I've bought a mic - but I just don't/can't use it. Should I sell it or push through?

William Williamson

I set myself up with a good recording setup - a Scarlett 2i4 and a Rode NT1-A. I can sing into, and either record my guitar cabinet with the Rode, or plug an instrument straight in and use Bias Amp on my PC.

I've found however, that I'm just not using the Mic. My singing voice is really untrained and with multiple hours a day of instrument practise as well as a full-time job, wife and a dog to take care of - I don't have room in my life to pursue singing to get that to a palatable level as well as music production and composition.

I was hoping to include vocals in my to-date sample-based and instrumental music, but it's just not happening - when I do record vocals they sound bad (because I don't have time or motivation to drill and practice them at this point), and it's also touch-and-go between a mic'ed cab and BIAS already.

So far, I'm almost certain I'm going to sell it - because to date it's only helped get some nicer audio tracks onto some demo/lesson videos I've done on Youtube - but before I do I wanted to know if I'm making a mistake, if there's something else I should consider? 

Thanks!

LooseMoose

Garbage in = Garbage out. Sorry if it sounds harsh but if your voice isn't good and you don't practise to make it the best it can be, no mic in the world is going to help.

William Williamson

Oh no, I totally understand that - and I do accept that I need to dedicate serious time to singing to improve. It's just relatively low on my priority list -I was hoping I could record passable vocals without alot of work, but it seems to not be the case.

I feel like this is something I might re-visit in future years, and the opportunity cost (i.e. the difference between what I'd sell it for, vs. what it costs) is relatively low. It's making me lean towards getting shot of the mic for now and seeing what the future holds. 

Grunfeld

William Williamson said:

I don't have time or motivation to drill and practice [vocals] at this point....

Do you drive?
Earlier this year I had to get my voice stronger because our singer wasn't going to be around for a few gigs.
I couldn't inflict my practising on the neighbours so I played the songs in the car and sang there. 
Worked pretty well.  Not ideal because of posture etc. but better than not doing it.
And as you get better that will increase your motivation.

The alternative is you have to get yourself a singer -- and nearly all of those are mental. 

paul_c2

Personally I'd keep it, based on that I sold some items I thought I'd not need any more, but later found I did. Selling then buying never seems to work out financially.

Winny_Pooh

It would work fine for acoustic guitar too

joeyowen

I sing a lot in the car, not just along to radio, proper rehearsal stuff

It helped a lot!

But mics are not forgiving, there is no hiding from the mistakes!  However, you can use these tracks to identify areas for improvement.

On a side note, do you really trust royal mail with a con Mic?  I wouldn't!

wave100

I would keep the mic, you might start working with a vocalist...

Jeremiah

You say you are making sample-based and instrumental music; what about using spoken vocals and sampling them rather than trying to sing?

Add a vocoder plug-in and you can get all kinds of weird and interesting sounds.

William Williamson

You've convinced me to keep it - just at the back of the cupboard for now. The next step is to sing on my drive to work, if only I had a goal voice...