[ Editor note: Streets Of Knowledge drops some more concentrated knowledge. be sure and check Slavebell's followup information. Originally
from this forum post]
So it seems a lot of you are venturing past the instrumental stage and into world of vocals. I've given some feedback on new tracks that have some dope vocals on 'em already. I'm gunna share what I know about setting up mics and hopefully you'll pick up a thing or two. Can't say I have much experience in this area but I have some training. I'm going to try and use the minimum amount of theory behind the techniques but some of it you really should know what's happening so if you hear a problem, you'll know where to start looking for what's wrong.
For picking which mic to use for recording, you need to know it's polar and frequency responses. Polar response in what directions compared to the mic diaphragm that the sound will get picked up from. The major ones are omni-directional, cardioid, supercardioid, hypercardioid and bidirectional. Google each of those and look at how each of them picks up and, just as importantly, does not pick up certain directions compared to the front of the diaphragm. For instance, if you're recording a drum set, you might want to use a hyper-cardioid on most of the overheads so you don't get bleeding from the other percussion. Hyper-cardioids are also popular for live vocals because they'll pick up less of the instruments on either side of the singer and reduce feedback. The frequency response chart, along with the price, is probably the most important thing to look at before buying a mic. It shows a graph that looks like an EQ that has a line that shows how much of each frequency a mic picks up. For instance, you don't want to buy a mic that has a line that bends down on the left side (bass side) for a kick drum. Google frequency response chart to see what I'm talking about. The most popular vocal mics have a drop in the bass frequencies and a little rise in the presence range to increase audibility and clarity like the ever famous and widely used
Shure SM-57.
It's also pretty common to use more than one kind of mic on the same sound source to get the best of each mic. For instance, one mic might sound really full and rich while another is really clear. Use both and mix the levels from each so it sounds just right. IMPORTANT: Before you going recording everything with 17 microphones, read about phasing and the 3 to 1 rule that I'll explain below. Also, when you pick out a mic, check out its Transient Response. It's basically how fast the mic's diaphragm picks up the sound. For instance, the diaphragm on a dynamic microphone is heavy because of the coil of wire it uses and the fact that the diaphragm itself can get up to 2.5 inches. This can make for a slower response and less accurate response. Less accurate sounds bad but it has it's good effects on some sounds where you really don't want to hear everything. You don't want to hear the flem in your vocalist's throat right? Ribbon and condenser mics have a faster response time because the diaphragms are so light. Just another thing to check out before you spend your hard-earned cash. Some other things that may have a baring on your selection: does it need phantom power? does it need a preamp? what do you need to account for its output impedance? what's its sensitivity rating?
[Warning: Nerdy, but useful theory in this paragraph. Skip to the one after this one if you don't care that much and just want to know the essential 3 to 1 Rule.]
Want to know how a Phaser works? It f*kcs up the phase of your sound the same way you can f*kc up your sound if you record it with more than one mic in the wrong way. You've all seen the simple sound wave, right? A sine wave going up and down as it moves to the right. Well if you have that sound layered on top of itself with the exact same timing (in phase), it will just get 6dB louder (twice as loud) because the compressions and rarefactions a.k.a. peaks and valleys a.k.a. ups and downs of the wave are just adding to each other. One full cycle up and down and back to the center is called a period. If you have the same sound layered on top of itself, but not in phase (not at the exact same time), the sounds will be out of phase with each other and cause a type of distortion called comb filtering (BAD). If the second sound starts exactly half way through the first one's period a.k.a. at 180 degrees, the sound will literally disappear. Negative infinity dB. This is because the ups of one are layered on the downs of the other and vise verse which cancel each other out. No change in air and/or electrical pressure equals no sound. So, if two mics are at different distances from a sound source, they will pick up the sound at different times. Sound goes fast (1130 ft/sec) but not fast enough to hit both mics instantly. So, once you get both of these recordings into your DAW, there's a chance, nay, a certainty that parts of the sound will be out of phase creating that comb filtering distortion. Google comb filter to see what it looks like. It looks like a comb because the sound gets louder as certain frequencies become in phase and get silent at frequencies that are out of phase. If you're a dork like me and want to know how to calculate where the nulls will be based on the difference in distance between mics and the relative delay times, reply to this post or send me a PM and I can explain the formulas. I can also teach you how to make a custom phaser out of a delay plug-in too if you want. Something else you should know before moving on to The 3 to 1 Rule is that sound decreases by half (6dB) for every doubling of distance from the sound source. This concerns comb filtering because there's a way around the effects of this phase canceling. If you lower the level (volume) of one of the mics 10dB lower than the other, you will not be able to hear the negative distortion. Yay! Guess what the ratio between sound sources and mics is to reduce the level of one of them by 10dB. 3 to 1!
The 3 to 1 Rule: The microphone/sound source must be at least 3 times farther from one sound source/microphone than other to eliminate comb filtering. Don't freak out, I'll explain. Say you're recording a guitar amp. The microphone is going to pick up the signal coming from the amp itself but also from the reflection of sound coming from the floor. If the mic is not at least 3 times closer to the amp than it is to the floor, there will be detectable phasing (comb filter distortion) between the sound wave coming from the amp and the same wave being reflected off the floor and into the mic. If the mic is 4 inches from the amp, it needs to be at least a foot from the ground to avoid the unwanted phaser effect. Here's another example. If you have a set of mics recording a drum kit, it's completely normal to have one recording the snare and another recording the hi hat. No matter what you do, there will be bleeding of the hat into the recording of the snare. Once you add both recordings into your DAW, the sound of the hi hat from the hi hat's mic will be mixed with the sound of the hi hat bleeding into the snare's recording. If the snare's mic was not at least 3 times farther away from the hat than the hat's mic was from the hat, there will be comb filtering. You might say, all I do is record the one lone vocal track with one mic, how does this concern me? Make sure that any surface that can reflect sound is at least 3 times farther away from your mic than your vocalist is.
