Microphone for Classical Singing (Baritone)

D

davidvypark

New member
Hello, I am an amateur when it comes to recording and equipment. I am used to having recording equipment set up for me so I am a little lost now that I am looking to get my own equipment.

I am looking to record classical singing/opera. I am a dramatic baritone. I am looking to record in open places and good reverb such as churches and concert halls. What sort of microphone do I need for this?

I am researching now and not looking for a quick buy. Of course I want a quality microphone but I don't know what my financial situation will be when I decide to make the purchase as I am still a student.

Currently I own a MXL v67g and a M-audio fast track pro. I got these along with some other equipment as a bundle deal. It was pretty much an impulsive buy and I was told by a friend with a little more experience than me that this microphone is probably not good for recording in a big space.(note: my friend is 2 weeks into a course called: intro to music production)

I did a little digging on other forums and found these recommendations: AKG - C 535 EB and CAD M-179.

Sorry if this post is generic and scattered. To try and summarize:
What kind of microphone is good for recording classical singing?
Do i need to record in an open space for natural reverb?
What are some microphone suggestions? (for now lets say price $100-$1000)

Thanks. I'm sure I'll learn a lot of stuff just from reading replies.
 
Last edited:
I'll try and elaborate a little more.

As far as I know, I can get a reverb from the room/space and gets picked up by the microphone or I can sing straight into the microphone and add a reverb with a program? Are there separate types of microphones for close record and recording in a space? My conductor told me that I should not record in a dead space for classical singing. Do i stand the microphone anywhere in the room? Do I face it? Should it be eye level or hanging from the ceiling? If I singing with an accompaniment would 1 mic pick up all the instruments/piano or should each be mic-ed individually? Thanks again for any help.
 
I am not going to attempt to specifically advise you regarding this project. However, I will take the liberty of making a few observations and try to tease out a bit more information from you.

As much as I applaud self-sufficiency, I strongly suggest that you engage the services of an experienced location recording engineer.

I think that the approach is likely going to be using stereophonic recording techniques, possibly with spot mics. In the recording of "natural" acoustic performances, mic technique is everything. You will want an engineer who is acquainted with classical/operatic repertoire and who understands the dynamic vocal power of which an operatic vocalist is capable.

Such recording engineers will have all the appropriate microphones, stands, cabling, clean and quiet preamps, and quality audio interfaces that good classical recording requires. You may otherwise need to invest significant learning/practice time and money to get results that are satisfying.

With that out of the way... How will you be accompanied, and how will the instrumentalists be arranged. And what is the repertoire to be recorded?

Paul
 
Thank you for responding. I got a lot of information already.
I made this thread mostly to educate my myself but also to maybe do some amateur recording.
The recording are mostly for myself (maybe throw a few things on youtube or soundcloud). So far I have been using my iPhone to record myself so I can listen to myself for analysis and improvements. If I ever need to record a portfolio or album I will definitely seek professionals. I have seen many people on youtube who sing "clasicalish" and the sound quality is pretty decent and would guess that most of them did not spend thousands of dollars on equipment.

"You will want an engineer who is acquainted with classical/operatic repertoire and who understands the dynamic vocal power of which an operatic vocalist is capable."

I did notice with the mxl v67g that the louder parts of songs were scratchy while the softer parts were barely audible no matter how far or close i leaned from the microphone.
 
ah I didn't answer your questions. As I am not working an a specific project currently I do not have any specific pieces that I am looking to record. I am currently working on the song Sous les Etoiles. More often then not I will be singing acapella but if accompanied it would be mostly by a piano. In rare cases (for practicing) I will be accompanied for maybe a string quartet, if I can convince a group of friends to take time out of their day for my rehearsal.
 
OK - I am not a professional (well, I am a professional, but not an audio professional :cool:)

Anyway, here are some thoughts as to how I might experiment in your situation, without a large financial commitment.

With the V67G, you will be aware that this is a cardiod condenser microphone. When you place it close to a source, you get what is called the proximity effect, which is basically an accentuation of bass frequencies. For singers with a thin voice, this might be a good thing to add some body or bloom. Probably not, however, what you might want as a baritone.

