Condenser for screaming/yelling?

  • Thread starter Thread starter BRIEFCASEMANX
  • Start date Start date
BRIEFCASEMANX

BRIEFCASEMANX

Winner chicken dinner!
I bought a condenser and I tried using it for screaming/yelling vocals and there was a ton of weird "ess" distortion at around 12.7k and I had to use de-esser as well as an insane amount of pinpoint(extremely high Q) parametric eq again at around 12.7k to lower that frequency range by about 15db. Because it was such a high frequency I don't think the results turned out HORRIBLE but I would like a condenser mic that can be used for screaming and loud singing without weird high frequency distortion on the F's and S'. I don't want to spend more than 2-3 hundred on it. Any suggestions?

I already have an MD-421 and an SM57 so I have some good dynamics that are supposed to be good for these type of vocals but I thought the condenser sounded much better than these except for the distortion part. Any suggestions on condensers for loud vocals?
 
Sounds like something that might be fixed by putting on a high end pop filter and singing abit further away from the mic
 
I used a Studio Projects B1 on the screaming in "Top Ten Reasons to Lose Your Faith in Mankind" for my band..

www.purevolume.com/thepremier

I also rolled off the top end and bottom end and put some distortion on it.

The screaming starts around 3:45.

I probably coulve gotten the same results with a 57. My post isn't helping you at all.
 
Depending on where in the chain the distortion is coming in, you could try inserting a couple channels of compression. John Scrip (Massive Master on the board) recommended this technique once for screaming vocals and I found that it worked quite well.

Check it out in detail here

Of course, if the screaming is overloading the mic's electronics then this won't do a bit of good. Give it a try though.
 
Maybe record the scream parts with your dynamics and the normal parts with your condensor?

War
 
a few suggestions:

try backing off the mic. also def. back up like a foot or more when u scream. it will even out the levels too so you have to use less compression.

if that doesn't work, i guess you need to try a different mic. Ive used a cad small diaphragm condenser that sounded good.

i also think i have read on some other threads on this site that there are some dynamics out there that sound a lot like condensers...i might be wrong on this but the ev re-20?

backing up a few feet should do the trick though.
 
I was thinking of maybe recording close up with a dynamic and a few feet back with the condenser but I don't want it to cause phase problems and sound thin. Would this work? Has anyone tried this? Which dynamic mic would you recommend, the 421 or the 57.
 
Have you tried just taking a giant step back right before you scream?
 
I am not the one screaming. It seems like that would bring my shitty room acoustics more into play as well as give it a more "far away" sound.
 
BRIEFCASEMANX said:
I already have an MD-421 and an SM57 so I have some good dynamics that are supposed to be good for these type of vocals but I thought the condenser sounded much better than these except for the distortion part. Any suggestions on condensers for loud vocals?
Click to expand...

You might like the Groove Tubes MD-1B.

The Groove Tubes condensers, in general, seem to do a pretty decent job of handling louder sources and high-frequency transients.

Something about your statement, though. :D You like the condenser except for the distortion part. It's a little like saying "The game went great, except for the fact that we lost." You might have a bit of a double-edged sword there.
 
chessrock said:
You might like the Groove Tubes MD-1B.

The Groove Tubes condensers, in general, seem to do a pretty decent job of handling louder sources and high-frequency transients.

Something about your statement, though. :D You like the condenser except for the distortion part. It's a little like saying "The game went great, except for the fact that we lost." You might have a bit of a double-edged sword there.
Click to expand...

As in that very narrow frequency range was the only part of the sound I didn't like, and even after heavy de-essing and parametric EQ it still sounded decent, enough for no one to mention or realize i had processed the vocals so heavily. And enough for it to sound better than an MD-421, which is a pretty good mic and was recommended to me for screaming vocals. I didn't lose the game you could maybe say I tied :D
 
You should use a omni directional polar pattern mic - they dont suffer from bass tip up , and a great mic for vocals which has such a pp is the Neumann U87 ! Great mic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top