Aiming Mic in Vocal Booth

suntzu1982

You got to funkafize.
So, I am experimenting with the best way to set-up a rigged vocal booth. Right now, I am basically using this as a guide:
vocal booth guide

My question is about where to aim the mic. In the above article it says to aim it towards the booth. Which means you'll be facing the room when recording. But I always thought it made more sense to point it away from the booth, so that you are singing into the booth. So, what is the correct way (or rather, the reason to aim it certain ways)?

Any other hints at tweaks for the vocal booth would be great too.
 
I did not read the article you provided the link to, however I must anticipate that the logic of having the sound treatment behind you is to limit reflections.

When you sing into a mic, sound travels past the mic. If it hits a wall in front of you it will refllect back toward you. If you have a wall directly behind you, the sound will hit that wall and reflect back into the mic.

You don't want the mic picking up those reflected sounds.
 
But if you record into the vocal booth instead, wouldn't the sound hit the treatment and then not reflect back?
 
I understand your logic and I can't pretend to be an expert by any means, however my understanding is as follows.

When you sing, there is the drirect sound of the voice, plus the reflections of the voice hitting the surface in front and bouncing back (that's what we've discussed up to now.

However, there may also be other side reflections or room echos (as an example from windows, concrete, etc (assuming a basement studio) which can still impact the mic. If you use a mic with a cardiod pattern (which most mics are) the sound actually going iinto the mic must come from mainly from one direction - the "booth" makes sure sounds coming from that cardiod pattern are limited to the actual vocal sound.

Maybe a good way to explain - clap your hands in an empty room. Where do the echos comes from? The hand clap is not directional specific, so the ecos may come from more than one direction. You want the "booth" to be the last thing the echos hit before reaching the mic.
 
Try it both ways....see if one produces the desired effect. One way may sound really dry, and the other may have some natural verb...either could be desireable, depending on the situation.
 
suntzu1982 said:
My question is about where to aim the mic. In the above article it says to aim it towards the booth. Which means you'll be facing the room when recording. But I always thought it made more sense to point it away from the booth, so that you are singing into the booth.
The last time I checked, the vocal booth,whether it was designed and constructed to be wet, dry, or otherwise is just a booth to capture a particular sound and vocalists don't sing "into" :confused: a booth (unless they're on the outside of it). Vocalists sing into microphones.

Sorry. It's the "facing the room" thing that threw me off. I don't get it. :confused:
 
Are we talking about mic positions relative to adjacent walls?
 
Well, my booth is in the corner of a room, with both walls padded to try to deaden the reverb.

However, the article that I initially posted, is a duvets booth with two futon type matresses forming a corner.

(1) So, by singing into the booth, I meant singing towards the booth. With the mic placed pointing towards the rest of the room.

(2) My initial thoughts, however, was to have the singer with the booth behind him, the mic pointing towards the booth and the singer facing the rest of the room.

So, although I will try both out, it seemed to me that if the vocalist is singing towards the booth (#2), this would deaden the stronger sound waves (the first reflection of the initial sound). However, the article says (#1). Which I can see, using a cardoid mic, since the booth will deaden the sound bouncing off the room and the cardoid mic won't pick-up the sound coming from behind it.

This is where I still believe that we will get less reverb with (#2). The initial sound to hit the booth will be dead(er?), as opposed to (#1) where the initial sound will bounce off the room first. Therefore in terms of that first echo, the mic will get less reverb if the vocalist sings towards the booth than the room.
 
60's guy said:
Vocalists sing into microphones.
Ha ha ha! Do you write your own material? How can one guy be such a card?


suntzu1982 --- follow Dogman's suggestion and try it both ways for the reasons he states.





.
 
I think 60's guy was envisioning an isolation booth....as I thought of at first. But my vocal "area" is a homemade thingy with 3 walls, covered in foam, and some heavy blankets for a ceiling. No back wall. I generally face into it...but sometimes will face out, if I want some other type of sound.
 
ssscientist said:
Ha ha ha! Do you write your own material? How can one guy be such a card?
Yes I do write my own stuff. Who writes yours? :p

My apologys.

I should have written "Vocalists sing into microphones ;) ;) ;) :D ".

Dogman said:
I think 60's guy was envisioning an isolation booth....as I thought of at first.

Precisely. I forgot that some folks record their vocals into a corner, 3 walls, or use gobos.

I need a beer. :D
 
60's guy said:
Yes I do write my own stuff. Who writes yours? :p

My apologys.

I should have written "Vocalists sing into microphones ;) ;) ;) :D ".



Precisely. I forgot that some folks record their vocals into a corner, 3 walls, or use gobos.

I need a beer. :D
I had to put mine away...I fell asleep after dinner...I had a few too many... :D
 
Back
Top