How often do you use different vocal mics for verse and chorus?

mattplaysguitar


Just a curiosity question here. No right or wrong answer of course. I've noticed in auditioning my mics in a song (sm58 and Rode K2), I tend to find in this song where I sing softly (verse), the K2 works perfectly and sounds very full. The 58 on the other hand sounds very old radio eq'ed and filtered. Doesn't work. But in the chorus where I sing a bit higher, heavier and louder, the 58 suddenly sounds full and suitable, but the K2 sounds thin and a bit bright! Interesting to see how there is not necessarily one mic for your voice, but it could be different mics for different styles and even potentially different arrangements in songs for the same style of singing. I'll probably actually use the K2 on my harmonies in the chorus as well with a 58 providing the backbone power, because I now WANT the thinness and brightness of the K2 to harmonise with and fill some space, but not overpower like the fullness of the 58 would do!

Just thought it was interesting and to keep people thinking about how everything can change at the blink of an eye. I imagine I'll get great use from both mics during the course of recording this album.

Many other people out there switch up mics mid song to get the most out of things, or do you prefer to keep things uniform?

Hi Matt,
 
I don't get that picky anymore. I've done it for clients, but not for myself other than maybe one or two times. I grab a few mics, set them up and then sing a verse into each one. Whatever one sounds the best is the one I go for. For me, as long as a good sound comes out of the singer as well as the quality showing forth in the mic chosen, I can dial in an eq for anything. As a matter of fact, I've never had a problem eq-ing a voice no matter what mic was used...as long as it didn't have an instrument going on with it where you're faced with mad bleed.
 
I got a nice locker of mics both in my man cave and at my studio. I always seem to have the best results with an old Equitek CAD E-200 for myself. It just captures my voice perfectly to my ears. Some of the pricier mic's I have are a bit unforgiving and sometimes even a bit too sensitive. This mic seems to sound good no matter what...even if I'm sick and hitting the right notes and delivering well, the mic does the rest for me. Quite a few people have never even heard of that mic nor has anyone really given it great reviews back in the day....but for me and how I sing, I use it over my U-87 and other pricey monsters every time.
 
Now for back-ups, yeah I like to change mic's and also move away from the mic to allow some room to enter the picture. But I've never been one to change a mic per section really unless something just wasn't right. I think I remember doing that one time on a song. I had stopped smoking or something and this pretty thing was coming out when I wanted to be a bit dirtier. Wound up using some AKG mic on one section of the song as it just gave me the sound I was looking for there. But I don't stress over any of that anymore. Even production....I'm caring less and less because at the end of the day, only you can tell the differences when something already sounds "good enough". It's not worth stressing over.
 
After a certain amount of time doing this, you just do things well and can get them done faster. I'm not sayign skimp out on production, but if it sounds good...it is good. Don't beat yourself up on little stuff that no one else would notice unless you told them. And even then, they may not be able to hear the difference. :)
 
-Danny

Never. I don't have a big collection of microphones, so it comes down to which one works best for a particular vocalist. I do, however, take measures to make the verse and chorus sound different from one another via EQ, compression and reverb.

I'm with the majority here - most vocals/acoustics get recorded through the same half decent AT4033 that we've been using since about 1998.

I did play around with trying to record a 12 string using a pair of ribbons arranged as a Blumlein pair. The initial recordings were fine, but doing overdubs/punch-ins of any sort totally screwed with the stereo imaging because the player (me) has to be in the exact same spot. 1/2" difference is enough to foul the whole thing up

I ended up just using one of the original tracks + overdubs/punch-ins

Interesting to see not a lot of people bother! Ah well, interesting to read. Maybe neither of those mics are really just quite right then. Ah well!

Jeff Evans

The changes between verses and choruses should come from your singing not the microphone. Also the changes between verses and choruses should come from the music as well. There should be enough of a difference in the music to distinguish them. That in itself will help to create a different vibe from one to the other.

But that also does not mean you can't change up the mics from one section to another. If you were wanting to do a straight through take you could always set up two mics. Or overdub choruses as required with the second mic. It could also lead to a different take on it. Although I am inclined to think in the final scheme of things you might not hear the difference so much because the singer is the same.

I also agree with backing vocals being on a different mic. (as well as singer preferred) Helps to separate those vocal tasks slightly.

Oh I totally get that. The changes ARE coming from my singing and the music completely changes so it's a very obvious chorus vs verse arrangement. I feel the need to change these mics BECAUSE my singing is so different and each more emphasises different things that I want from my voice at the different parts, if that makes sense. I tend to record my vocals in snippets (verses 10 times or whatever is required straight through, then knock out the chorus takes etc, or vice versa depending one which is hardest on my voice)  rather than full length takes so it's easy to switch mics out during each take section.

I don't expect I'll do this on every song. Just doing it as I feel the song needs it. Everything is permanently set up anyway so it doesn't take more than 2 seconds to quickly move the pop filter to the other mic and change my input in SONAR.

I'll alternate btw a 58 (on the road) and a U87 (at the office) ... plus the dust collectors there.

Kind of like 'Acrylic Painting' vs . 'Oil Painting'.

Like you (the Op), I may add in a 'section' but not necessarily the chorus section.

Like you I have to sing loud for the 58 to have color and bite.

Like Danny, I can EQ things reasonably.  Performance-deliveries must be 'inspired' and vocals warmed up ... regardless.

But I'll never switch mics from their associated pre's.  ... too much confusion.


In Sum:
Most of my mixes combine the 58 + U87 ... like mixed media.  And oft the sonitus EQ gets automation to help these duets.

Of course singers "work" the mic differently too. With the condenser, I get the singer to stand further back if they are going to project a lot. With the dynamic (I use an SM57 here), you sometimes need to be very close, and also very steady or you risk dropout (but which can be used to good effect for song dynamics with a trained vocalist).