low noise area that will also not produce any reverb into your feedback, ie. an empty room will do this.
Find the sweet spot to your microphone, don't record with very quiet samples - ***This is not to be confused with a quiet bank, but rather your microphone not having recorded your voice fully enough. You can still have a soft bank but recorded fully. An easy way to see is to look at the wav files loaded up, are they tiny and low or full and take up most of the space***- As I noticed when running through utau, you get far more static and bg noise come through. Also, try not to rub, over breathe, or make subtle noises. I often rub my legs while recording and I find that can occasionally be heard.
Make sure your settings are correctly down and you're actually recording with the microphone. Some USB mics, like my blue snowball, can disconnect without you realizing or arent fully connected.
For when it comes to actually putting it through utau, utau will butcher your samples to a nice pulp no matter your quality. Use the right resampler, or resampler combinations, flags, velocity, etc. If you're experiencing static or robotic like noises on longer samples, chances are it's your oto and it indeed can be fixed. I use TIPS as a resampler and the oto and amount of recorded line to work with heavily influences this. Velocity also influences the stretch factor that may contribute to any noise. Experiment with what resamplers work best, I find moresampler to be fluid, but very fuzzy sounding. Lowering the envelopes in utau can also be a way to limit the bg noise. For example, and end breath or note with static at the end - lower the end of the note with the envelope.
Lastly, there is no perfect bank. Many banks may not have as much of some qualities as others, but it really comes down to how it's used in UTAU and mixing. A lot of the sound you hear in the raw samples can be removed while actually mixing, and some static and robotic sounds can be masked with the actual song and mixing. You may think an utau sounds really nice covered by the owner or someone else, but that may change when actually using it.
If you don't want to spend money on utau, its fine, just work with what you got. I've only devoted around 75 dollars to it and there are always ways to deal with issues.
I hope something of that mess was helpful, as I assume that's what you meant! : 'D
I try my hardest not to over breathe or blow extra air into the mic but my natural singing voice is soft and breathy so lol also I did have a pop filter/wind screen but it doesn’t fit over my new mic so I have to get a new one. I usually use TIPS but when I compared it to tn_fnds, tn_fnds sounded much better
 
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Kitcat190

Defoko's Slaves
Defender of Defoko
I try my hardest not to over breathe or blow extra air into the mic but my natural singing voice is soft and breathy so lol also I did have a pop filter/wind screen but it doesn’t fit over my new mic so I have to get a new one. I usually use TIPS but when I compared it to tn_fnds, tn_fnds sounded much better
That's good! Try and find what resamplers work best for your bank, and it's not uncommon to use multiple resamplers for one ust if one area sounds better with one sampler than the other. Plug-ins such as this may help (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=J5dwAdPdy04)I also have a fairly breathy voice, so I suggest doing some vocal exercises in your spare time, and especially before you go to record. As controlling your breath and having proper breath support will help you in the long run anyway. For a pop filter, typically you should be okay if it doesn't cover your microphone but instead protects it from the noise and breaths you make. It should be more to your face regardless. Something I also failed to mention, if you recorded with limited pitches, you may also hear more noise, static, stretching, etc. if the note is played outside of its pitch range. Hope this helps!
 
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Awaclus

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Not to kick a dead donkey...horse, however that phrase goes idk lmfao
But oh yes I’m aware of that part. Inevitably ur gonna have to spend some money
I’ve just heard of people say they buy $1000 mics (not exaggerating) and you do what you want with your money, but it’s not that you NEED the most costliest thing to have good quality
That’s what I was tryna say

I would actually advice against buying a $1000 mic for a home studio unless you're really struggling to find things to spend money on, because at that price point, it's probably a condenser and what condensers are good at is picking up a lot of the room reverb, which you definitely don't want for UTAU and probably don't want for other music endeavors either unless your bedroom happens to sound wonderful. A good quality dynamic mic is not only cheaper (as they exist in the few hundred dollars price range) but will also give you better results.
 

MintyR

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
I would actually advice against buying a $1000 mic for a home studio unless you're really struggling to find things to spend money on, because at that price point, it's probably a condenser and what condensers are good at is picking up a lot of the room reverb, which you definitely don't want for UTAU and probably don't want for other music endeavors either unless your bedroom happens to sound wonderful. A good quality dynamic mic is not only cheaper (as they exist in the few hundred dollars price range) but will also give you better results.
Why do so many people prefer condenser over dynamic?
 

Awaclus

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Why do so many people prefer condenser over dynamic?
Condensers do also have their advantages. I guess the main (good) reasons are that they sound brighter which sounds nice on vocals, they are better at picking up small details of the voice (or anything in general), they respond to transients slightly differently which can be desirable for a lot of non-percussive instruments and that a large diaphragm condenser is very versatile and can do at least a decent job at micing almost any instrument in addition to vocals.

To clarify, I'm not saying that it's a bad idea to buy a condenser mic in general. They can definitely be useful even in bedroom studios, it's just that the room acoustics is a factor to consider and may be a reason why an expensive condenser won't turn out to be as useful as you would hope for the price.
 
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