R
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Well we spent this weekend tracking vocal overdubs. I flew in the 2 ladies from San Diego and Boulder, CO. I started Saturday morning with a mini- mic/pre shootout. Now I had read that often mics and pres used for voiceovers and backing vocals are not the same as for lead vocals, but I think I didn't get it until now.
I have a few choices, but we had limited time, so I didn't get to put up every possible vocal mic by any means. Anyway, I pulled out the likely suspects, in this case, B.L.U.E. Kiwi, Rode NTK, Shure SM7B. Each was run through Avalon AD2022 and Joemeek twinQcs. The Kiwi through the Avalon, which was the combo used for most of the lead vocals, did not cut it. It was too detailed, and made it sound like we were fighting over who was singing lead. NTK was adequate, even pleasing, and has a taste for the Joemeek. SM7B was very nice through the Avalon, and got used for one very dense 5 part mix.
The next morning I was thinking, "Gee, I'm getting blown away by some of the high peaks in these ladies' voices." I'd like to compress and EQ it, but I'm recording *dry tracks* here. Where could I get a darker, airbrushed sound? On a hunch, I put up Oktava MK319 through the Joemeek, with the optocompressor being used only as a tone shaping filter. (threshold maxed out high, ratio at minimum, maximum attack, minimum release). That way, the compressor does nothing except be in the signal chain, which *does* change the sound.
Holy cow, it worked! The 319 is a mic I just have 'cause it was cheap, and I figured it would turn out to be good for something. It never has been a mic I would choose for my voice, but it paid for itself in one day, as we tracked 6 songs with it. The point is, you never know what will sound good on a given source, especially vocals, until you put up the mic and track it.
Who would've thunk? A $2000 main vocal mic and a $2000 class A pre in house, and we wound up using a $99 condenser jacked into a Joemeek! Cool.-Richie
I have a few choices, but we had limited time, so I didn't get to put up every possible vocal mic by any means. Anyway, I pulled out the likely suspects, in this case, B.L.U.E. Kiwi, Rode NTK, Shure SM7B. Each was run through Avalon AD2022 and Joemeek twinQcs. The Kiwi through the Avalon, which was the combo used for most of the lead vocals, did not cut it. It was too detailed, and made it sound like we were fighting over who was singing lead. NTK was adequate, even pleasing, and has a taste for the Joemeek. SM7B was very nice through the Avalon, and got used for one very dense 5 part mix.
The next morning I was thinking, "Gee, I'm getting blown away by some of the high peaks in these ladies' voices." I'd like to compress and EQ it, but I'm recording *dry tracks* here. Where could I get a darker, airbrushed sound? On a hunch, I put up Oktava MK319 through the Joemeek, with the optocompressor being used only as a tone shaping filter. (threshold maxed out high, ratio at minimum, maximum attack, minimum release). That way, the compressor does nothing except be in the signal chain, which *does* change the sound.
Holy cow, it worked! The 319 is a mic I just have 'cause it was cheap, and I figured it would turn out to be good for something. It never has been a mic I would choose for my voice, but it paid for itself in one day, as we tracked 6 songs with it. The point is, you never know what will sound good on a given source, especially vocals, until you put up the mic and track it.
Who would've thunk? A $2000 main vocal mic and a $2000 class A pre in house, and we wound up using a $99 condenser jacked into a Joemeek! Cool.-Richie
Swear to God.
