Mic Technique .. What are your secrets ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter cjacek
  • Start date Start date
cjacek

cjacek

Analogue Enthusiast
Using a hand held dynamic mic, like the 57 or 58, to record ... What are the mic techniques YOU use to get the most "even" and "natural" sound without using a compressor ? What advice can you give other than "move away when you sing strong and come in closer when singing soft" ? I KNOW there must be more to mic technique than this! :confused:

Thanks,

Daniel
 
Be careful with the esses and P's.

Drink lots of water . . . hot lemon Tea is very good idea.

Breathe from the diaphragm.

Rehearse A LOT beforehand, to where it comes second nature . . . but not to where you're bored with the song. :D

Warm up by loosening/relaxing the vocal chords -- not by wearing them out / straining them.

Keep yourself in good shape and high spirits.

Work hard and have patience . . . keep tracking and tracking and tracking untill you get the magic take . . . or untill you get enough decent takes that you think you'll be able to edit together in to the magic take.
 
To control dynamics with no compressor, the singer will have to know when to move in/out from the mic. On soft passages, move into the mic (not too close!). On loud passages the singer will have to move away from the mic. It comes with practice. Watch some live videos and you will see the technique in action.
 
The best mic technique I have found for vocals is to let somebody else sing.

Really, it works.
 
If singing live try and sing slightly over the top of the mic rather than directly into the capsule. This will prevent the little puffs of air expended during 'p's & 't's' from blasting the capsule itself.
If in the studio use a pop filter. Your sisters girlfriends pantyhose on a wire coathanger is a good start! ;)
 
and persuading her to get out of them is fun too - of course, you could be hoarse from talking too much by the time you do, rendering the whole exercise a little pointless...:rolleyes:
 
Riders on the storm..............

Ride the gain control!!! Automatic compression with knob twiddling. Seriously, this was done a lot in the past, especially Motown (from what I've read). If you have recorded a few passes you quickly know when the singer is going to start belting it out, so I start to ease off the gain. It works a treat - give it try sometime.
 
I'm breaking the rules you have set before me. For heaven's sake, buy a compressor and save yourself the headache. I merely used a Tech21 compressor bass pedal last night to cut a quick demo....and it worked beautifully! Scream, shout, talk, whisper....all where they needed to be. Compressor, compressor, compressor....Later...
 
Definitly use a pop filter, or the windscreen if outdoors. Sing over the mike rather directly into it.

Do an experiment. Do a series of loud 'Puh' sounds while movig your hand up and down. You will see that the area where you can feel the gush of air against your hand is really quite narrow. so you want to position the mic so it sits outside of that narrow cone. a mic at about chin level pointing up should do just about right..

Learn to compress your voice yourself. In other words there are ways of increasing and decreasing the apparent energy of your song without actually changing the volume as much. Thus you don't have to set the gain so high on the quiet sections that you are blowing away the mic on the loud sections. Think of Opera singers. Even in the quiet sections they have to be heard in the entire hall and above the orchestra.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top