Recording loud punk rock vocals in an apartment?

[LitmusDragon]

Anyone have any suggestions for recording loud punk rock vocals in an apartment?

I recorded this song, and I really want to scream-sing over it, but my neighbors would have a hissy. Soundproofing is not so great in my building.

Is it feasible to soundproof a closet? I have a large walk-in closet.

Could I maybe get an AC adapter for my 4-track and take it out to the car?

I guess I could get a practice space and/or book some studio time, but for a silly cassette tape demo seems stupid to book studio time and the practice space thing is nice in theory but I don't like leaving my stuff there (or hauling it around).

Any musically-inclined TrekBBSers have any ideas?

 

[Jetfire]

You really need practice space if you have a band. We recorded our ep in this dudes house...but since he was a professional sound tech guy...it was ok. He used Cakewalk to edit the music...you can use Pro Tools also...I think it is still free???

I sang in my band...my band mates said they were playing hardcore...but it was pretty much like death metal...nu metal sounding.

 

[Ward Fowler]

Find a buddy with a house.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Simple. Whisper and then crank up the volume in Audacity.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Find a buddy with a house.

But my misanthropy would suffer! Seriously, this is a good idea, but I don't really know any other musicians in the area.

Simple. Whisper and then crank up the volume in Audacity.

I'd thought about this, I'd even tried adding a pitch bend or distortion on the track, and it was kinda acceptable, but I want that cathartic kinda yelling from the gut thing.

I've been researching this today and have come up with a few options- hang up blankets in my bathroom (it's actually quite big) which should muffle the sound, or maybe I could get one of these dealies and take it out to the car, or I could even do something low-tech like get a standard battery-operated tape recorder and listen to the instrument track on headphones, then I could sync the two audio tracks together digitally once I dump them to the computer.

 

[RJDiogenes]

How about lining the walls with egg cartons?

 

[Capn Flukie]

Dude, it's punk rock. Screw the neighbors!

You never saw Mr. Rogers singing 'Holiday in Cambodia' did you?

 

[M'Sharak]

How about lining the walls with egg cartons?

That might soften the room acoustics a little but it does pretty much squat as far as soundproofing goes. Preventing or minimizing leakage of loud sounds to anywhere outside the recording space is going to be a bit more involved than it sounds like LitmusDragon wants to get with this project.

Handheld tape recorder in the car has a certain charm, though, and it fits the punk low-tech, DIY ethic, but it does present possible sync issues in putting it together with the instrument tracks.

 

[backstept]

who says you have to soundproof a whole room?
why not take an old cardboard box, line it with foam padding such that your microphone can sit inside, and make a hole in the box large enough for your mouth and nose to fit snug and scream away

 

[LitmusDragon]

Dude, it's punk rock. Screw the neighbors!

You never saw Mr. Rogers singing 'Holiday in Cambodia' did you?

I'm the polite punk rocker! Maybe I should start a new movement- politecore! We flip you the bird, but we apologize about it afterwards.

who says you have to soundproof a whole room?
why not take an old cardboard box, line it with foam padding such that your microphone can sit inside, and make a hole in the box large enough for your mouth and nose to fit snug and scream away

Ah-ha, a soundproofing helmet? That's kind of genius actually. Apparently it's been thought of before, but doesn't actually exist yet. I don't think a simple box would work, because the sound would still carry downwards, which is my primary concern actually. My downstairs neighbor is a bit of a biddy.

My latest idea is to run my vocals through a distortion pedal and then through the distortion channel of my guitar amp, I think maybe that will get an aggressive enough sound even if I can't scream. The whole screaming thing is passe now anyway right? It's not the 90s anymore? Brainiac did heavy songs without screaming. I'm trying to talk myself out of it since it's so much trouble.

It's funny that I've put all of this thought into a one minute song and it's the only heavy song out of like 10 I've recorded for the website I'm working on so it's like a very minor thing.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ The littlest things seem to take the most time.

Ah-ha, a soundproofing helmet? That's kind of genius actually. Apparently it's been thought of before, but doesn't actually exist yet. I don't think a simple box would work, because the sound would still carry downwards, which is my primary concern actually. My downstairs neighbor is a bit of a biddy.

Get one of those lampshade things that Pets wear when they come back from the Vet.

 

[ITL]

Dude, it's punk rock. Screw the neighbors!

You never saw Mr. Rogers singing 'Holiday in Cambodia' did you?

I'm the polite punk rocker! Maybe I should start a new movement- politecore! We flip you the bird, but we apologize about it afterwards.

who says you have to soundproof a whole room?
why not take an old cardboard box, line it with foam padding such that your microphone can sit inside, and make a hole in the box large enough for your mouth and nose to fit snug and scream away

Ah-ha, a soundproofing helmet? That's kind of genius actually. Apparently it's been thought of before, but doesn't actually exist yet. I don't think a simple box would work, because the sound would still carry downwards, which is my primary concern actually. My downstairs neighbor is a bit of a biddy.

My latest idea is to run my vocals through a distortion pedal and then through the distortion channel of my guitar amp, I think maybe that will get an aggressive enough sound even if I can't scream. The whole screaming thing is passe now anyway right? It's not the 90s anymore? Brainiac did heavy songs without screaming. I'm trying to talk myself out of it since it's so much trouble.

It's funny that I've put all of this thought into a one minute song and it's the only heavy song out of like 10 I've recorded for the website I'm working on so it's like a very minor thing.

Go for the "Fuck it! Do it! It'll be done in one minute! If it's a bit out of sync in places so be it! Deal with the neighbours afterwards!" approach.

Do it! DO IT!

 

[Crash]

The obvious answer is to do what Radon did. Play on one side of your place until the neighbors complain, and then move to the far side of the house and torment those neighbors for a while. Hell, Radon recorded their first ep in their living room and then their bedroom, and they pretty much launched No Idea Records themselves.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Get one of those lampshade things that Pets wear when they come back from the Vet.

Go for the "Fuck it! Do it! It'll be done in one minute! If it's a bit out of sync in places so be it! Deal with the neighbours afterwards!" approach.

Do it! DO IT!

I ended up running my vocals through a distortion pedal and an effects processor on "phaser", came out kinda cool.

Someday all these musical doodles will reside on a website. That day is not today, however.

 

[O'Dib]

Have any shit recorded already you'd care to place before a jury of your peers?

 

[LitmusDragon]

^^

Nothing that's currently online. I'm working on getting a new website up- should be a couple of weeks.

Warning: I'm kind of horrible.

 

[John200]

Just do it anyway.

Isn't that the punk thing to do?

 

[LitmusDragon]

True that.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Didn't Johnny Rotten say that about the Sex Pistols? Or was it Sid Vicious?

Well, whoever said it, they were right.

You could always put stuff up on YouTube.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Months later, I finally have this song and other stuff online for public ridicule.

Here's the song I was talking about in this thread.

And here's a whole "album" full of related stuff if you are so inclined. I call it "album" in quotes because I'm not charging any money for it and I'm not a professional. But, once I had this collection of songs recorded it seemed silly not to go the extra mile and put it together as an album of sorts.

Genre is "rock" I suppose.

Warning: Very "rough around the edges" material. I tend to get bored of a song quickly so I kind of just jot it down in it's primordial form. Also, I have an appalling lack of vocal ability and my guitar solos are hilariously simplistic. I will also sometimes try to make a song as stupid as possible because I find this amusing for some reason.

Enjoy! Or be horrified! The decision is yours!