MIC TECHNIQUES: VOCALS

Don't Just Stand There!

By Brian Stephens

One of the most important factors that can enthuse and propel a song is the vocal track. Many times, capturing lead and background vocals may be as simple as placing the right vocal microphone in front of the right vocalist. Other times, a song may require some creative vocal ‘tweaking’ to help illustrate the mood or attitude of the tune. Either way, there are specific things that you can do to ensure the best suited recording of a vocal performance. They can range from the subtle, almost insignificant, to the blatantly obvious. So, here are some tips for capturing that vocal performance and for matching its role inside the track.

In a situation where you only have one vocal mic choice and need to capture both lead and background vocals from the same person, try utilizing what is known as the ìproximity effectî. Using a large diaphragm microphone with a cardioid polar pattern, record lead vocal tracks with the vocalist’s mouth approximately 2-3 inches away from the microphone (see pic 1). Be sure to use a pop filter or screen for this to avoid any loud vocal blasts from consonants like the letter ìpî. When it comes time to record background vocal tracks, position the vocalist 5-10 inches away from the mic (see pic 2). By placing the vocalist closer for his/her lead track, you will an accentuated low-mid quality to the vocal track, making it thicker and warmer in the overall mix. Having the vocalist further away from the mic for background vocals thins out the recorded track(s) and allows it to set more gently beside the lead vocal without having to use any additional processing or EQ. In studios that have a larger mic selection, try using a tube condenser for lead vocals and a tubeless, or FET style, mic for background vocals. You will get a similar thinning effect naturally.

Another technique would be to position a tube condenser mic along side an FET condenser mic and record the lead vocal performance with both mics simultaneously (see pic 3). Later in mixdown, you can blend the two of these tracks to get a fuller sound. By compressing the tube mic track heavily and using only slight compression on the FET mic track, the lead vocal sound can be made very thick while still retaining its overall dynamic performance. Another option is to EQ each track, distilling the best qualities from each sound, then blend them together to get a full bandwidth sound that you might not be able to get from only one microphone.

In some cases, you may be looking to go outside the realm of standard vocal sounds. For aggressive rock songs, try having the vocalist run a second ìdoubling passî but, this time, introduce a twist. During this second run, plug into a tube-based microphone preamp and intentionally overload the pre’s input circuit, being careful not to clip or overdrive your mixing console or recording inputs. Experiment with varying degrees of distortion. A subtle approach may be to have the track distort only on excessively loud or accentuated passages. For an over-the-top effect, make the actual words completely imperceptible by totally overloading the tube circuit. On mixdown, blend this second track in with the original lead vocal and season to taste. This effect can work well on certain types of background vocals as well.

Another distortion effect that yields very different results is to run your vocal track back out to a guitar amplifier or other type of speaker. My favorite is a battery powered guitar amp call the ìSmokey Amplifierî (see pic 4). I simply send the solo’ed vocal track out an auxillary bus on my console and feed it into ‘Ole Smokey’. Adjust the auxillary bus level on the console or your guitar amp’s preamp level to get the desired amount of distortion. For an even more ‘lo-fi’ effect, mic the amp with a cheap dynamic microphone and re-record the resulting distorted vocal performance onto its own track. Re-amping the vocal track can give it a mid-rangey quality that you cannot get from simply overdriving a tube mic preamp.

One last suggestion is to change the environment in which you place the vocalist. Try finding a bathroom, stairwell, or other acoustically distinct environment and record the vocal performance with an omni-directional condenser microphone. By placing your vocalist at the bottom of a lively stairwell and the microphone several flights overhead, the result can be an incredibly reverberant performance which could boardline on sheer creepiness (see pic 5). Finding the right placement of the microphone will be the determining factor for your success with this technique.

With a little imagination and a splash of good fortune, any one of these techniques could assist in helping you create the perfect vocal treatment. Many are based on solid engineering principles that, when utilized correctly, can help your track stand out ìheads and shouldersî above all others in the crowd. Just be sure to include a small thank you in your CD liner notes if any of these tricks actually work for you!