About to track a 4 piece R&B singing group. Need Mic Advice

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malcolm123

malcolm123

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I could track them seperately , but Im not sure if their harmonys are good enough to not sing together. If not here is my current mic list

SM57- about 6
V67g - 1
Sure BG5.1 ( I think ) It's long with a battery inside if no phantom is availible. about 5 years old
A Sehnizeer (sp) It looks like a SM57
ADK51

I can borrow mics as well.

So if they have to be tracked together based on the mic listed above, Which would I use for say Saprano, Alto, etc.

If I need to buy more, I would prefer to get something from Marshall or SP that would be better for the main vocalist for female better than my V67g.

Also if these mics would work for the backup singers, whats a good mic for tracking Female R&B. Her pitch is the widest. she can cover all of the octaves excpt 5th. LOL

For a better main female mic Im willing to jump in the 3-400 range. Especially if I can use it for other applications

Thanks

Malcolm
( Still a Newbie on this Mic stuff)
 
malcolm123 said:
I could track them seperately , but Im not sure if their harmonys are good enough to not sing together.
Click to expand...

Track separate.

That way, if someone's off, you can pitch-shift or auto-tune.
 
Autotune can be a plug in or a hardware device. I run the plug in version.
 
The "best" way to record them, and they have to be well practiced to do it
would be;

1) Have access to an excellent sounding room, like one in a church with
good natural reverb.
2) Use two omnidirectional microphones (room needs to be "quiet")
3) Let them blend naturally, with the lead voice somewhat predominant.

If there are instruments involved, create the arrangements AFTER the vocal
tracks are put down. If there is time available, proper tuning in the group
will be superior to faking it with Autotune.
(listen to Country Top 40 for examples of THAT! :))
There are about 50(!) different pitch inflections between notes that the
human voice can tune to BTW. That's part of the reason it sounds more
"real" doing it properly.

Chris

P.S. This advice comes from being friends with people like members of acapella
groups "Revival" and "Nightlife", both world champs.
If you have access to a high end Lexicon or TC reverb, it can also
come out well if the room is in a acoustically treated studio.
 
For R&B, I can't see doing it in a church. If you want the sound of today, I would record them in a dry studio environment and add effects later. Today's R&B tends to be very dry with not too much spatial effects (reverb etc.).

In the 300-400 range or less, I would suggest the Marshall (MXL) V69 ($299) or the Studio Projects C1 ($199). The Marshall is a tube mic and has a nice "body" to the sound along with a nice sheen on top. The C1 doesn't have as much dimension as the Marshall, but is a great mic particularly for vocals. I haven't run across a female singer yet who doesn't sound good through the C1. Either of these mics would give you a great sound for R&B vocals. You may also want to consider the Studio Projects C3 (same as the C1 except with 3 polar patterns for more versatility ~$350). Use good cables and a decent pre in a reasonably good space and you should be fine.

As far as tracking, if you are limited in decent mics to do the job, you may want to track all singers together in one mic and do overdubs with each singer separately. In the end you may use both the overdubs and the group tracks or you may use one ... at least you'll have options and you only need one good mic channel to pull it off.

Es.
 
Rev E said:
For R&B, I can't see doing it in a church. If you want the sound of today, I would record them in a dry studio environment and add effects later. Today's R&B tends to be very dry with not too much spatial effects (reverb etc.).

Click to expand...

EXACTLY!!!

Track voices stone-cold dry, so in this way you can determine which voice requires attention.
 
Rev E said:

As far as tracking, if you are limited in decent mics to do the job, you may want to track all singers together in one mic and do overdubs with each singer separately. In the end you may use both the overdubs and the group tracks or you may use one ... at least you'll have options and you only need one good mic channel to pull it off.

Es.
Click to expand...

Ah,, Kinda what I was thinking. I never heard them sing alone in the same key they would sing as a group of the same song.

Autotune,, LOL I think not. They sing pretty good and if they cannot hold a show live and stay on key,, I wont F with them anyway. We are thinking about signing them as a group. But if they cannot carry a show,, No Haps !!

Ill just try maybe 2 or 3 tracks as a group and pan em.
Then I will get maybe 2 indiviual tracks from each one and go from there.

as for Church,, I wont go that route.
The room is pretty dead and has some treatments.

No instuments are involved. The songs have already been tracked. I will just pull out my More Me's and crank up the OZ headphone amp

Ill track them all Dry.

Thanks

Malcolm
 
Why necesarily follow the crowd on "today's sound"?
(imagine if Phil Spector had limited his thinking!:))

The better of a harmony group they are, the less attention each
voice will need. In the two groups I mentioned, for example,
NO "attention" is ever given-they just nail it.


That's fine you want to track things "dead", however. to get the
chords to ring best in a harmony setting, reverb au natural is best. Better than the most esoteric verb's on the planet.

Now knowing you have the background tracks already done
though you could...

1) Track the lead vocalist on one microphone.
(if you have a good pre, RNP on up-try the SM57
in addition to a SP or Marshall mic)
2) Track the singers singing back-up harmony on an omni.

Best of luck,

Chris

P.S. By having them sing at once you can make creative use
of "bleed" BTW. That's part of the reason many "old"
records have a feel better than "today's".
 
malcolm123

Why not just do some takes of them as a group and some takes of them separately, and try both live and dead rooms? Try to make them comfortable and happy and you'll get a better performence out of them.... which means, a better recording.
 
Chessprov

DJL


Both replies makes since.

DJL - im gonna track them dead first because my room is pretty much treated that way. Plus at the present time, it's not that serious. If I track them and mix it down and I hear something in the realm of WOW,, I will take them to another place to really get a good sound from them. Or I may just take down a couple of Aurelex's and see if it livens my room up.

Malcolm
 
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