mixing vox with a SM7 mic

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steppingonmars

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Well I finally got my SM7 mic. It's easy to work with, maybe a little too easy. It cuts through the mix so hard that's it hard to make it fit, well take a listen to this mix and let me know what I could do with it

http://www.box.net/shared/ky7hy8nqsn
 
I think it sounds good. Maybe a little bit more of compression and more verb should make it sit better.
 
Wow, I think that fits your voice real well. Sounds very good to me! Nice job!
 
a follow up--I think it sits in the mix real well. It's not buried, but it sounds very pro. Too often home recording suffer in the vocal area--the vox are timid and buried, or just muffled. This sounds like the real deal.
 
Thanks

Thanks guys, maybe I just have to get used to it. I like the fact that I used no eq at all and little compression, maybe I'll fiddle with the verb settings and add a little delay, see what happens
 
Those vocals are sitting in the mix fine, man. I will second Marcadiablo's suggestion of more compression, though.

The only thing I would nitpick about the vocals is the backup tracks. I clearly hear them, and they're a tad bit distracting. I would venture a guess that you're going for the kinda 'thickening up' thing in the chorus and various emphasized sections. If that's the case, I think it would work better if the backup parts were brought down a bit. You might even try smashing them, rolling off the high-end and bringing them down to a barely audible level... Something along those lines usually works well to fatten up and emphasize a particular vocal section without clashing with the clarity of the lead -

Anyway - I'm really just nitpicking because, well - you asked for it. :D The lead vocal does sound very good. Another SM7 success story.
 
I agree

Yeah the back up vox aren't working here. I need to work on the pitch for both the tracks as I think that's what's distracting as well. I might try a condenser for the BU vox, not so close to the mic and see if that gets them behind a bit.

I like recording with this mic as you just kinda sit right in front of it and sing as opposed to finding that perfect pre level and working the shit out of the mic to get away from the crazy level differences on my condenser
 
Bring up the lead vocal a tad, add delay / verb.

Perhaps re-do back-ups. They don't always match-up with the lead, and sometimes sound a little off key. Make sure the harmony notes are the ones you want. Compress them too to even out volume / dynamics.

Good luck!
 
lead vocals sound great and sit great to me! what ya complaining about.
 
I like the song.

Everything seems to sit well within the mix.

I really think the singer could use A LITTLE help at the very beginning. Do you happen to have melodyne? It really does miracles!

Drums sound great!

All guitars could be a little tighter as far as timing goes. Nothing a little editing can't fix! :P

Good luck!

-jD
 
Another one

Thanks for the input. Yeah as far as timing goes they really just recorded live practices with some overdubs. I'm just trying to get my source sounds right before doing anything for real so there might be some pitch and timing issues as well as some total screw ups. I worked a bit more with compression, delay and eq settings on this song,It's a different singer, but I think they sit better now.

http://www.box.net/shared/oc2poseq83
 
Mix wise the main vocal is fine.
Pitch wise in the intro the vocal is all over the place though.
The b vox are OK.
The main guitar is a bit forward in the mix leaving thing a little lopsided for me.
Good song.
 
Very good song, man!
Really like your voice and the quality's nice an clear. That SM7 might be an option for me too in the future. Been using an SM58 lately and I quite like recording with it.....
Agree with Ray that the lead might be a fraction too loud. Also, with a nice rocking song like this, I would put guitars on both sides. Otherwise, the mix sounds fine to me, drums sound great, bass has definition. Nice!

Joe :):):):)
 
joeym said:
Very good song, man!
Really like your voice and the quality's nice an clear. That SM7 might be an option for me too in the future. Been using an SM58 lately and I quite like recording with it.....
Agree with Ray that the lead might be a fraction too loud. Also, with a nice rocking song like this, I would put guitars on both sides. Otherwise, the mix sounds fine to me, drums sound great, bass has definition. Nice!

Joe :):):):)
Click to expand...

Yeah I'll work on those guitars a bit, maybe do some re-amping. There is very little eq on that vox track, it just kinda sat in there with the right amount of compression. As far people saying an SM7 and 57 are the same mics, I'd like to say that they aren't even close. Maybe it has to do with the cage or whatever, but I put our bass player ( the guy singing in the last song) in front of it and he just sang. No spit sounds, no sibilance issues, just hit record. That's worth the money I spent right there, not having to show someone how to work a mic and just plop him/her in front of it.
 
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