Are vocals ever done like this?

[riccol]

Not really a newbie but my recording is pretty basic stuff and this is a newbie type question

Sooo When recording acoustic I often record with two mics... .one SDC at twelfth fret and another LDC or Ribbon down by upper bout or over the shoulder.
Then work with the two tracks blending and mixing

Is this type of thing ever done on vocals. Like using two mics and then blending the two?

 

[Danny Guitar]

Vocals are mono, there's no real point in using two microphones. Unlike an acoustic guitar for example, where different sounds are emanating/resonating from different spots.

That doesn't mean that you can't, but in most cases there is no point.

You could set one up at a distance as a room mic to capture room ambience if you're in a good room for recording.

I'm not a professional audio engineer so I can't tell you if professionals have used two mics on vocals, but I can safely say that it's definitely not common.

But feel free to experiment, that's where all the fun is.

 

[grimtraveller]

Is this type of thing ever done on vocals. Like using two mics and then blending the two?

Whether it's ever done I know not. But I've done it, used a dynamic close and a condenser further away. Sometimes they sound great, with a slight phasey effect that I really like. Other times they're not so grand.
And years ago, when I was shooting in the dark and just making up recording techniques because I knew no better, I did the same with two dynamics, but I put one through a reverb unit. Then I blended the two. It was interesting but I think I put too much of the reverbed one into the blend. Heck, I was younger.....

 

[miroslav]

The better option would be to sing it twice recording each take possibly with a different mic...and then blending them together.
You want to try and sing both takes almost identically...but it's the "almost" that naturally creates the magic in the blending.

 

[dastrick]

Use 6 mics if you want to.

 

[brother rat]

I did the same with two dynamics, but I put one through a reverb unit. Then I blended the two.

I frequently use this technique. I feel like I have more control in getting a subtle reverb than trying to get it just perfect on only one track. But that's probably becuase I use the reverb unit in a guitar amp instead of a plug-in or a dedicated unit.

 

[grimtraveller]

Use 6 mics if you want to.

And pan them all hard left !

 

[Armistice]

A guitar is a large sound source - a piano is a loud sound source - you get different sounds at different ends... there is therefore a point to using 2 mics to capture those different sounds, and you can position or blend at will.

A voice is a small sound source - therefore there's no point trying to multi-capture different tonalities at the source because it's all pretty much the same.

This is not to say you can't do it for reasons of effect, like grimtraveller was talking about - or that you couldn't try two different microphones (dynamic and condenser for instance) because you'll get a different sound from each which you can then work with.. bear in mind before attempting this though, that it's hard enough singing into a single mic bearing in mind plosives / sibilance / levels etc... adding a second one might make the task harder than it needs to be.

But experiment... it's the best way to learn... report back if you find something good...