Microphones – Vocals

1. Microphones – Vocals • There are many types of vocalists and ways to record them. • No microphone is ideal for every vocalist. The microphone choice for a vocalist may change with musical style and the room. • Microphone choice and recording technique will not make an out of tune or bad performance better.

2. Vocals – The Room • Room size, shape and materials influence the recorded vocals. • Can be beneficial, harmful or benign • Neutral rooms tend be favored (not too live or dead). More reverb can be added later.

3. Vocals – Room Reflections

4. Vocals – Room Reflections

5. Vocals – Dynamic Range • Dynamic range of vocals can be quite large. • Difference between lowest and highest volumes can exceed the linear range of microphones, pre-amps and recording media. • Optimal gain settings for low vocal levels may not be compatible with high vocal levels.

6. Vocals – Sibilance • f, s, sh, ch sounds • Can distort at high levels. • Usually in the 7-9 kHz, but can be as high as 12 kHz. • Certain vocalist and microphone combinations can emphasize sibilance. • A de-esser can be used to reduce sibilance.

7. Vocals – Popping (Plosives) • Popping sound caused by loud p, t, k, b, d and g sounds. • Worse for directional microphone especially when close. • Omni patterns are less affected by plosives. • Pop filters can reduce plosives.

8. Vocals – Pop Filters • Pop filters break up the burst of air. • Helps to keep moisture off of the microphone and the vocalist at the desired distance. • Pop filters can affect the recorded sound depending on the design and materials. • Foam filters tend to muffle the sound and attenuate high frequencies.

9. Vocals – Proximity Effect • Emphasis of low frequencies at close distances (~1 foot or less). • Strongest with cardioid pattern microphones. • Microphone bass roll-off or a low cut filter can remove excessive boominess or thickness caused by proximity effect. • Foam filters tend to muffle the sound and attenuate high frequencies.

10. Vocals – Condenser Microphones • Large diaphragm condensers most commonly used. Open, clear and accurate sound. • Small diaphragm condensers are often more clear and present, but less open and big sounding. • Tend to sound open and big even when the vocalist is back from the microphone. • Very sensitive to plosives.

11. Vocals – Ribbon Microphones • Smooth and mellow sound. • Sounds fuller when close to the microphone. • Sensitive to blasts of air so use a pop filter or place microphone above, below or the side of the mouth.

12. Vocals – Dynamic Microphones • Warm, rugged and present (forward) sound. • Not as full, open and accurate as condenser microphones. • Tends to work best at close distances. • Pronounced proximity effect. • Often cuts through a dense mix

13. Vocals – Microphone Placement • Placement depends on the vocalist’s projection and timbre, style of music, room and personal taste. • Placement can have a significant influence on the recorded tonal quality. • A good starting point is 6-12” from the vocalist’s mouth.

14. Vocals – Microphone Aimed Directly At The Mouth • More even and natural tonal balance. • May bring out undesirable natural tones (nasally, thin, edgy). • Susceptible to mouth noises and plosives

15. Vocals – Microphone Aimed Down At The Mouth • 3-4” above the mouth and pointing down. • May diminish nasal sounds. • Usually reduces mouth noises.

16. Vocals – Microphone Aimed Up At The Mouth • 4-6” below the mouth and pointing up. • May fill out a thin sounding voice. • Tends to accentuate nasal tones and pick up more mouth noises.

17. Vocals – Microphone Techniques • Move microphone slightly to the side to help reduce strong plosives • Use microphone slightly off-axis to roll-off excessive high frequencies. • More than one vocal microphone can be used at the same time.

18. Vocals – Headphones • Vocalist tend to sign louder if the relative level of the instruments in their headphones is louder. • Loud headphone volumes tend to cause the vocalist to sing flat or fail to notice pitch problems. • Having melodic instruments louder in the headphones helps the vocalist to better find pitch cues. • Adding reverb to the headphone vocal track may help with the performance.

19. Vocals – Headphones • Be careful of headphone leakage into the vocal microphone especially during quiet vocal passages. • Vocalists may sing better with one ear open (headphone cup off of their ear). Use a mono mix and pan the sound to one side of the headphones.

20. Vocals – Recording With Monitors (No Headphones) • Flip the polarity of one monitor. • Place the microphone in the exact mid-point between the monitors. • Play back the track in mono and at the lowest necessary volume. • Record the vocals.

21. Background Vocals • The same guidelines apply as for lead vocals. • Try different microphones and placements if the same vocalist is singing the lead and background vocals. • Each vocalist on separate tracks provides the most flexibility at mix down. • Multiple background vocalists can be recorded into one or more microphones. Requires acceptable balance and performance. • Multiple singers using one omni or Figure 8 microphone.