2025 PRODUCT CATALOG

5 Tips for Tracking Vocals

Whisper Room
August 2019
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In a recording session, the term “tracking vocals” denotes the specific task of recording the singer’s voice onto an individual track. This task stands out for its complexity and fine-tuning, with each vocalist requiring a unique approach. Guided by a clear objective – the optimal vocal performance – the tracking process strategically aligns each action in the session towards this desired outcome. Therefore, when you hear “let’s track the vocals,” it specifically pertains to the focused effort of capturing only the vocal performance. 

If you're recording voice-over for a commercial, the steps involved and the equipment utilized will likely be very different than if you are laying down tracks with an opera diva or the singer of a punk-rock band.

Whatever style you're recording, you'll want to use every tool in your bag to tease out the best result possible. Vocal tracks are at the sonic forefront of every mix, and nothing will sink your final project faster than sloppy or hastily-recorded vocals. Here are 5 tips to keep in mind as you record.

1. The Right Space

Few things will affect your vocal recordings as much as room choice. It's best to have a silent and acoustically treated environment to track your vocal in. Recording studios have different rooms because the size, shape, and surface of each room affect the sounds that are being produced.

image of microphone set up for tracking vocals in a sound booth and a recording studio
A recording studio and a WhisperRoom™ booth set up for recording vocals.

Recording at Home

When recording at home, be aware that furnished, carpeted rooms of medium size will achieve warmer-sounding vocals while spare, reflective rooms (those with tile or other smooth surfaces) will add unwanted amounts of natural reverb to your recording.

Depending on where you're at in your career and how often you record, you might consider investing in a soundproof booth for your professional home studio.

If so, a WhisperRoom™ isolation booth is a versatile option that will consistently provide you with an excellent recording environment. Our sound booths are modular and expandable, so you can easily relocate or upgrade when necessary. We offer 26 different sound booth sizes - check them out!

2. Choice of Microphone

Of course, microphone choice will affect your recording. While there are many types, condenser mics, and dynamic mics are the two most popular for tracking vocals. The major difference between them is the output level.

Most vocals are recorded with condenser mics, which come in small and large diaphragm models. Dynamic mics have a lower output and are therefore perfect for recording instruments that are already loud.

With very few exceptions, small-diaphragm condenser mics are preferable to the large-diaphragm style for recording vocals. This is because small-diaphragm mics follow sound waves more accurately and consistently than large-diaphragm mics.

Since so many mics are on the market, it's helpful to know what to look for before you make a purchase. Check out the video below to help you choose the right microphone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCv_-hBbNSg

Tuts+ Music & Audio's Dave Bode gives some recommendations on what microphones to use.

3. Microphone Placement

a pop filter and a silver condenser microphone set up to record vocals
Image by Dan Lefebvre.

Most rooms have what is referred to as a "sweet spot" where recording produces the best results. The rooms in your home have sweet spots too. Experiment with recording in different areas of your space. Avoid the center of the room and don't get too close to the walls-- other than that, try recording everywhere!

Proximity to the Microphone

When tracking vocals, a performer's proximity to the mic will also affect the tone and levels of the recording. While different microphone types have different suggested distances there's no hard-and-fast rule. Simply move closer to or further from the mic to achieve your desired result.

Positioning the Microphone

Microphone position relative to the vocalist will influence the result of your recordings too. A mic positioned horizontally to the mouth is considered to be in the default position. Lowering and tilting the mic upward toward the vocalist will achieve a brighter sound. Aiming the microphone downward toward the vocalist will accentuate the lower end.

4. Vocal Performance

In the age of cut-and-paste, auto-tune-capable digital recording, it's imperative we don't let the machines do the heavy lifting for us. "We'll fix it later" may be an okay sentiment for songwriting or recording scratch tracks, but never for professional recording.

Digital effects are spices, not ingredients. They should be used sparingly to bring out the flavor of a track. No amount of salt will make a lousy meal taste better, and no amount of reverb will compensate for a lackluster vocal performance.

Whether you're capturing the bittersweet strains of a country ballad or recording dialog for an audiobook, you have to make the listener believe. Because emotion plays so vital a role in vocal performance and recording, it's a good idea to use lighting and atmosphere to your advantage.

It may seem cliche, but make sure to set the "vibe". You'd be surprised how dimming the lights can change the mood in a room. Conversely, for a higher-energy recording, brighter lighting should be used.

Timing and tone are both integral to achieving solid vocal performances. As such, record as many vocal tracks as necessary, then record a few more. Double tracking or carefully combining multiple tracks will help highlight subtle nuances in your performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN4Cg_FJCa4

Mike Bryant give advice on tuning in emotion while singing.