On to mic placement. Only have one micr? Not a problem. Use this technique along with a de-esser and a home-made pop filter. Make your own de-esser: (
http://warbeats.com/Community/Forums/aft/103)
. <-- Read about what sibilants are in this link if you don't know. Set up your mic at a 45 degree angle from your vocalist's mouth pointing downward. Yes, up-side-down. Also, make sure the diaphragm is a few inches above where the vocalist is going to project his/her voice. Have him/her stand about a foot away and keep their head facing forward, not up at the mic. Standing a foot back will reduce proximity effect and speaking a few inches below the mic head will reduce sibilants and popping.
Also for vocals, record the hook twice then layer them on top of each other for a really natural chorus effect. Kesha does this to a ridiculous extent in Blah Blah Blah. Adding stereo seperation to an instrument can make it sound cooler but poses massive problems for people who have bad speaker set-ups or even worse, one speaker (mono). When you combine your mix that has stereo separation on it into mono for one speaker outputs, it just puts your sound out of phase and make it quieter and distorted. Yikes. Try recording a double of that instrument and panning one all the way left and the other all the way right. It will sound even better than a stereo separation plug-in.
Capturing a rooms natural reverb and spaciousness can be tricky. To create a sense of space, set-up the X/Y mic duet. You'll need 2 mics. Set them up so one is under the other with the heads as close to each other as possible. They should be facing sort-of toward each other with a 90 to 120 degree difference between their directions so the mic heads look like they're creating a corner. Each mic will pick up the natural reverb from a side of the room. When you put the recordings into your DAW, pan one all the way left and the other all the way right. Keep each peaking at the same level so it doesn't throw off the balance of the stereo.
This one's easy. Set up a mic somewhere else in the room or one mic on either side of the room about 10 to 20 feet from the sound source. When you pile that on top of the close-up of what ever you're recording, it will sound fuller and more natural.
If anyone wants to know how to record a specific instrument, reply to this thread or send me a PM and I probably have a technique for you from different drums to a piano or harmonica. Feel free to respond to this post with your miking techniques too.
-Streets Of Neon
http://www.youtube.com/user/StreetsOfNeon
http://www.twitter.com/StreetsOfNeon
Slavebell from Atomic Beats adds...
A condenser mic will pick a lot more than u want it to pick.
And second that Samson mic has awful amount of noise by itself. They
will do it eventually but for now no mic can sound good on USB For condenser u really need soundproof and acoustic room, closet or whatever space...
If computer noise is a problem u should just turn the mic away from it and
(windows if u can). Cos it has cardoid pattern so it doesn't really
pick anything behind it...
But its not rocket science to get a good recording. All u need is a
quiet room and acoustic, and "home made" acoustic isn't bad at all...
Rules are simple.
- Do not place mic close to walls (cos of reflections)
- Do not place it close to corners (again cos of reflections, but also because bass frequencies)
- Do not place it exactly in the middle of the room. If u have a small room, let your back be close to wall, not mic.
Behind your back tape or whatever thick blanket (thicker the better).
Behind your back, not behind your mic. Again cos of cardoid pattern mic will
pick reflections of the wall behind u, not behind mic. Of course if you have more blankets put it on all the walls and furniture. But if not just tape it behind your back...
Try it. Clap your hands (record it) with and without blanket. Differences will be drastic...
But for simple solution, just do with mic placements what i told you, and
buy yourself reflection filter, or for cheaper solution (I just bought
it) SM Mic Thing. Place that behind your mic and blanket behind
your back. And you'll have great recording!
But will studio recording still
be better? Yeah, but only bout 10%. Yeah only 10% difference.... Now when we got acoustic covered we can talk bout mic's and preamps.
Of course, you turn the mic on
with preamp, better preamp, less noise... And your preamp is USB... What
can u expect from it? Cheap mixer preamps (like Behringer
preamps) also sound nice untill you turn it up... After that there is same
amount of noise like USB. Interfaces are nice, but u get what u pay
for.
So yeah u should get interface but also (just) preamp to. Whats the cheapest good preamp? M-AUDIO DMP3 - you can find it online for $120 We tested it in studio and this baby rocks!
But if u want more pro sound than Groove Tubes The Brick Ugly as hell, expensive also, but that preamp would be best audio buy of ur life... Mics... Anything from AudioTehnica from 30 (series) to up.
I own AT3035 for years now, and i bring it to work sometimes to record
vocals with it. Its not expensive but def can compete with best
expensive mics... So get urself AT3035 (99$), M-AUDIO DMP3 preamp
(120$ or brick 400$), SM Mic Thing (250$) and a blanket and u got yourself
PRO vocals recordings. or close to pro, PRO for 470$
[For more information and deals on microphones and related products check out the Warbeats Amazon Store]