Female Vocals

[Brian Rohrer]

I'm recording female vocals right now and I'm useing a mxl v93m and a makie vlz as the pre. I'm not very happy with the sound.....it seems to be a little thin. Not much body. Should I get a better pre? A better mic? What would be a good combination? My price range is between $100-600 (could change).

 

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Brian! The bitch of it is, female vocals and male vocals present the same problems. Some singers simply sound good through some mics, and some don't, and if there was a way to predict which ones, and I knew it, I'd be selling the secret to AE's for $1000 a pop- and there would be a waiting list. A better preamp will probably sound better on everything, but I doubt that's the heart of your problem. First, describe the voice. Soprano, alto, mezzo? Is she a "pretty" singer, a belter, a screamer? Are we talking Joan Jett, Faith Hill, Aretha Franklin, Charlotte Church, Dolly Parton, Grace Slick, Maddy Prior, Juliana Hatfield, Tina Turner? How is the mic presently positioned? Is she used to singing into studio condensers? Are there any mics that ever made her sound real good? Answer these questions, and we'll go from there.-Richie

 

[Brian Rohrer]

-I would have to say that she has a voice similar to Jewel. Especially in the song she is recording.
-I have the mic postioned so that the diaphram is just above her mouth and about 6 inches away.
-I'm also using a pop filter.
-The room is extremely dead.
-she dosn't have alot of experience recording but she hasn't had any problems so far. She is very confident and has had no problem singing with headphones.
-I would say that she has a pretty voice for this song (with a little edge).

The sound I'm getting right now isn't terrible.......it just seems a little harsh and thin. I thought maybe it had something to do with the pre's on the Mackie.

What do you think? I don't have much experience with female vox........I usually do male vox that are pretty "dirty" anyway.

 

[Richard Monroe]

I've had my best luck on that kind of voice with Oktava ML-52, and Shure SM7- Problem is, both of those mics need a shitload of clean gain- in other words, not a Mackie mixer. Try something darker and smoother- say Oktava MK319. That's something that won't cost you a bundle ($100 or less) and if it doesn't work for her, it'll work for something.Best of luck-Richie

 

[chessrock]

The sound I'm getting right now isn't terrible.......it just seems a little harsh and thin. I thought maybe it had something to do with the pre's on the Mackie.

I hate to say this, but it probably has a lot more to do with the v93.

I owned one for a while, and my experiences were quite similar to yours. On some voices, it was just a harsh and/or thin-sounding microphone. Don't think I'd put it anywhere near a female voice, come to think of it.

 

[Innovations]

It might also be that 'extremely dead' room making trouble for the sound to develop. See if adding a delay or a slight reverb helps.