Tips on recording vocal???

[the_blindmaster]

I know guys who are in a band.. and now they're recording vocals for one song.. but they kind of have problems with it.. it sound kind of flat, without life and without resonance (and it's not the signer.. cuz he's got it.. IMO.. but it seem to get lost by the mic.. or the recording equipment)

The equipement they use actually are :

korg D3200
http://www.korg.co.uk/products/digit...0/dr_d3200.asp
Apex 460 microphone
http://www.apexelectronics.com/index.php?tmp=4&id=74
EDIROL UA-700 (as for a preamp for the mic ... cuz the korg doesn't have one)
http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-700/index.html

so what would you recoment to get more present vocal, or more resonance??

(well the Mic does have his power supply, so we can't really use the Korg phantom power)

thanks for replying...

 

[slidey]

maybe I'm just gigged out but that made almost no sense to me??

I'll read it again tomorrow

however shoot the singer always solved problematic parts for me

 

[slidey]

just thought

try using this funky thing generally included in modern recording rigs called.........

WAIT FOR IT























































an EQ,



a touch of compression might help to, & try playing about with placement. I can't comment on the mic or any other part of the setup but it sounds like a job for EQman & Pressorhead

 

[Hollowdan]

Hmmmm,.....
I have had bad experiences with the Korg recorders (they usually compress the audio which can make it sound more sterile) but I have a feeling thats not the problem because some people make good recordings with them.

I have never used that particular mic

And I am a little confused as to how exactly you are using the edirol as a mic pre in your set-up, so I will assume that you are just plugging the mic into the edirol and using the first direct out to go to the Korg input. (via unbalanced 1/4")

Without knowing the mic I can only go on what I have heard about it. Which has been fairly good reviews for the most part. But then again I have never once heard of any album that used that mic on it. (meaning that there is a reason it is not often used)

I would say, see about renting a high quality mic pre and mic, this will definately solve your problem, and can be suprisingly inexpensive and easy.
I have a friend who owns the busiest studio in town and he often rents Avalon's and U87's from Texas (we live in Florida) They ship them to him for a few days, then he ships them back. (of course finding a local place to rent them would be ideal, but it's possible to rent even if you do not have a local shop to rent from) Do a google search for recording gear rental and see what you can find.

I would say go with an Avalon (they are very bright and present) or Universal Audio 6176 (or simliar) and either an AKG C414 or Nuemann Large diaphragm condensor (LDC) or even a soundelux U195

You simply could not go wrong with that and it would be well worth the money. Besides you could actually use them and see if you like them before saving your lunch money to buy one and possibly realize you don't like it lol.

Rent a good pre and mic, that's my guarenteed solution for your problem!

Hope this helps, Dan

 

[littledog]

Flat, without life or resonance?

Have you tried adding reverb?

 

[dkelley]

I know this is an old thread, but for anyone wanting to know one possible trick to get the 460 to sound good for vocals, you may consider singing closer to the mic than you would with many other LDCs.

I own a 460 (changed tube, tried 3 460s until I found one that sounds really good, will change transformers eventually but it's very good for now). I also own a tlm170 (just buy one!), a cad m179 (amazing mic for the money), an apex 435 (the old nice sounding variety, not the modern cheap harsh variety), and a host of sdcs and dynamics (sennheiser 421, peavey 520 (great mic), audix om2 (another nice mic), used to have 57s and 58s but they were stolen (not a huge loss to me though), and a few other nice trick mics.

So when the neumann is too dark (it does happen with that model), I go with the cad or the 460. Note 1: all three are multipattern. note 2: cad and neumann, in cardoid, have a fairly long range of good sounding use for vocals, 3 inches to 2 feet, still sounds good and warm. note 3: 460 in cardoid sounds midrangy and nasal anything more than 8 inches away, but 6 inches or so away it start to sound warm, full, tubey, beautiful for voice. It's a good choice for many male singers, I don't love it on female tests yet but I have 3 female lead singers coming in for a trio act within a month or so and will try it out on each to see if it works for them better than another mic. So the "reach" of the 460 in cardoid just isn't too long from my experience, and that applies to all 3 460s I've owned. You can't back away from it 12" to 18" like you can from many LDC in cardoid because you'll loose it's sound completely. The 460 seems to rely on the cardoid field effect to sound great in that pattern. I find similar results with figure 8, although the reach seems a little longer in figure 8.

One reason why the 460 seems to need a lot of position tweaking to get a great sound with many sources, compared to a neumann or a cad. I have used c12s, akg's "the tube", sm7s, 414s, gefells and many other studio staples on lead vocals in professional studios but I don't want to comment on them as a comparison tool since I don't currently have any of those available. My direct comparisons between the tlm170, the m179 and the 460 should be revealing enough to help people get a good vocal (and other) sound from the 460 anyway.

I hope that helps people reading this thread in the future. Just one man's opinion though.

Cheers,
Don