Production and Technical Tips, Tricks and the latest gear. If you have any requests then email ém to us. totallyhardcorepv@gmail.com. Step up ya Game homie!
Choosing The Right Microphone:
I know you might think this aint a biggy, but believe it is very much so. A mic is part of your signal chain so make sure that you get the best one or at least a good one. First of all you need to decide if you’re going to use a Small or Large diaphragm microphone. Your choice of microphone for a rapper/ singers particular vocal tone can have a dramatic effect on the final mix. Typically, in today's industry, large diaphragm microphones are the standard. They offer a certain warmth and smoothness but can also lend your rapper/ singer an airy/sizzly tone. Cardioid-Pattern Capacitor Microphones are the most common for any type of Pop or Urban recordings. However some rappers/ singers prefer to use dynamic microphones such as some ‘Shure’ models because it brings out a certain tone in their voice. The Shure SM58 is a great one.
Valve/Tube condenser mic's have also been popular over the years with their added warmth as the valve in the mic gets driven and adds a mild harmonic distortion that is pleasing to the ear.
Although the make and model is important, the tonal characteristics and overall sound is key! This is much more important to the rapper/ singer than a lot of producers and engineers can appreciate. Most rappers/ singers don’t care what microphone patterns, make and model is used, just as long as you can bring out a good sound in their vocals. There is nothing more frustrating to a rapper/ singer than knowing they nailed a perfect take, only to find out the recording doesn't do it justice.
Polar Patterns:
This also ties in with ‘Choosing The Correct Microphone’ section above. It’s important to take the polar patterns of certain microphones in to account when purchasing your next microphone. Cardioid-Pattern Microphones are the industry favorite because they generally exclude most off axis sounds, such as room reflections, spill from other sources and the home studio nightmare of the computer fan / cooler! We would recommend not using an omni-directional pattern microphone unless you have a vocal booth. Omni-directional microphones are equally sensitive all round and will pick up a lot of unwanted sound. If you do have a vocal booth you may find that this type of polar pattern can pick up a more desired vocal sound, or natural ambience. Try testing out different microphones with different polar patterns and compare the recordings and see what you prefer. As long as you have a good ear for music, it’s all about personal taste.
Ribbon microphones are also worth mentioning. As of late, these microphones are showing up in more and more studios. They all have figure-of-eight polar patterns and deliver a very unique and bright sound. Figure of eight polar pattern microphones are equally sensitive to the front as they are the back. In a home studio, putting a sound-absorbing panel behind the microphone can stop any unwanted sound to leak in to the vocal recording.
Buyers Tip:
Last year a friend of mine from the USA was in the market for a new vocal mic for some new recordings for his company Platinumloops so he hired about 8 different condenser mic's of varying qualities and price ranges. By setting them all up on separate mic stands behind a pro quality pop shield he was able to record lots of vocal takes on multiple mic's.
He also rotated the mic positions so that each mic got a fair shot at recording the sweet spot. By doing this he was able to make accurate comparisons of recordings from each mic, which yielded surprising results. Some of the most expensive mic's didn't sound as good as the less expensive mic's. It was also good to try adding compression, eq and de-essing to each track individually to see how much that affected the tone of the mic. He found that some mic's required less processing than others in order to create a transparent, even tone. In the end the mic he eventually purchased was the SE Electronics Z3300A and to this day is his favourite all round vocal mic. Mine of course is one of the bright, shining stars of recording microphones. The Neumann U87. Every recording engineer knows about it, every serious studio owns it, and every other hit on Billboard is recorded with it! It has superb dynamic range and is virtually noise-free (note that in practice it is impossible to have a signal that is 100% noise-free.)
The store where my friend bought the mic, were kind enough to knock off the rental fee when he decided to buy it. I highly recommend you use this approach with your local studio supplier to find the right mic for your voice without wasting money.
Check out the mics here:
Be sure to check part two of this series of tips of how to step up ya game: The Recording Environment.
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