datamusicata

At the NERFA Conference last weekend (www.nerfa.org),  we got into a discussion of microphones at one of the meals and I thought it was something that we should talk about. Everyone seems to have a favorite mic and every article I’ve read about them seems to talk about the physics of the device and the construction of the device.

I view microphones like I view my guitar or even my car. I get the best one I can and then I use it. I don’t actually know how to build one or repair one and I am not planning to add still another hat to my already overburdened head. (See my Too Many Hats, Not Enough Head Beer Mug at www.cafepress.com/beachwood).

So today, I am not going to go into the technical specifics of microphones out side of explaining the most reliable and familiar mics, and how to find the mic that suits you.

First off, if you have ever played a bar, theatre, club or church anywhere in the world, then you probably have used both the Shure SM-58 (it has a screen in the shape of a ball over the mic itself) for vocals and a Shure SM-57 (it has the flat end and it looks like a silver cigar) for your guitar or piano, unless you have a way of going directly into the system (I do). (www.shure.com)

These two mics have been the work horse mics in every theatre and club that I’ve played over the past five decades (counting this one). They are sturdy and reliable and every studio should have a couple of each (I do). The have a relatively clean sound and don’t add too much of anything to the signal (your voice or instrument) as it goes into the recording device or amplifier.

Over the past fifteen years, microphones have come into their own in terms of price, quality and variety. So here is where you have to do some experimenting, but fortunately, if you live in a large metropolitan area, you can actually rent almost any microphone and try it out. And that’s the real test here. It doesn’t matter whether you use an SM-58 or a five thousand dollar Neumann U-87 with the Stephen Paul modification. It matters which microphone likes your voice the best.

Most engineers will use a Sennheiser 421 (www.sennheiserusa.com) or an EV RE-20 (www.electrovoice.com) on the kick drum, but I have heard that Stevie Wonder (www.steviewonder.net) uses his RE-20 for vocals. So what I’m trying to tell you here is that you must record your voice using several different mics and see which one makes your voice sound the best. Nothing else matters. INXS (www.inxs.com) recorded their last two albums with only the Shure mics I mentioned, because that’s the sound that they use and make when they play live and they wanted to maintain that audio integrity from live to the studio.

I have tried all the mics and for my voice, I believe that the AKG 414 UBLS (www.akg.com) modified by Stephen Paul (www.spaudio.com) sounds the best on my voice, so that’s what I use. But I tried them all, including condenser mics (they are the ones that are frequently in little tape decks. They go out and find every sound they can, as opposed to a proximity mic that requires you be very near it to record a usable signal.) Now condenser mics can also make a very thin voice sound very thick if they vocalist gets right up on it, tho this requires a lot of finesse to keep the mic from overloading.

But the point is, all our voices are unique and consequently we all have to experiment with a variety of mics (which, as I said, you can probably rent or borrow before you buy) and we have to experiment with a variety of distances from the mic.

And while you are doing this experimentation, please don’t put anything else into the signal chain, like a compressor or limiter or something. Keep it clean and simple so that you can hear what each mic is bringing to your voice.

Once you have discovered the mic for your voice, buy it. And one other thing, because all voices are different, I have in my studio, in addition to the 414, a pair of AKG 451 condenser mics, a Russian Octava, four SM-58’s, two SM-57’s, two AKG 1000-E’s, and a few other in expensive experimental mics that I use for various effects. It’s good to have a variety if you are going to be having other musicians and singers work in your studio.

Talk to you Wednesday.