multi microphone techniques!

H

happymatty

New member
hey, ive never experimented with recording anything with more then one mike, (including drums, i got a roland lol) and i was hoping some of you would be able to give me the lowdown on multi mic'ing, paticually for vocals.

thanks, matt.
 
happymatty said:
hey, ive never experimented with recording anything with more then one mike, (including drums, i got a roland lol) and i was hoping some of you would be able to give me the lowdown on multi mic'ing, paticually for vocals.

thanks, matt.
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When multi-micing, be sure to use more than one mic.
 
eternalpayn said:
I've found using one mic, just bending the rules of the space-time continuum to allow it to exist in multiple spots simultaneously, works best.
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Aaahhh yes...But I was assuming he didn't have access to the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity that is required for such an endeavor.
 
watch out for phasing problems! one mono mic usually does the trick for me in the grand scheme of a song, for things other than drums that is.
 
happymatty said:
hey, ive never experimented with recording anything with more then one mike, (including drums, i got a roland lol) and i was hoping some of you would be able to give me the lowdown on multi mic'ing, paticually for vocals.

thanks, matt.
Click to expand...

Ive used an e906 and a C414 to mic a guitar cab before. The 414 is really good at the highs and picks up the definition, especially in the solo's, while as the 906 keeps the energy and grunt of the amp. Its an expensive setup, I will give you that, but it works.
 
happymatty said:
hey, ive never experimented with recording anything with more then one mike, (including drums, i got a roland lol) and i was hoping some of you would be able to give me the lowdown on multi mic'ing, paticually for vocals.
Click to expand...
OK, you've been twisting in the wind long enough. Special *Groaner* Award to Rami for his AC/DC pun ;).

But to actually answer your question, it's very rare to multi-mic single vocals at all. It has been done. Sam and Dave used to like in live performances to tape a second mic of a different model on top of their first mic. I assume this was probably more for technical gain reasons than anything else, though such a technique could be used to blend the sound of two different-sounding mics in order to get a fuller response. If one were to do this, they'd want to make sure the capsules of each mic were lined up with each other to avoid any potential phasing issues.

Another type of multi-miking with vocals - rare, but quite usable - is when you have a very thin-sounding vocalist. In such a case one might have one mic set up for normal vocal recording, and a second mic with better bass response pointed down towards the vocalist's chest to try and fill in the lower frequencies a bit. Sometimes a lav mic pinned under the vocalist's sweater or jacket may be used there also.

As far as multi-miking techniques for group vocals or anything else in general, do some searches on the following terms: "X/Y mic", "ORTF mic", "spaced pair mic", "M/S mic", "Bleumin mic" and "Jecklin disc". That should keep your head busy for a while ;).

G.
 
You could use one mono mic in front of the vocalist, then put a stereo pair on the other side of the room, or pointing away, etc. to capture natural reverb from that room, as opposed to adding artificial reverb from a plug in.
 
Experiment with a pair (of the same model or at least similar sound) in an X/Y configuration to get a taste of stereo miking.
X/Y gives a very natural and accurate picture of the performer + the 'space perspective around it.
It's not generally something you'd do building a mono-mic'ed multi track vocal, but great for capturing a single stereo image' with depth cue, 'sound stage movenent' if any..
--Real good concept to have in the tool box' right off.

..and with 'X/Y -none of them time/space/otherly dimensional phase' problems :)
 
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