Soo... what's wrong with recording screamed vocals with a condenser?

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Dark Imagery

Dark Imagery

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I bought a pop filter the other day at guitar center. I was trying to make friendly convo with the cashier and told him I was gonna audition some dynamics and condensers for my screamed vocals. He was like "Eewwhheuuur... you shouldn't record metal vocals with a condenser, it'll overload the mic." I was thinking, dude, you can stick the fuckers right up to a snare drum and you wanna tell me my screaming is gonna overload the thing? Especially when I'll be a foot or two from the thing? So, I slapped all of his teeth out of his mouth and then when he tried to sell me the 70 dollar pop filter instead of the 20 dollar pop filter I slapped his lips off of his face. A year or so ago, before I had a condenser, I recording screamed vocals through an sm58. Yes they sounded dark and great. However, I wanna try every mic I have. Just wondering if there's something shitty sounding about screaming into a condenser. I could just go to my studio and try it but I'm bored on the board right now. And if my screaming in any way damages my condenser mic, I've got the 2 year pro coverage plan, haha. I'll come back into Guitar Center and be like "I'mmmm back! Sorry bout your teeth, bro, you were right about the condenser mic, now I need another one."
 
if your guna be as far away from the mic two feet then i think you should be fine with the condensor, although rumor has it that the best mic for sccreaming vocals is the sm7b, although a 58 or a 57 are perfectly fine if the vocalist is more comfortable useing a hand held mic so it depends really,
 
Soo... what's wrong with recording screamed vocals with a condenser?

Plain and simple: It hurts my ears!
 
First, NEVER believe a salesperson. Ever.

Second, many condensers these days can handle enough volume to get your ears bleeding before they'll break up. Maximum SPL ratings of 135dB are not uncommon. Read the specs on any mic you're interested in before you buy.

That said, though, you do have two things to watch for; there's a difference between SPL and plosives. Watch the plosives by keeping the mic a bit off-axis (high or low) and/or using a quality pop filter between the mic and your screaming gob.

and

If you like a "dark" sound, you might find many cheap LDCs to be disappointing, as many of them they tend to be rather bright on the high end. Just because something is using a condenser-style capsule doesn't make it a great-sounding mic necessarily. Buying a "condenser" is not necessarily the magic mic bullet that many seem to believe.

G.
 
If I were looking to track some scream vocals, I'd be looking more into the SM7B or the RE20 instead of a condenser.

my 2c :drunk:
 
Dark Imagery said:
when he tried to sell me the 70 dollar pop filter instead of the 20 dollar pop filter I slapped his lips off of his face.
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You blew $20 on a pop filter? Bass players will grasp a sheet of Kleenex and hold it taught in front of the singer's face for free. Sucker.
Just wondering if there's something shitty sounding about screaming into a condenser.
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Possibly the screaming.
 
Dark Imagery said:
He was like "Eewwhheuuur... you shouldn't record metal vocals with a condenser, it'll overload the mic." I was thinking, dude, you can stick the fuckers right up to a snare drum and you wanna tell me my screaming is gonna overload the thing? Especially when I'll be a foot or two from the thing? So, I slapped all of his teeth out of his mouth.........and then when he tried to sell me the 70 dollar pop filter instead of the 20 dollar pop filter I slapped his lips off of his face.
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I hope the $50 you saved went towards his reconstructive surgery and counselling ! :spank:
Hey, if you'd been quick on the uptake, you could've recorded his screams there and then and saved yourself the bother ! :D
 
Dark Imagery said:
"Eewwhheuuur... you shouldn't record metal vocals with a condenser, it'll overload the mic."
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Well I stick them in front of Guitar cabs that are cranked up and never overload the mic? This happens all the time. So if you put your face down near the guitar cab and scream can you be heard above the guitar?

Alan.
 
Chibi Nappa said:
You blew $20 on a pop filter? Bass players will grasp a sheet of Kleenex and hold it taught in front of the singer's face for free. Sucker.
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Then they are stupid - everyone knows the best popperstopers are the tights from the prettiest girl around stretched over a pulled out wire coat hanger. That's how it was done in the '60's. :D
 
Haha, thanks for the replies, guys. I agree with the LDC having a brighter high end, was just curious about using one with screaming. You all are making me curious about the SM7b. What are some other favorite applications for that mic? And :laughings: at grimtraveller.
 
Dark Imagery said:
Haha, thanks for the replies, guys. I agree with the LDC having a brighter high end, was just curious about using one with screaming. You all are making me curious about the SM7b. What are some other favorite applications for that mic? And :laughings: at grimtraveller.
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LDDs like the SM7b and RE20 are probably most often seen used for radio talk and for voice-over/narration work, but they also make excellent musical mics.

The thing to watch with them, however, is that it's not the best idea to pair them with cheapo entry-level preamps or engineers. They are relatively low output mics, and the newb will be highly tempted to really push the preamp gain in order to boost the signal (even some non-newbs will too.) If you have a cheap preamp with a combination of relatively low maximum gain and relatively high noise at high gain, the results can be somewhat disappointing.

They are definitely worthwhile mics, but if you're using entry-level pres you might need to get used to recording them at far lower levels than you're use to seeing (especially as a screamer), and then working then a bit in post.

G.
 
Dark Imagery said:
Haha, thanks for the replies, guys. I agree with the LDC having a brighter high end, was just curious about using one with screaming. You all are making me curious about the SM7b. What are some other favorite applications for that mic? And :laughings: at grimtraveller.
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Guitar amps!!!







:cool:
 
John Willett said:
Then they are stupid - everyone knows the best popperstopers are the tights from the prettiest girl around stretched over a pulled out wire coat hanger. That's how it was done in the '60's. :D
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HA HA HA HA HA ~ ~ ~ :laughings:

I just slip them right over my head John! Then I don't have to spend all that time looking for a metal coat hanger in a world of plastic!!!! ;)

Not only that you have to make sure that you get some that don't have that not so fresh smell!!! :eek:











:cool:
 
You probably won't overload an LDC. What will happen is you will get way too much detail. Having the mic pointing at your forehead or standing a foot or so away from the mic will fix that.

That said, I tend to use an SM7 as well.
 
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