tips for recording death metal

A

audio_leak

New member
im working with 2 different death metal bands and have been trying a bunch of different ways to record the vocalists. usually the best setup for me is to have them are 2 or 3 feet away from the mic, to keep the levels good, but you do lose alot of the desired "oomphf!" that drives a good metal vocal sound. i find that the vocal is still there, but just doesnt guide the song how i know it should.

i have managed to record the band well enough, but the vocal tracks are making it sound way to demo-ish.

could anyone reccomend me a decent way to record metal vocalists that has worked for them?

any other basic tips that anyone might have for recording death metal in general would be very appreciated as well.

thanks.
 
2 or 3 feet...?

Buy/rent/borrow a SM7b, put the big (round end, as opposed to the flat end) screen on and let 'em eat the thing. You'll get the in-your-face aggressive tone you've been looking for without the obnoxious portion of the proximity effect you might get from most mics.
 
+1 on the SM7. There is no way to get a big, in your face vocal from 3 feet away.

You can use an LDC, but the vocalist still needs to be up close with a pop screen. You just have to set the recording levels low enough for him not to clip. Having a good compressor is also very helpfull.
 
yeah i knew i was doing something very wrong by the sound i was getting, but the guys i was recording were happy with it at the time, but its a problem that annoys me time and time again.

thanks very much for reccomending the SM7 that looks like just what i need. im gonna go buy one, i record alot of metal and this looks like a mic i will def need if i plan on recording more heavy bands. hell even some the rappers are half screaming these days.

thanks again
 
One of the greatest vocal mics ever designed at any price. It's wonderful for just about anything (except 'instrumental' vocals that you'd want to capture from a greater distance). Throw it into a decent preamp and you've got 90% of your vocal tasks in the bag.
 
Using a regular 58 or beta 58 with a loud monitor in the room can help. Sometimes u need to create a lot of energy in the room for the singer to really get into the performance. So u use a live vocal mic like a 58 because you're kind of creating a live performance environment. You want a mic that will reduce the bleed as much as possible. With this method you are sacrificing a little bit of pristine vocal sound for exceptional performance.
 
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