Stereo miking vocals?

B

boechler

New member
I'm sorry if what I am asking has been covered elsewhere, but I have tried looking and haven't found anything. I have recently purchased a second AT-3035 which are large-diaphragm cardiod condenser mics. I purchased it because I wanted 2 similar mics for stereo miking acoustic guitar. I had read that stereo miking acoustic guitar was better than using a single mic. I have found this to be true.
My question is: Do people stereo mic vocals as well? I am talking about a single vocalist here. If so, what kind of mic placement do you use? I have done searches on stereo miking on the net but have only come up with info on miking acoustic guitar. Any experience you have with this would be appreciated.
Thanks. Brian.
 
Some people do - but I believe its usually done with two different mics so flavours can mix (or so they can pick which one they liked better).Now Im not sure why you got 2 3035s for micing acoustic guitar - but thats besides the point. If you were me, and I had 2 3035s - I would only use one for vocals - unless you have some uncanny ability to make different tones from each side of your mouth.
 
In theory, it's a novel idea, but the big problem with stereo-micing vocals is that the vocal track loses a certain degree of focus.

Singers like to move around, and even if they aren't conscious of it, their head might sway slightly from side-to-side at times, or they'll move in and out in order to work the mic.

When you stereo-mic like that, you can almost "see" all this going on, since there's an element of 3-dimensionality to it all. And it's kind of distracting/annoying. It almost always ends up sounding kinda' silly and amateurish, no matter how you go about it. Most of us are used to hearing the vocal focused and locked dead center in the mix, because that's where it sounds best. Unless you're going for some sort of unusual / experimental effect . . . and in that case, knock yourself out and have fun, because anything goes.
 
FYI.....The November issue of Recording magazine has an "in the studio" article showing a mic setup with a Lawson L47MP and a Neuman TLM 103. The engineer indicated that he checked the setup in mono and was satisfied there were no phase issues. He panned the mics hard left and hard right in what he described as an "experiment in psuedostereo coincident micing."
 
Recording something with 2 mics and stereo recording are 2 distinctly different things. There are reasons why you might record vocals with 2 mics, but very few reasons for stereo micing vox. Stereo mic'ing is most useful for recording things that are big, and produce different sounds depending on where your ear is. Favorites include acoustic guitar, harp, piano, and drum kits.
Almost no one stereo mics a harmonica. Why? It's a small thing, and if you listen to it and move from side to side, it sounds about the same. Voice comes out of the nose and mouth, and to a lesser extent, from the resonating chest. Basically, it's either pointed at you, or it's not. If both mics are pointed right at it, they'll pick up basically the same thing- 2 track mono. On the other hand, the 2 ends of a grand piano are like night and day.
So basically, the only real reason to use 2 mics on vox is to blend the sounds of 2 different mics, which you wouldn't have to do if you had one mic that sounds right in the first place. There really isn't the broad kind of signal that profits from stereo mic'ing.- Richie
 
Lead vocals are typically recorded in mono. Background vocals however, sound great in stereo especially if you want a big chorus effect. I've never actually recorded backing vocals in stereo though, instead I usually sing each part twice and pan one left, and one right.


Twist
 
Thanks for your replies

It sounds like stereo miking vocals or just using 2 mics to record vocals is not standard practice. I guess what I was looking for in the vocals was a little more depth or sense of space. Using two mics at varying distances from the vocalist might give more reflected sound or a sense of space, but this might be better accomplished by adding reverb or some other effects. I am having trouble getting the vocal to sound the way I want, but thats probably not unusual. Either they are sounding too up front in the mix or else I am losing them in the mix. I know it will just take more practice and experimentation. Thanks for your help. Brian.
 
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