Please identify the vocal mic in this video

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spantini

spantini

COO of me, inc.
This thing is picking up soft singing at a distance while not picking up their instruments.

 
Sennheiser shotgun mic. It's difficult to tell since there's not a lot of detail. I suspect MKH416, maybe a MKE600 but not likely.

sennheiser.webp
 
There is a magic percussion instrument on track two, that I though maybe was balanced in her foot, but sadly the other girls walked over it and it made no noise. Their 416 is also quite magic - at the angle to their mouths they sound like a typical cardioid. The lettering facing upwards, however, is an indication that it could be a 418 - which has to have the writing upwards or downwards to operate in stereo. I just find the wispy bright in your face sound difficult to balance with what I know 416s sound like. This doesn't sound like a 416, and a 418 is a 416 with added figure of 8 capsule. All that said - the sound of the speech and chat, and the creaking piano stool suggest more than just one mic - there's one on the piano, but is that for her vocal facing that way or the piano. However it was done, it works really well. The only weirdness is the audience - they're distant, and off mic, but the three girls seem clean all the time?A really mystery.
 
The single vocal mic at left is a 418-S which is described so : (Note: The secret of the 418-S is that it's two mics in one; a cardioid "mid" condenser capsule facing front, and a bidirectional capsule focused on either "side." It's a mid/side stereo mic that needs to be decoded in post, which allows you to control the stereo width of the image, even after the recording is made.) Yes, the piano has a boom mic in front for vocal (a second 418-S?) but can't see one for the piano itself, unless that's one on top at far left - can't quite make that out. It actually looks more like a vice of some sort attached to the shelf.
 
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That's what I'm wrangling with - the 418 would be not cardioid at girl voice frequencies but quite directional - I test the 416 recently and lo down it's more cardioid, but still lobar at the uppers. A figure 8 at that angle also puts their voice locations when the three sing in the wrong place. I can't explain the in your face close mic sound, with breath noises in a space with a guitar, audience and piano. My 416, which is the mid mic in a 418 simply doesn't not sound like that. The three girls voices are balanced really, really well, and I struggle at one mic with a very weird placement being able to capture that, unless those girls have amazing control over their balance and the shorter girl has a very quiet voice compared to the others so how does she fit in the mix? A shotgun mic shouldn't really pick up the things it appeared to? As I said - it's clearly magic going on.
 
I wondered about the 418S, but your comment about not hearing the instruments suggested that it might be a plain shotgun. Personally I haven't used one, but Rob just did a video on shotguns, so he would be the fellow in the know.
 
The mandolin and guitar appear to be plugged in. The mic must be picking up some of the stringed instruments just a little. I would imagine due to the mandolin's position it's not being picked up much but the guitar being more to the side may be picked up slightly more. Either one though is more prevalent via their plugged in connections. There does seem to be something on the floor which is being manipulated by foot in some fashion by the girl on the left, and also gives us a thump as the other girl moves across to the piano. I do hear some percussive clicking on the second track but I think it's the hand/nail pick guard sounds from the guitar.
 
If you record a lot of voice over stuff, the MKH 416 is a must have, it's what all of the LA talent want.
 
vbass said:
If you record a lot of voice over stuff, the MKH 416 is a must have, it's what all of the LA talent want.
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I thought the U87 was the mic of choice, or the SM7b. I guess that stuff goes in waves as to what's "hot" and whats not.
 
I've been Googling for their performances. There seem to be lots of 'official' videos and they all have that very breathy HF tone - no matter if it's a shared 416 or Shure SM58s. Eventually I found an iphone video that sounded like a live video. It had the same breathy sound, but included pops and sizzles. The guitar seems very loud, and the odd thing was that the sound op didn't sort ot, or was able to sort it? Maybe it was spill, or some other live performanc issue. Odd the same problem didn't happen in these other live sessions. Oddly, their live sessions sound the same as the studio ones. Great band. I suspect that we should also consider how we could get that nice crisp and breathy sound with no popping from the SM58. Forget the 416, those dynamics sure have lots of amazing crispness at the HF end don't they?
 
I've seen a fair number of those "tiny desk" vides and I'm not convinced that the only mics in use are just the one(s) you see - at least not in all cases. And, there's likely a goodly amount of work done in post, so how much is "just" the mic you see is really unknown, IMHO, anyway.
 
Their fairly up-front about the single 418-S recording having to be "decoded" in post, doing all the stereo imaging and such.
 
TalismanRich said:
I thought the U87 was the mic of choice, or the SM7b. I guess that stuff goes in waves as to what's "hot" and whats not.
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That's what I thought too, but I've had VO talent mostly for non-english speaking ads for major movies come into my studio, and the producers (remote from LA) always request the Sennheiser. I'm in wine country, and I get calls all the time from VO artists that are here for the weekend and have a last minute call to record a spot for a producer. Not enough VO business here to invest 1K in the sennheiser, so I've always used a Charter Oaks S538B for those sessions and I've never received any complaints.
 
VO mics are one of those things that the artists develop an affinity for, so if you're recording, and they look you up, they'll look to see what mics you have. (Seems to be a typical bullet in the CV.) Sure, the mic is a small part, and for most uses, a tube mic is a tube mic is a tube mic, but if the artist had their best session ever with a U87, they probably aren't calling folks that don't have one. Unfortunately, kind of a chicken-egg thing, and you'll not get a chance to convince some of them otherwise.
 
I suppose the 416 might not be the best mic for a VO, but in a poor room, with cars passing outside, and maybe hums and buzzes - it could be the least trouble for the people the other end. If you got loads of submissions from remote people working in all kinds of spaces, then a 416 could be a problem solver. Sitting here at home, I can hear the cars passing. An ordinary cardioid could hear those too and Ive just realised somewhere there is a clock ticking? If somebody had a treated space and a U87, theyd have a great sound, but the 416 could statistics wise, be more successful?
 
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