| Originally published: September 29, 2020 Updated: December 4, 2020 |
Let’s get serious about recording your voice on your smartphone. Why? First of all, hearing your recorded voice is one of the most powerful tools for improving at singing. Second of all, with a little bit of knowledge, any singer can learn how to improve the quality of sound when using their phone to record. Whether you’ve already been doing this, or you are recording your voice for the first time, these tips will help you record yourself at your next lesson, practice session or rehearsal.
To achieve the best sound possible, first, unplug your headphones and then test out a few different waysto position your phone. We’re talking about the plain old “trial and error” method for this. There are two things to consider when positioning your phone: 1) The position of the phone relative to the room 2) The position of the phone relative to your mouth. As long as you test a few different variations of these two factors, you will be able to decide which sounds best to you.
Run through a couple lines of a song recording with your phone a foot away from your mouth (or if amplified, from the speaker), then do it again farther away. Compare the two recordings. Then position yourself differently in the room and in relation to other instruments or voices you may be playing with. If you are singing a cappella, move within the room or try different rooms. Compare those recordings. Which sounds more pleasing to your ear? These simple tests will help you get the most out of your phone recordings.
For more on how to get the most out of recording with your smartphone, take the lesson Recording With Your Smartphone by Technologist Kevin Alexander.
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Kathy Alexander is VP of Curriculum for Singdaptive. She was a staff writer for 6 years at VoiceCouncil Magazine and works for the University of Victoria as a practicum supervisor. Kathy is also a singer, vocal coach and choir director. Career highlights include guest appearances in Europe with Quannah Parker jazz fusion band in Norway, and back on the West Coast with Vision TV’s Let’s Sing Again, The Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and the Victoria International Jazz Festival.
