In recording a live band, does anyone ever use a large condenser to capture the lead vocal - (next to their stage/dynamic mic) - routed to my own mixer of course.

Hi Charles. Look I have tried this a few times and to be honest it just does not work well. You still need a pop filter which means the vocalist cannot really get on the mic as such. You will end up with quite a lot of spill from everything else on the vocal track and you will invariably have to replace it. And if that is the case then read below. Do an SM58 recording and replace it later in a studio if you have to.

Just go for the old SM58 and get them kissing the mic and right on it. It is not a bad sound actually and with care it can be EQ ed and filtered to sound great. A plug-in like Antares Mic Modeller can also do good things to an SM58 recording too. I have always been able to pull very usable vocal sounds with close up SM58 recordings. You are going to get very little spill on that track.

Dynamic microphones will simplify things for most rock and pop genres where there is a lot of bleed and stage vibrations, and at outdoor venues where wind is a problem.

But there are other genres where condensers are the norm, such as classical, folk, bluegrass and jazz. You'd never put a 58 on a mandolin!