Advanced Micing Techniques Capstone Part 3: Voice (Distance, Space, and Gear)

In stark contrast to the complexity of parts of the grand piano has, the human voice is far more simple to capture.  Therefore, rather than only experimenting with microphone position, I focused on using a multitude of microphones and only a few untraditional positions, and ultimately, the distance from the microphone played the biggest factor.

Voice Recording 1: AMPL Performance January 27^th 2016

Microphones and Positions: Spaced pair of Neumann KM84 microphone

Voice Recording 2: AMPL Performance February 3^rd 2016

Microphones and Positions: FLEA 48 tube microphone about 6 feet from singer

Voice Recording 3: Chloe Fairbanks April 3^rd 2016

Microphones and Positions: Cascade FatHead Ribbon microphone from 45 degrees below angle about 4 feet away. 

Voice Recording 4: Earl Cutter Summer 2015 Bias Recording Studio

Microphones and Positions: Neumann U47 standard position with pop filter

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Voice Recording 5: Riordan May 2015

Microphones and Positions: Neumann U47 FET in standard position in Katzen Recital Hall

Recording of the Microphone

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Observations:

When it comes to capturing the voice, using the Fathead method of a widely spaced pair doesn’t lead to very useable results unless one is going for a very live feel of the recording.  The three AMPL recordings were recorded with significant amounts of space between the microphone and the musician, but if you compare them to Riordan’s performance in the same space (Katzen Recital Hall) but close miced at about one and a half feet, his voice is far more direct and usable in a mix.  Initially, I used a Neumann KM84 for Chloe Fairbank’s voice, but it was too harsh and brittle sounding at that distance, so I traded the microphone for a ribbon mic, which is known for having a flatter and darker frequency response.  If one compares it to the other KM84 recording, the difference is clear.  Earl Cutter’s voice is used as a reference to the other recordings because it was tracked at BIAS Studios with an industry standard microphone (Neumann U47 Tube).  Another enlightening comparison is found between Riordan and Earl’s recording.  Since they were done with a very similar microphone (one the tube version and one the FET version), one can really hear the difference the space makes when tracking.  Both vocalists were approximately the same foot and a half from their microphones, but the reverberant tail is clearly present in Riordan’s recording and not Earl’s.  Both tracks have their merits, and depending on what kind of flexibility in mixing that is needed, having a recording with the reverb already present might actually end up sounding the best in a final mix.   The tracking process is always about just getting the purest and most isolated recording possible; that approach alone would zap the creativity from the recording process. 

Voice Recording 6: Folk Singer Microphone Shootout July 13^th 2015

Microphones and Positions: Standard Position; Neumann U47FET, AKG C-414-EB, Neumann U87, Shure SM7

Observations:
Last summer, I recorded a full length album of Gabriel Knight Hancock titled, Who You Are When No One's Watching.  Before tracking the vocals, we auditioned four microphones I thought would work well on his voice.  I'm including them because it is important to practice listening to what one is going to record before deciding on the final microphone position, or in this case, gear that was to be used.  In a vacuum, we decided the Neumann U47 FET was the best sounding microphone out of the four, but in the end, I used an API 550B to boost around 5K, which ended up making it sound more like the U87 sounded in the first place.  If I had the chance, it would have been nice to retrack some of the vocals with the U87 with the full signal chain (EQ and compressor) to see if it would have worked as well or better.  The SM7 just didn't have the sensitivity his voice needed, and the C-414 sounded a little to hard and heavy on the high mids like about 3k to 4k.