Best Mic for screams/high SPL vocals?

  • Thread starter Thread starter breaktheground
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breaktheground

ifITsoundsGooditIsGood
I did a search on this subject and couldn't find anything on this subject, so here it goes....

I need a new mic for vocals for my studio here in southern CA, I am currently using a AKG C1000 (which I have come to find in these forums not too many are fond of) and am just not satisfied with it.

I have been checking out the AT 4040, M-Audio Luna, SP B3/C1/C4 and the baby blue mics. From experience/knowledge, I was wondering which ones handle vocals for harder type music (punk, metal, hardcore stuff)?????

I want to go to a place where I can have a return policy, so if it doesn't work out I can possibly take it back and get another, at least store credit or something!!!

Thanks for your patience and please help me out!

Ryan
 
keeping in mind i have no actual experience with this...

my teacher recommends the SM58 for hardcore type vox.
 
The majority of the music i record is metal.

With screaming vocals ive gotten descent results using an At-3035 as well as a studio projects b1. Ive used dynamics like the shure 57 and 58 , as well as an ev-635a but i did not find the results very pleasing. It all really depends on the voice but some things that can help alot are using a mic that has some sort of pad to cut back some of the level. Also finding the right amount of compression really can make a scream track in my opinion. So if you dont have a compressor or limiter you may want to be looking into one if your going to be doing alot of this style.
 
"Screaming" ruins voices, singing "loudly" properly doesn't. Those "singers" need to have vocal coaching IMHO, unless they're O.K.
with burning their voices out.

It won't come from a dealer, however, after you've selected a better condenser microphone,
the Beyer Soundstar MKII (also called M400),
is also excellent for rock style vocals.
There are some on e-bay right now.

Chris
 
Any of the shure mics mentioned here would be your best bet. All are screaming mics if need be.

On Austin City Limits last night, Robert Plant, I hope you know who that is, was using an SM-58.
 
yeah, i've heard Shure 57's and 58's are good, but I honestly haven't used them yet for vocals, I have 3 57's and 2 58's but have always gone the condenser route for any vocal tracking.

I should've been a tad more descriptive in the music genres i'm recording, a lot is screaming/yelling stuff but there is a lot of melody in between, lots of soft stuff where I need a condenser to pick up every detail of a vocalist. I've been thinking......

Should I have them sing all the screaming parts at once, then change mics and do the softer/more melodic stuff with a better mic??

This is where I need help, with the softer/melodic parts, I need a good mic fit for punk/alternative/metal stuff.

Whats your pic between the m audio luna, SP C1/B1/B3/C3, or the AT 4040 or 3035??

thanks!
 
yeah, i've heard Shure 57's and 58's are good, but I honestly haven't used them yet for vocals, I have 3 57's and 2 58's but have always gone the condenser route for any vocal tracking.

I should've been a tad more descriptive in the music genres i'm recording, a lot is screaming/yelling stuff but there is a lot of melody in between, lots of soft stuff where I need a condenser to pick up every detail of a vocalist. I've been thinking......

Should I have them sing all the screaming parts at once, then change mics and do the softer/more melodic stuff with a better mic??

This is where I need help, with the softer/melodic parts, I need a good mic fit for punk/alternative/metal stuff.

Whats your pic between the m audio luna, SP C1/B1/B3/C3, or the AT 4040 or 3035??

Here is an MP3 of the style i'm talking about, I recorded this about 3 months ago....
 
i would imagine you would want to do them the screaming parts separately...if for no other reason than so he "saves his voice" for the other parts.

but i don't know what the hell i'm talking about ;]
 
Yeah, I don't know why I've been doing it straight through with one mic, probably cuz my studio is a demo studio but still!!

Oh yeah, how in the hell do you attach an Mp3, I tried doing it when you post a reply but it didn't work, what the hell!
 
break, the best way is to try each one out on a specific vocalist.
No one can predict what will sound "best".

And...

Condenser microphones aren't inherently better than dynamic
microphones (and vice versa) on vocals either.
Ribbons (a subset of dynamics) can also beat the other two
types soundly on a given vocalist BTW.

When's the last time anyone has seen an article on the Shure
SM7 or Sennheiser 441?-just to name a couple of classic mic's.

What kind of mixer and/or mic pre are you using right now?

Chris
 
I'm using an Aardvark Q10 PCI interface into sonar, so i'm using the aardvarks pre's. they sound clean as hell.

As soon as someone can explain to me how i get an MP3 on here i'll show you what they are capable of!
 
breaktheground said:
As soon as someone can explain to me how i get an MP3 on here i'll show you what they are capable of!
Click to expand...

There's a size limit of 65k for attachments so that's not going to be much music. Go to http://www.nowhereradio.com/ and sign up, post your mp3 and then post the link here.
 
I record alot of punk, metal, emo

I record punk, emo, and metal-core. and I do alot of dashboard confessional type acoustic stuff, more like This Bitter Pill type singing and i scream alot... yes alot depend on compression, I'm not gonna lie. Vocal technique is important but for the overly loud scream that cut too much over the mix, a compressor or limiter is helpful. I normally use these mics for vocals and seem to get a great sound out of it for screaming vocs... here's my list:

2 AKG D1000E ---- good room mic.
2 Oktava MC012 ----- more brittle bright voices
2 Sennheiser MD 421 ---- use for females alot I've noticed...
1 Shure Beta 57 ----- see below
6 Shure SM57 ---- good for more emoish type vocs
1 Shure SM58 --- good for deep screaming (no understandable words haha)
2 Shure SM81 ----- dont use much for vocs (at least not yet)
1 Studio Projects C1 --- more darker voices.

I've used the SM58 as a main mic in a bathroom with a C1 room mic... this method maybe outdated but i find i get a powerful "big boomy" type sound. more umph to the vocals and adds a nice reverb loudness to the screams.
 
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