I might be tempted to try a pair of spaced omnidirectional mics, as an A-B spaced pair (you can google that!). You'd need a matched pair of mics, a stand, and a spacing bar. You can experiment with the height and distance of the mics to get the "you" / room balance as you wish.

When you record, you do not - under any circumstances - want to induce digital clipping.. You should therefore aim to set the gain on the preamp so that the peaks (the loudest parts of your program) indicated in your DAW software show at -12dB to -18dB (relative to Full Scale or 0dB). (You can boost the levels later after recording but you will want really clean tracks to work from.) Setting levels will be challenging in the sense of you twiddling knobs while you sing, so you might need to get someone to help you. I suggest you track at 24 bit and 44.1kHz. This way, you should be able to capture your full dynamics without clipping.

For a starting point for mics, I am going to direct you over to Naiant Studios and contact the owner, Jon, to discuss your microphone needs. Jon produces a range of great sounding and excellent value microphones, mostly omnis and some directional mics. The omnidirectional mics will allow you to capture your voice and accompanist (obviously), but also some of the acoustic of the venue. Which implies that you might want to look around for nice sounding venues.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts. There's a great wealth of experience here (both amateur and professional), so don't just act on my thoughts alone.

Paul
 
Most of the techniques for recording classical music/voices in nice sounding spaces involve more than a single mic. Things like ORTF miking, XY coincident pairs, spaced omnis, a Decca tree, etc. all involve more than one mic.

Perhaps rather than looking for a recommendation for a single mic, it might be worth doing some research to see which techniques interest you, then maybe rent mics as appropriate until you know what suits you. I notice you list your location as Los Angeles (I wish more people would list a location!)--I know there are some excellent audio rental houses there that could sort you out for a few good recording sessions.
 
Ah so I guess I can assume that most people who sing in front of a single microphone add some sort of digital reverb later. The problem I've had with clipping in the past is the the m-audio fast track pro tends to only pick up a signal in the few top millimeters of the gain knob. I've asked around and found that many people have had the same problem with this product and say that "that's just how this works." I will look into these omnidirectional microphones (now that I think about it I've seen these in concert). Thanks
 
I've used the same M Audio (and a couple of its brothers) for a lot of tracking (including musical theatre and operettas but, admittedly, not classical opera) and never had that problem. I suppose it could be a faulty unit but I also wonder if there might be an issue with your mic or perhaps your recording technique. I wonder if you're tracking too hot? I'd be looking for your average level to be about -18dBFS as viewed on your DAW metres to leave headroom for the peaks you'll be getting in your musical genre.
 
Nella Fantasia sung by Javier Fontana - YouTube

This is a one microphone setup that seems to work well ( at least sounds decent). At a glance the room seems to have hard smooth walls that I assume would create some echo. Although this is pop singing and not quite opera, it seems to work well. Can anyone identify the microphone from the video and maybe give me some insight on this configuration?
 
I can't help on that mic but I'm highly sceptical that the reverb is natural to that room. Seeing the reflection in the mirror, the space is quite narrow and the reverb seems more akin to what you'd here in a cathedral or concert hall (and with a more distant mic). I suspect it was added electronically later.
 
The mic looks like a Rode NT1A. That's a bit close for an operatic voice but that guy is in a small room and probably wanted a pop sound. For a classical recording in a big space you'd normally have a spot mic on a soloist at two or three feet (you wouldn't need the pop screen).

The windscreens here are for air movement more than pops, these mics are probably Schoeps:



The microphone is really much less important than technique. That said, if you want a stereo recording you need two mics--three could be better as you'd get a stereo pair for the overall sound/accompanist(s) and a spot mic for the vox. The audio in the video I linked would be mix of the main pair or trio (which would be flown overhead of the conductor, you can see in the first few seconds if you look closely) plus probably a couple dozen spots on the orchestra (you can see a couple of them behind the tenors on the strings), and the spots on the tenors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top