5. Record "Dry"

Finally, leave the effects for last and use them sparingly. Record your tracks "dry" (without any effects) so you can better hear the nuances of each take.

Different people have different recording techniques, but we believe it's a "best practice" to record vocals without any effects - unless you are stylistically trying to achieve a certain sound.

Final Thoughts

Follow and experiment with the suggestions listed above and chances are you'll be amazed at the difference in the quality of vocal recordings you'll produce!

The WhisperRoom Experience

“As a result of the broadcast quality output I get from my vocal booth, I am now represented by four Talent Agents and I have produced three Audiobooks available on Audible. Lastly, and most exciting I was selected by Marvel's Audiobook Drama Director to be the voice of Nick Fury Jr.”

Art Dent - Voice Actor, arthurdentvoiceacting.com
Voice Actor
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“My WhisperRoom is a great solution for practicing both acoustic and amplified instruments in my home, without driving other occupants out of the house. The sound response inside is neutral and perfect for recording, and with my small reference monitors, is also great for mixing and editing.

The modular construction made it easy to set up and configure exactly how I wanted my space. The lighting kit, ventilation, and optional window make it very comfortable even in the 6x6 foot room.”

Chris L. - Multi-instrumentalist, NVHMusic
Multi-instrumentalist
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“I use my whisper room for my private practice audiology clinic. It works perfectly and saved me thousands. Customer service was great!”

Dr. Joni Ruiz - Audiologist, Big Thicket Hearing Aids & Audiology
Audiologist
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“WhisperRoom makes the very best in sound isolation enclosures. We’ve purchased 3 in the past couple of years and will be buying more. Love this product!”

Steve Burrington - Owner & Operations Director, Texas Hearing Clinic
Owner & Operations Director
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“Great experience with WhisperRoom…I’ve been told by multiple people it’s the nicest hearing booth they have ever been in! Would highly recommend!”

Jaclyn Charie - Au. D., Owner & Audiologist, Hearing AuD
Au. D., Owner & Audiologist
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“I bought a WhisperRoom in November. I just opened my practice and wanted a good reliable room for audiologic testing. It came on a pallet and with a friend’s help, we moved it from the pallet to my clinic space. We then built it in about 4.5 hours. I love using this WhisperRoom, it suits my needs perfectly.”

Liz White - Au. D., Owner & Audiologist, Harbor City Hearing Solutions
Au. D., Owner & Audiologist
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“Awesome product. Our patients love the roominess and comfort they feel when using our WhisperRoom booths.”

David Brooks - RHIP,
RHIP
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“Everything is great! We received the WhisperRoom about a week after placing the order and I put it together myself. I’m loving it and use it almost daily as my home office/studio.”

Adam Mast - Audio & Video Services, Mast Productions
Audio & Video Services
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“An epic WhisperRoom has just been assembled at The Guitar Store at Quimper Sound Records!!! 🤘🔥🔥We still have some finishing touches to make this kickass sound booth perfect! It’s time to set up a demo at The Guitar Store.”

Quimper Sound Records and Guitars
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“Incredibly satisfied! My WhisperRoom vocal booth is revolutionizing my workflow and really impressing my recording clients. And delivery and assembly went very smooth. 10/10 would recommend.”

Zachary Manno - Producer - Engineer - Musician, zacharymanno.com
Producer - Engineer - Musician
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“I recently became a full-time voice actor and the WR is the ‘heart’ of my home studio. I’m in it every single weekday and I simply could not do my work as effectively without it.

As you’ll see in the photos and video, an outside wall also serves as the backdrop of my production engineering station.

I have to tell you, the more I use my WR, the more I absolutely love it!...”

Todd Stark - Voice Actor, starkvo.com
Voice Actor
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“I never thought a fuzzy big box could be sexy, but it is. It truly cuts out all of the ambient noise that is a must for clean, studio-quality vocals. This is truly the #GoldBar standard in audio recordings. Extremely well built (like a tank) and with the wheel package, I’m able to easily move it around…

A lot of engineering went into this system and I’m extremely proud to own such a coveted, iconic, and industry-standard product, that yells, “Professional” to which, no one can hear me outside of it because of the supreme sound isolation properties that the WhisperRoom has provided. Thank You WhisperRoom for creating this”

Glen - Voice Actor, iglen.com
Voice Actor
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“I’m a musician that lived in a free-standing house for 25 years. When we moved into our current house, with shared walls, all of a sudden I could no longer play at any hour. My neighbors made that very clear!

