Re: All about my vocal chain now
malcolm123 said:
No matter where they are with the track, their vox just stand out or better yet they just cut through the mix so well. This is what I want. I have no idead as to what vocal chain they used. Maybe it was just mixed that well without overlapping freqs or whatever plus a good ass vocal chain. I wish I could listen to the Sm-7, but locale permits it.
I understand generally what you're getting at. But keep in mind that what you're looking for isn't a whole lot different than what everyone else is looking for. And if it was as easy as buying the right mic for your home studio, then everyone would be doing it, and highly-experienced, well-trained engineers would all be out of work. It's a combination of so many factors. Mostly what you're hearing is really good EQ and compression along with accute mic and signal chain selection, which has about 75% to do with the skill of the engineer and the other 25% with the gear used.
I read a lot before I make gear purchases when I cannot listen for myself.
No offense, but I've seen that strategy work maybe 1% of the time. I post on these boards a lot, but I'll be the first to tell you not to listen to me or anyone else -- learn to hear the differences between mics yourself . . . then audition . . . then buy.
That said, I can point you in a few general directions -- like my recommendation of the SM-7 . . . which really isn't exactly going out on a limb or anything.
I mean, if you read up on things or talk to people, you'll hear that mic brought up from time to time.
I've found it to be good for the in-your-face kind of aggressive rappers who like to swallow the mic and do their "angry ghetto man" thing.
I don't know if that's the kind of thing you're looking to record or not . . . but I've also noticed there's more of a laid-back, breathy, smooth crooning style that's very prominent in today's pop music that's just the opposite of the angry ghetto pimp guy. For that, I'd recommend a good condenser mic about 99% of the time.
If you've got $1,000 bucks burning a hole in your pocket, I'd think along the lines of getting the best B.L.U.E. mic you can afford. I really like that company, and I think of some of their mics when I think of breathy pop vocals. The Rode NTK comes to mind in the $500 class, but that one comes with it's own querks (better have a good de-esser).
Either way, a good mic is only a very small tip of a very large ice-berg. Then you have to get in to room accoustics, EQ, compressors and compression technique . . . ideal signal routing and gain-staging . . . and it can't hurt to become intimately familiar with a good multiband compressor which could take you the better part of maybe a year and a half to learn to navigate properly.
