First Time Recording Two Mics On Vocals...Suggestions?

[BigEZ]

Hi All,

I want to try two completely different mics on vocals similar to what I do on acoustic. I'm hoping it will make the sound fatter. I'm thinking of using my ribbon and an sm7b. Any suggestions or anything I should watch out for on mix down?

Thanks,

 

[bouldersoundguy]

If they are different distances from the singer you might want to time align them, depending on how they actually sound when mixed. For that matter you may want to time un-align them just to see how they sound, but I'm guessing that won't be what you go with.

 

[BigEZ]

Thanks. Do you think I should mess with the polarity of one of the mics at the preamp?

 

[miroslav]

No....the polarity should be the same for both.

I don't think combining two mics on a vocal will work the same as on a guitar. Just because it's 2 mics instead of one, it doesn't mean it will make you vocal twice as fat.

You would do better to work on your singing technique (more chest, less head) for a fatter sound...and/or maybe double-track the vocals instead of two mics on the same vocal.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Thanks. Do you think I should mess with the polarity of one of the mics at the preamp?

Do whatever sounds best. Start with the polarity normal. If one mic is pin 2 hot and the other mic is pin 3 hot then inverting one will probably be the thing to do.

 

[mjbphotos]

It's unlikely to make your vocals 'fat'. If the mics are very dissimilar, then you will get the 'good' and 'bad' parts of each mic. For example if Mic A has a resonant peak at 8 KHz and Mic B had a peak at 6KHz, you will no have peaks at both, and if there is a peak roll off between those frequencies, you could have another peak where the freq curves cross. Similarly, if both mics have a proximity effect and you are close to both, your bass response could be overwhelming when combining the two.
Remember that using 2 mics on a guitar serves a different purpose - micing different places on the guitar itself for the different tonal characteristics.

 

[BigEZ]

Thx. I was hoping it would save me the time of tracking my vox twice. All great feedback...I'll mess around with it but will likely stick with what I'm doing now.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Thx. I was hoping it would save me the time of tracking my vox twice.

Actually double tracking would be the better option in most cases.

 

[grimtraveller]

I've tried this in a few different ways {one mic through a reverb unit, one not or two identical mics without any effect or whatever} and while they had an interesting sound, it was an interesting sound that I didn't pursue further after those particular songs {although once, fixing a bad vocal I "reamped" using two mics and that did the trick}.

But it can be done. A number of producers have recorded vocals that way with good results. As boring as this always sounds, just try it out and see how you like it.

Remember that using 2 mics on a guitar serves a different purpose - micing different places on the guitar itself for the different tonal characteristics.

I would bear this in mind. It's not a reason not to try recording one vocal with two mics but it's important to note that multiple mics on acoustic guitars and for that matter drums and certain percussion are for a different purpose. That said, I often record electric guitar with two mics and pan rather than do it twice