Choosing the right mic for Hip Hop vocals

kin_jai

New member
Hey guys.. my saga in recording non-English hip hop continues,
and i've come into a problem..

What type of a mic would I need for more professional sounding vocals?

What i'm using right now is basically a pioneer uni-directional dynamic mic... originally used as a karaoke mic by my parents..
but it sounds really unprofessional..
how do i pick a mic that records more professional sounding hip hop vocals? and what are the approx. price ranges?

or am i completely mistaken, that the most important aspect of getting a professional sound is the mixing and the eq settings?

Right now, no matter what i rhyme, I'm soundin like aaron carter.. -_-;

Thanks!
kin
 
you need a condenser mic and a decent preamp
how much do you have to spend? good mics for hip hop range from $100-3000.
 
The question is hard to answer....

What do good vocals sound like to you?
How much money do you want to spend?
Don't forget about your MIC PRE and CABLE (some may think they are more important than the mic it self)

Try answer those questions and you will get closer to your answer...

Raticus
 
In my years of doing hip hop music I've come to know one thing.........

Choose the mic you sound the best on...I've worked with mics that were your junk radio shack models right up to the top of the lines...... The most expensive isn't always the best for you.......

Most times its not a choice of microphone as it is for the

preamp

setting the right levels

thickening your voice by doubling & tripling vocals

and of course the proper mix down
 
Ok.. since I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to recording ..
most of those terms are not familiar to me :P

gec: you seem to be the most experienced one here in terms of hip hop.. hehe.. so what exactly is a preamp? I know what a normal amplifier is.. but preamp? is it an amplifier that acts as an intermediate step between the microphone and the soundcard input?

c9-2001: well what i take as good sounding quality vocals is basically just something that'll give me a sound that doesn't sound like it's recorded at home. And one more important question, what exactly is a condenser mic?

Thank you guys so much.. i appreciate it..
i should be doing more research before trying to record..

Kin
 
i just finnished runnig a recording session this morning at 4am. i use a Neumann Tlm-103 and a Se5000 mic. both are great for recording rap vocals. for the hook last night i had my girl singing on the se5000(which sounds much better than the solid tube)

learning about different mics:
http://www.bandwave.co.nz/work-shop/recording/microphone types/microphone types.html

go to that site are read about the different types of mics.
most condenser mics are built off a design like this
271571.jpg

how much money do you have to spend, and what type of things do you have now?(equipment)
 
straight from the glossary


Preamp - An amplifier that is used before the main amplifier in a system. Usually this is an amplifier that takes microphone level signals and brings them up to line levels.
 
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