Why does my mic sound good for voice but bad for other noises ? (E.g Kicks)

Akulli

New member
i use my phone's mic to record voice/samples into fl studio
i am new to it so i have a couple of questions

why does it give a clear voice when i talk or sing with it
but sound bad when i for example make a kick sound ?

i found out that punching the sofa makes a really cool Kick sound
but when i tried to record it. it sounded like a closed hat on the phone. (i have good headphones)
but its really good for voice.
and i have NOT put "noise reduction" on.

and another question is: how can i record with a higher volume ?
the volume of the recorded files are so low that i have to use audacity to raise the volume then send back to fl studio.

and i use WO mic to send my recordings to my laptop quickly through wifi.
is the quality getting worse because im sending through wifi ?
 
A mic on a phone is basically a pretty shitty mic - but if it's optimized for something, it's obviously for the human voice.

Not familiar with WO Mic but apparently there's a "pro" version of it that supports "better audio quality".
 
whats the best mic for me to buy ?
i want something decent but cheap because i dont want to waste too much money since im not making any money from music right now.
 
Well, most of us don't really make that much money from music. It's like any other hobby.

What kind of a budget do you have? Are you mainly recording vocals or doing a lot of field recording stuff like the sofa?
 
ok thanks. and about the low volume, is there a way to make my phone record at higher volume?
because raising the volume through audacity or other softwares just ruins the quality of the sound.
 
Love how creative you are getting recording live samples on your phone. If you say the sound sounds like a kick in real life but then after you record it into the phone it sounds like a closed hi hat, I would suggest that maybe you phone mic has a some form of E.Q that blocks out the lower frequencies and raises the higher ones to pick up the voice better, which would also explain why your voice sounds clear because there may be something raising the higher frequencies 20Khz etc. Anyway, if you are not recording any music, putting some E.Q. and compression on top of a webcam microphone should provide you with a good sound (Put socks or tights over the micophone to stop the pops when you say "p" etc). You change your Fl Audio settings to ASAIO, which allows you to record live audio straight into FL. Then go to a channel, maybe channel 8, on the mixer and click the black bar at the top on the right hand side and it should say something like Live Input 1-2. select that and then put an EQ on the channel. The best way to get the best vocal sound out of a laptop mic is to completely cut the low frequencies, also slightly Cut frequency around 4k, slightly raise 20Khz and then adjust it and modify it to suit the sound that you are working on. I don't know what level of music production you are at but I am trying to explain the easiest way for you to get the best sounds you can as soon as possible.
 
Love how creative you are getting recording live samples on your phone. If you say the sound sounds like a kick in real life but then after you record it into the phone it sounds like a closed hi hat, I would suggest that maybe you phone mic has a some form of E.Q that blocks out the lower frequencies and raises the higher ones to pick up the voice better, which would also explain why your voice sounds clear because there may be something raising the higher frequencies 20Khz etc. Anyway, if you are not recording any music, putting some E.Q. and compression on top of a webcam microphone should provide you with a good sound (Put socks or tights over the micophone to stop the pops when you say "p" etc). You change your Fl Audio settings to ASAIO, which allows you to record live audio straight into FL. Then go to a channel, maybe channel 8, on the mixer and click the black bar at the top on the right hand side and it should say something like Live Input 1-2. select that and then put an EQ on the channel. The best way to get the best vocal sound out of a laptop mic is to completely cut the low frequencies, also slightly Cut frequency around 4k, slightly raise 20Khz and then adjust it and modify it to suit the sound that you are working on. I don't know what level of music production you are at but I am trying to explain the easiest way for you to get the best sounds you can as soon as possible.
thanks, i really appreciate your help.
i downloaded asio4all and tryed to use it in fl studio.
when i choose ASIO4ALL as my input/output device, all the output sounds of fl studio are automatically set to MAX and i cant lower it
and the output sounds of fl studio are the only sounds i hear through my headphones. every other sound coming from skype/browser any other program come out of the laptop not my headphones.
didnt bother to see how the input works. :D
 
A phone mic is not gonna be an 80$ condensor or 50-100$ drum mic.

A phone mic is for making voice calls lol.
but its a Galaxy s5 tho, haha.
i know its not great, but i don't think i should spend $50 on music yet.
ill try to improve my skills and put what i have to work for now.
 
I'm serious it's not possible. People trying to make tracks on nothing but laptop speakers or using a non audio production oriented mic, was one of those :/ Yeah depending on what you plan on doing I'd instead do research.

It will be so much easier in the long run.
 
I'm serious it's not possible. People trying to make tracks on nothing but laptop speakers or using a non audio production oriented mic, was one of those :/ Yeah depending on what you plan on doing I'd instead do research.

It will be so much easier in the long run.
alright, ill buy one of those $50 mics
thanks for everything people.

i wonder if it will be the same case with the microphone tho ?
because right now i cant record straight into fl studio
i have to use voice recorder then copy the recorded file into the fl studio folders. it will be much easier to just record in fl studio.
 
The easiest way[I've tried many ways experimenting with pringles and desks for drums]
is edison by far after selecting mic input in fl studio's mixer.
 
The phone's microphone is physically designed and has processing directly designed for enhancing the human voice. That's not going to extend to foley and acoustic sound design.

If you were trying to record a real kick drum with your phone, I think you'd discover that the obvious issue is clipping. Some instruments are far too loud for what your phone can handle.

If you are just trying to represent sounds as you hear them, the first major issue is that your phone's microphone is severely frequency-limited. It just can't do low-end like you want. The second issue is that real sounds and recorded sounds simply sound different. Radio dramas in the 50's really struggled with this, since a microphone's recording of a door closing didn't sound like a door closing, but a gun shot! And that's how the art of foley was born: intentionally using wrong things to sound like right things when recording. You're attempting foley already by experimenting with what sounds like a kick drum that isn't a kick drum. But you'll need a better microphone with a wider frequency range, and you'll need to base your decisions off of what the mic hears, not what your ear hears.
 
Last edited:
Most electronic music has very few recorded elements. I applaud you for experimenting with analog recording, but most people stick to virtual instruments. My DAW doesn't allow for VST instruments, but yours does. That opens you up to the enormous world of free VST plugins, including virtual instruments. See what is out there, and how you can use it.


I would stay away from USB microphones unless you simply can't afford anything else. Every one that I've heard sounded awful.

If you're really into field recording your own foley, building your own bank of sounds, maybe a portable recorder would be best? My company bought one for $50 that sounds surprisingly good for recording voice. The options for $80-100 look even more robust and probably support a wider frequency range.

But if you're recording vocals or instruments for a song you have in a DAW like FL Studio, you really want a large diaphragm condenser microphone and an interface. In my opinion, Focusrite makes the best sounding interfaces out of the cheap brands. If you opt for a bundle, something like this could work really well for you: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Studio Bundle | Sweetwater.com
 
Last edited:
Back
Top