How do I sing in this thing

T

terocious

New member
You all have got me thinking about the learning process which surrounds singing into a microphone. Until recently I have had mostly unmiked stage experience so the first time I sang into a condenser mic I was gobsmacked By the severity of my S and my explosive popping P. Thru trial and error I have learned that you can regulate the pop on a P by awareness. Lessening the S seems a little more difficult but again being aware of it helps. I have been experimenting with different tounge placement on S words but each time I think I am onto something it ssslips off into shhounding like I have a hairlip.

Being aware of what your tounge is up to is not much fun in the middle of a song so I ask you for any suggestions or observations on the pecularities of this process of learning how to sing into a microphone?

-b
 
I have been experimenting with different tounge placement
Click to expand...

STOP THAT !!!!!!!

It's more about mic placement then your technique.

Do not sing directly into the mic, raise it up to forehead height
and compress some.

Microphones pick up a lot more sound then you think, direct singing
into them is not the correct way to go.



Sean
 
If you place the mic against your chin and kinda sing over the top of it you will not have as many pops. I don't know about the "s" thing. That could be remedied by coming down a little around 12,000db on the eq.
On some songs or places in a song it is near to impossible to pronounce a word correctly and not have a pop. On live performances this is not such a bad thing. However, on recordings it is not acceptable.
 
It's always a good idea to use a mesh pop screen for vocals.

There are some microphones that can really bring out sibilance in singers. What are you using?

Chris
 
Hi Chris,
I am using a Shure KSM 44. I am pretty new to this mic. With it I am recording songs A Cappella so as kdgospel inferred some of those unavoidable sounds are very apparent.

-b
 
If you want an easier life :), try out a Electro-Voice RE20
(or PL20) sometime. They're a classic choice for singers (like me!),
who can be prone to sibilance and/or "popping".
This would be for solo singing, of course.

Any Sennheiser 421 made PRIOR to the current, brighter,
MKII model would be another good choice, and you can record
up to a vocal trio with one.

My #1 solo vocal mic is the Beyer M88TG, however, it demands much more microphone technique than a RE20-and that's why I'd never use it live! (EV RE16 for that)

The KSM44 has two frequency bumps at around 6 kHz and 12 kHz.
Like kd said, try playing with your EQ and hear what happens.
It could be happening at about 6kHz though, instead of 12kHz.
Unless you have good monitors, wait until mixing to do any
cutting BTW.

Chris
 
Chris, you should consider writing a book on dynamic microphone use for vocals one of these days. Your knowledge of them is impressive.
 
Thanks for saying that morindae.
My experience is limited, however, by just making mostly practice acapella recordings to help improve my live performances.

For virtually all pop recordings, I'd need to do an apprenticeship with a seasoned pro engineer to have a good understanding of how well they work in a given mix.

Chris
 
Sean,
Thanks, Sometimes I need to hear “STOP THAT!!!”. Getting the microphone up to my forehead not only improved the sounds in question but seemingly the sound of the room. ( In the case the kitchen.) This is great!

Kd and Chris,
EQ! What a concept. From a beginners standpoint would a good way to have an idea of the sound you are changing on a particular band be to turn that band all the way up to hear what comes forth?

I think what you all have given me will occupy me for some time. This is greatly appreciated.

-b
 
The wise "old timers" at recording tend to advise using good microphone placement first before resorting to EQ.
For a learning experience, however, it's fine to try both ways.

After time, your ear will sense that better placement sounds more natural than EQing. Although sometimes you might EQ in order
to create some sort of special vocal effect.

Chris
 
If we go back to the original problem here, which was sibilance and popping, my experience with this over the years has been solved my mic technique. I am at the point where it is rarely an issue, although when I first started recording in the late 70's it was a huge problem, especially the popping. Lots of working with the mic will teach you how to avoid it, and you'll find it just comes naturally after a while.
 
morindae,
Singing for the microphone seems to be full of nuances. Some stage actors have a very hard time switching to film. Suddenly the way they were using their bodies to communicate across a distance is no longer relative and even seems silly when put under the microscope of a camera. It gives me a lot of respect for people who both make great recordings and are a pleasure to see live. kdgospel, that link is a really nice basic starting point for understanding which is what I was looking for. Chris, at least for now natural is what I am after.

-b

Sidenote: Jimmy Stewart said if you ever find yourself in a scene where you have to look into someones eyes you should pick one eye because it is impossible to look into both at the same time. Watching Casablanca recently I noticed that Humprey Bogart is constantly switching which eye he is looking at. Variations. Nuances...;)
 
terocious, you make some good points, and in essence, I think we are in agreement on this. Working with a mic is just like playing electric guitar after you've been banging away on acoustic for years. Some subtle, and not so subtle changes in technique have to be made. I also wouldn't have a clue as to how I should use eq to solve the problem. I rarely mess with eq at all in the recording process. For me, it just complicates a process that already has a lot of variables. I keep telling myself that one day I'll sit down and learn how to use it because I'm sure it will improve my limited engineering skills. :)
 
Let me clarify so terocious won't think that I meant, by posting the eq link, that I think his pops and s's should be solved with eq alone. I think that a lot of it is mike placement on p-pops, but someone on the mic forum (I can't remember who, but they had about 1200 posts) told me unless I was a news reporter or doing a live gig outside in a very windy condition that I should not use one of those foam pop-filters. They knock off some of the sweetness of the mic. I sing two times (sometimes 3) every weekend and have learned how to cut down on pops by working the mic. I still have some though. Which I think is acceptable for live performances. I have used some professional groups' setups and had no pops at all due to some kind of equipment they had (compressor?). On the s's, I think you could cut down on them a little with working the mic, but if you have the eq boosted at 10,000hz (maybe lower than that like someone said above) and above the s's are gonna be there regardless. Unless your singing a song that doesn't have s's.
 
kdgospel said:
the s's are gonna be there regardless. Unless your singing a song that doesn't have s's.
Click to expand...
:D:D:D
And this is where I think you get into critically listening to yourself via the recordings you have made. Does the s sustain for so long it becomes annoying, is it accompanied by too much air... My nit picking alarm is going off and all the while I am wondering if some bad habits of sloppy speech are not rearing their ugly head. Recording A Cappella has often made me wonder how much of a vocalists shortcomings can get lost in a mix and hide in frequencys that are occupied by other instruments... **Insert rest of possibly rhetorical tangent here.**:rolleyes:

Like morindae I have had learning about EQ on the someday list but practical lessons are the best for me and in the same way that fractions became clearer when I started using a tape measure now EQ has become more than just a concept. As I said at the outset I am still very new to all of this.

-b
 
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