HELP - Microphone too sensitive

T

tonyA

New member
I hope you could help me on this one. There is quite of few of you who owns this microphone so there should be a Delphi Oracle of best solution amongst you.

I am using a Marshall V67G (Let me not list the whole audio chain as I believe it is a microphone problem). The problem is my microphone is "too" sensitive. By that I mean it picks up all the other sounds I don't want it too. It picks up the glottal sound, the singer's inhallation, the lip sounds, the sound of the singer's sleeve as it rubs against his/her torso, etc.. I mic around 8 inches from the singer's mouth complete with a pop filter, shock mount on a boom stand. The singer is in an enclosed vocal booth surrounded by accoustic foam. I mic this close because I like the way it gives the singer's voice a lower end. The microphone is dead accurate, but with all these noise, it is intollerable. I wonder if any of you experienced the same problem, or it you do, what do you do about it. I tried mic'ing farther away, but only to attenuate it louder and get the same noise. Using a noise gate is a "no no " for me.

I also have a B1, I haven't tried it yet, but do you think this will solve it? I know that my SM58 does, but it you know, it is not a condenser.

HELP.
 
It basically revolves aroung the higher frequency response (hype) of the mic.
I have one (V67G) and love it, but it is not allways the appropriate mic for situations where there are extraneous lip smacking and the like.
In that case you need a more neutral mic, or possibly a darker sounding mic that is not so crisp on the high end.

A case in point for why one mic can't do it all.

Good luck on choosing mics.

Tom
 
may be cos i dont have that much experience but 8 inches away does sound quite far, if you brought it nearer, you could turn the gain down a little
 
Forgot to tell you, all my EQ settings were flat. I guess this is were a Real Time Analyser would be of great use, or just experiment which mic to use , or hopefully, my semi-para-eq on the board would find a solution. Thanks for the the tip guys.
 
Hi,
I've never used that mic, but I think you are fighting against a general "problem" with condenser mics......that damn sensitivity and detail that they provide. So, what your asking for is a mic that knows what sounds you want to capture in crisp detail, and which ones you don't. Sorry, no such beastie that I know of. Best practice is to use the amount of gain you need, and no more, edit your clips or use mute automation to clean up before, after, and between lines, and don't sweat the breath sounds......they actually give the track life.
Cheers,
RD
 
If it's a decent-sounding enclosed booth, you should be able to back the mic off a bit and try that. Are you recording in with compression or limiting? Try turning it off.

Also, there are plenty of singers who may have vocal talent, but are not skilled at microphone technique. Put the singer in the booth with headphones for a while and let him/her practice eliminating the unwanted sounds.

That, and try a different mic.
 
I have this problem with bright mics on my own voice. My creamy vocal stylings, it turns out, are actually frought with snorting, stomach growls and various lip/cheek/tongue snappings. The Neumann TLM 103 is my greatest threat. I have an Oktava 319 that I love, but it's a tad dark for the lead. Then comes the B1. I've written it many times on these boards, but I love that thing...it's like a point and shoot camera. 100 goddamn dollars! You don't get mind numbing results, but they are always great, great, great. It's really a fantastic tool.

I also have the Tb1, which is a tube version of the b1. It's even better on vocals in terms of your problem. (Isn't very good on guitar--mine anyhoo...but I digress.) Try the b1 and try to angle the mic just a tad. Try different stuff. And don't be afraid to step off the mic a tad. you'll still get low end.

And let's not forget: have the singer be conscious of their smacking problems. It can be minimized if thought about while performing. Drink water, etc. Garbage in, garbage out. The mic will only solve so many problems. Only you can prevent lip smacking!
 
There are bound to be unwanted sounds on any vocal take. A skilled vocalist, good mic placement, mic choice, etc. may help minimize it, but it will always be there. Listening to a dry vocal track is often a very scary thing, indeed. If those sounds are obvious in the context of the mix, then deal with them. If not, just let them be. I generally don't gate lead vocals, but I will zoom in and silence any sections between singing where breaths and room noises are prominent. Also, a good de-esser or sidechain compressor can minimize offensive tones.

As for mics, certain problems can be emphasized by a mics frequency plot and, as previously stated, most condensers are uber-sensitive to such noises. You might want to look into a Shure SM7b. It offers much of the clarity of a condenser (without the hyped high-end) but is not as sensitive to off-axis sounds.
 
I agree mostly with RobertD. When I sing to an audience, I maintain eye contact, and create the illusion that I am singing to them. In reality, the "audience" is a 1" piece of gold spluttered mylar. If a dynamic stage mic is an audience, a good studio condenser is a music critic. Yup, it can hear your sleeve brushing. Wear short sleeves. It can hear your stomach growling. Eat a light breakfast, no carbonated beverages. It can hear you breathe. Open your mouth, breath in slowly, time every breath, and write a score that shows where you breathe. Being a musician does not give you the skill set to be a recording artist. Everything, down to the cable from the headphones must be controlled.
Can you hear the whistle of the 1:15 out of Chicago? That's why people build isolation booths. I have a lengthy list of things that must be turned off before tracking- flourescent lights, the timer for the swimming pool, the furnace, the sump pump, etc. The key to noise reduction is not to record a bunch of noise. You must simply learn to make less noise.
When my friend Maureen Fleming was tracking her first CD at SBE in San Diego, they were waiting because the woman before them was having real trouble tracking an acoustic guitar part. They had 2 Neumann KM184's pointed at her. Finally, she laid it down. The tracking engineer comes out of the control booth and says, "That was great. So when are you due?" She looks surprised and says, "How did you know?" He says, "Well either you've got two hearts, and one of them is doing 180, or you're going to have a baby. Congratulations. I think we can EQ it out."
Sorry, but high resolution means we can see every wart. Detailed mics mean we can hear every mistake. The better your mics get, the more respect you will have for recording artists and what they do. Dry tracks with a condenser- like playing nude on stage. Before the night is done, you'll beg for a little reverb.-Richie
 
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