1 / 21

Microphones – Vocals

Microphones – Vocals. There are many types of vocalists and ways to record them. No microphone is ideal for every vocalist. The microphone choice for a vocalist may change with musical style and the room .

cameo
Télécharger la présentation

Microphones – Vocals

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Microphones – Vocals • There are many types of vocalists and ways to record them. • No microphone is ideal for every vocalist. The microphone choice for a vocalist may change with musical style and the room. • Microphone choice and recording technique will not make an out of tune or bad performance better.

  2. Vocals – The Room • Room size, shape and materials influence the recorded vocals. • Can be beneficial, harmful or benign • Neutral rooms tend be favored (not too live or dead). More reverb can be added later.

  3. Vocals – Room Reflections

  4. Vocals – Room Reflections

  5. Vocals – Dynamic Range • Dynamic range of vocals can be quite large. • Difference between lowest and highest volumes can exceed the linear range of microphones, pre-amps and recording media. • Optimal gain settings for low vocal levels may not be compatible with high vocal levels.

  6. Vocals – Sibilance • f, s, sh, ch sounds • Can distort at high levels. • Usually in the 7-9 kHz, but can be as high as 12 kHz. • Certain vocalist and microphone combinations can emphasize sibilance. • A de-esser can be used to reduce sibilance.

  7. Vocals – Popping (Plosives) • Popping sound caused by loud p, t, k, b, d and g sounds. • Worse for directional microphone especially when close. • Omni patterns are less affected by plosives. • Pop filters can reduce plosives.

  8. Vocals – Pop Filters • Pop filters break up the burst of air. • Helps to keep moisture off of the microphone and the vocalist at the desired distance. • Pop filters can affect the recorded sound depending on the design and materials. • Foam filters tend to muffle the sound and attenuate high frequencies.

  9. Vocals – Proximity Effect • Emphasis of low frequencies at close distances (~1 foot or less). • Strongest with cardioid pattern microphones. • Microphone bass roll-off or a low cut filter can remove excessive boominess or thickness caused by proximity effect. • Foam filters tend to muffle the sound and attenuate high frequencies.

  10. Vocals – Condenser Microphones • Large diaphragm condensers most commonly used. Open, clear and accurate sound. • Small diaphragm condensers are often more clear and present, but less open and big sounding. • Tend to sound open and big even when the vocalist is back from the microphone. • Very sensitive to plosives.

  11. Vocals – Ribbon Microphones • Smooth and mellow sound. • Sounds fuller when close to the microphone. • Sensitive to blasts of air so use a pop filter or place microphone above, below or the side of the mouth.

  12. Vocals – Dynamic Microphones • Warm, rugged and present (forward) sound. • Not as full, open and accurate as condenser microphones. • Tends to work best at close distances. • Pronounced proximity effect. • Often cuts through a dense mix

  13. Vocals – Microphone Placement • Placement depends on the vocalist’s projection and timbre, style of music, room and personal taste. • Placement can have a significant influence on the recorded tonal quality. • A good starting point is 6-12” from the vocalist’s mouth.

  14. Vocals – Microphone Aimed Directly At The Mouth • More even and natural tonal balance. • May bring out undesirable natural tones (nasally, thin, edgy). • Susceptible to mouth noises and plosives

  15. Vocals – Microphone Aimed Down At The Mouth • 3-4” above the mouth and pointing down. • May diminish nasal sounds. • Usually reduces mouth noises.

  16. Vocals – Microphone Aimed Up At The Mouth • 4-6” below the mouth and pointing up. • May fill out a thin sounding voice. • Tends to accentuate nasal tones and pick up more mouth noises.

  17. Vocals – Microphone Techniques • Move microphone slightly to the side to help reduce strong plosives • Use microphone slightly off-axis to roll-off excessive high frequencies. • More than one vocal microphone can be used at the same time.

  18. Vocals – Headphones • Vocalist tend to sign louder if the relative level of the instruments in their headphones is louder. • Loud headphone volumes tend to cause the vocalist to sing flat or fail to notice pitch problems. • Having melodic instruments louder in the headphones helps the vocalist to better find pitch cues. • Adding reverb to the headphone vocal track may help with the performance.

  19. Vocals – Headphones • Be careful of headphone leakage into the vocal microphone especially during quiet vocal passages. • Vocalists may sing better with one ear open (headphone cup off of their ear). Use a mono mix and pan the sound to one side of the headphones.

  20. Vocals – Recording With Monitors (No Headphones) • Flip the polarity of one monitor. • Place the microphone in the exact mid-point between the monitors. • Play back the track in mono and at the lowest necessary volume. • Record the vocals.

  21. Background Vocals • The same guidelines apply as for lead vocals. • Try different microphones and placements if the same vocalist is singing the lead and background vocals. • Each vocalist on separate tracks provides the most flexibility at mix down. • Multiple background vocalists can be recorded into one or more microphones. Requires acceptable balance and performance. • Multiple singers using one omni or Figure 8 microphone.

More Related