vocal recording with average mics

PeakOutput

so i have been recording a poppy folky song over the last week in the college studio and have been very very happy with everything so far and think it has the possibility of turning out very well

all thats left is the various vocal parts. there iwll be one guy singing both the main part and then the backing vocals afterwards and i think this is basically going to make or break the recording. if its average i will be pretty dissapointed

so the gear i have at my disposal is pro tools hd and the mics are

Audio-Technica-AT4033SM-Condenser-Microphone

rode nt5

akg d112 i know this would not be suitable but just thought id throw it up in case someone suprised me

some sm 57s and 58s of course and whatever is in the 8 piece audio technica drum pack

im trying to get a large diaphragm condenser from the postgrad studio but i dont know if that will be possible.i think they have a u-87 so im hoping to get it but if it dosnt work out anyone got any advice on recording vocals with any of the above vocals is were i have the least experience

there is no pre amp besides whats in the pro tools suite and i would prefer to add all compression after recording and not before as i have seen advised in the articles iv been reading but i dont think that will make too much difference if i get the mic and placement right. id be interested in trying maybe more than one mic if there are any good techniques for that around

thanks

frobisher

There is no straight answer to our question without being there on the day and listening. My advice is the SM58, I've always like them for vocals.

PS Try use a few CAPITALS so that your posts are a bit easier to read, capiche?

PaulBrewer

The obvious one is the AT but a 58 is never going to let any man down.

As has been posted many time here (mostly by me :eek:) from singer to digits is a chain with every link ( singer, room,mic, cable, pre, eq, comp, conversion) playing a part in the overall final sound.

Another variable is the distance the singer is away from the mic.

Experiment !

teamdresch

Either of the Shure's or the AT will do fine.

95% Singer, 5% Chain if you ask me.

Not that a great mic won't improve things a few % here or there, but plenty of multi-million selling songs have vocals done on 58's, 57's or worse.
Once you remove the mic as something that can stop you from recording a great performance you're left with the important stuff - motivating the singer to provide a great take.

frobisher

teamdresch wrote: »

Either of the Shure's or the AT will do fine.

95% Singer, 5% Chain if you ask me.

Not that a great mic won't improve things a few % here or there, but plenty of multi-million selling songs have vocals done on 58's, 57's or worse.
Once you remove the mic as something that can stop you from recording a great performance you're left with the important stuff - motivating the singer to provide a great take.

Great post

old gregg

PaulBrewer wrote: »

The obvious one is the AT but a 58 is never going to let any man down.

I remember once facing a stampede of Rhino and all I had was a 58. It let me down badly.

PaulBrewer

old gregg wrote: »

I remember once facing a stampede of Rhino and all I had was a 58. It let me down badly.

Did you have it loaded?

PeakOutput

thanks guys looks like ill go with the at

one more question. im quite a fan of double tracking and panning each track hard left and right. dont know if it will work yet for this song but are there any other little tricks that are simple to do like that that tend to work well with vocals?

thanks again

Aridstarling

Short delays (either as insert or send, again just experiment) sometimes give a nice sense of space, less than 35ms. I think its called the Haas effect.

11811

teamdresch wrote: »

Either of the Shure's or the AT will do fine.

95% Singer, 5% Chain if you ask me.

Not that a great mic won't improve things a few % here or there, but plenty of multi-million selling songs have vocals done on 58's, 57's or worse.
Once you remove the mic as something that can stop you from recording a great performance you're left with the important stuff - motivating the singer to provide a great take.

incidentally - was just reading an old SOS with an article on the recording of Sex on Fire by the Kings of Leon, the vocal was done on a 57!
just goes to show you!

madtheory

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Did you have it loaded?

Warning- really crap electronics joke- Obviously, he had the wrong impedance load on it.

PS both the AT4033 and the SM58 are kingly vocal mics.

shayleon

i'd worry much more about the acoustics than the mic type.

my 2c.

Shay.

PaulBrewer

Shay,
Whilst acoustics are very important (and a particular interest of mine) in a single mic situation where there's very little below 100hz going on ( a vocal)
good results are relatively easily got sonically once it's a reasonably dead(ish) space.

Acoustics, in this scenario, play a much smaller part than, say, recording a drum kit or string section, for example.

if6was9

Audition what mics you have and go with whatever suits his voice, without trying it out you won't know.
I recorded 2 singers using the same set-up, both a sm 58 and a t bone rb100 ribbon mic. Ended up using almost all the 58 with one guy and the ribbon mic on the other, on both occasions the other mic didn't sound good on the guys voices.
So it really depends on the guys voices.
In my opinion the hardest thing with a vocal seems to be the compression, choosing the right compressor and setting it up right makes all the difference between an average and a great vocal that sits right with the track and has the right amount of dynamics.

shayleon

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Shay,
Whilst acoustics are very important (and a particular interest of mine) in a single mic situation where there's very little below 100hz going on ( a vocal)
good results are relatively easily got sonically once it's a reasonably dead(ish) space.

Acoustics, in this scenario, play a much smaller part than, say, recording a drum kit or string section, for example.

Hi Paul. By "acoustics" I mean the "Right acoustics" and in the case of vocals I agree with you that in most cases the right acoustics is indeed deadski.

cheers.