Thank goodness for the WhisperRoom! Now I’m just getting started at midnight and no one minds a bit. I’m thrilled! The quality of this item is excellent.”

Jay Friedman - Trombonist & Conductor, jayfriedman.net
Trombonist & Conductor
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“Our WhisperRoom has been a great addition to our school! Offering private music lessons to all ages and levels.”

SoCal Jazz Academy
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“Have you ever heard of a recording studio in a library? Sounds like an oxymoron, right? It’s not though, thanks to our incredible WhisperRoom. It keeps all the good vibes inside so that lovely library atmosphere is preserved. Genius!”

New Orleans Public Library - Best Buy Teen Tech Center,
Best Buy Teen Tech Center
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“This WhisperRoom allows me to have the dedicated, professional home studio space of my dreams without interrupting the entire house.

Before the WhisperRoom, I had to schedule time away for the family and work on productions during specific windows of time.

Now I can work on client productions and my own music 24x7x365. With less than 30dB of room noise even with the AC and computers on, production quality has increased and so has creative output! Thanks, WhisperRoom, for having such amazing products.”

Mattimus - Artist - Studio Engineer - Producer
Artist - Studio Engineer - Producer
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“The 4x6 double-wall WhisperRoom is my personal padded cell where I can experiment with tone day and night without disturbing anyone.”

Tom Northnagle - aka ‘Guitar Tom’
aka ‘Guitar Tom’
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“There is no upgrade quite as substantial as a WhisperRoom. A great booth with high-quality Auralex treatment and I’m cooking with fire. Thanks. I love your products.”

Mark Hauswirth - Voice Actor
Voice Actor
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“I’m so excited to finally have my WhisperRoom…looking forward to hours of practice.”

Antonio Hart - Jazz Saxophonist, antoniohartmusic.com
Jazz Saxophonist
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“The WhisperRoom is used as a testing booth for neurophysiological recordings. Inside, participants complete computerized assessments while their brain physiology is passively recorded using an electroencephalogram (EEG)…It has turned out to be a great solution for us!”

James R Houston - Ph.D. Department of Psychology | MTSU
Ph.D.
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“Our WhisperRoom is part of what we call the PodLab. The PodLab is a state of art podcasting studio for the students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where we’re training the next generation of professional podcasters.”

Will Davis - Award-Winning Instructor, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Award-Winning Instructor
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“With the help of this bad boy, I am finally feeling comfortable singing full-voice in my apartment. In other words, I’m finally practicing again 🖤🖤 It’s been exactly one week since I’ve had it and already my growl is feeling better than it’s ever been 😄😈🤘”

Michele Whitlow - Singer - Songwriter - Musician, michelewhitlow.net
Singer - Songwriter - Musician
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“My radio and digital production students have really enjoyed the WhisperRoom booth (and use it often)! Even in the middle of an active classroom, students are able to record in a nearly silent environment. As for the construction of the booth: under teacher supervision, we had the kids assemble it. Talk about great practical experience!”

Mike Hatch - Radio/Digital Technology I & II, Prosper High School
Radio/Digital Technology I & II
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“The WhisperRoom has transformed our tiny studio into such a functional space. It is such a versatile feature and is used for tracking drums, vocals, guitars, and has even been used for strings, brass, and woodwind instruments. We also recently started using the space to record podcasts too! The WhisperRoom has forever evolved the way that we create content at RPRC!”

Kyle Therrien - President - Producer - Engineer, RPRC, Railroad Park Recording Co.
President - Producer - Engineer, RPRC
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“I’m starting to fall in love. With this setup I can now let out every song idea I’ve been holding onto for years - uninterrupted...”

Muyinza - Artist & Producer
Artist & Producer
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“My WhisperRoom is one of the best investments I’ve made that launched my voiceover career and recording studio business to a higher level!”

Jorge Infante - Voice Actor, jorgeinfante.com
Voice Actor
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“I've had a WhisperRoom (7x7) up and running for about a year now. It easily contains my drums and a mixing rack (single bass, double pedal, 7-piece). It reduces the sound enough to prevent disturbing everyone in the house and at my neighbor's house (only a few feet away)...The experience with the company was wonderful…It's nice to go into a dedicated, professional space and practice or record almost any time of the day or night.”

Kevin Thomason - Drummer
Drummer
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“It works spectacularly! My clients like the clean voice tracks I'm now able to send, and I like the fact that I can jump and perform voice work without having to shut down all my noisy equipment. Thank you for manufacturing such a fine product!”

Jeff Berlin, KISS 108 Radio
Boston, MA
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