Germanium vocal settings

[jeffpardo]

yo yo all the germanium users,

i'm tracking a female vocal (through the Red microphone type B, with the B6 capsule) tomorrow, and i'd like to try my germanium on vocals and see how it does. i've also got a pacifica which is nice on vocals as well.

anybody got any great gain/feedback setting advice for vocals? thick in/out? pad in/out?? anything would help....i'd love to start in a cool place and not make the singer sing for a half hour while a screw with the preamp. artists can get mad when you do that.

thanks all.

[fastlane]

Try pad out, thick in and the feedback around 1 for starters. It won't sound bad no matter what but if you use too much feedback it could be too dirty!

What style of music?

[jeffpardo]

pop/rock stuff.

with the feedback on 1, do you get enough total gain? i've found it to be quiet with only feedback on 1 sometimes....where do you put your germanium drive for that setting?

[triez]

I also find that low feedback settings often have too little gain for some condensers.

How many of you have problems with motorboat noise?

[Metatone]

If you mean the self-oscillation noise, I nearly always use the Germs with the pad engaged. That takes care of it. I believe the infosheet references this issue and suggests the pad trick. It only happens (self-oscillates) with non-transformer microphones....I think. It's been awhile since I read it and now use the pad regardless of what mic I"m using.

Also, some of the lighter settings (lower feedback, maybe lower drive) wont' go into self-oscillation either but I'm always leaning on both drive and feedback...that's what I got the Germs for. Love it like that.

[jeffpardo]

any other thoughts on germanium vocals? i know there's lots of germ lovers here....

[wade goeke]

Originally Posted by jeffpardo

any other thoughts on germanium vocals? i know there's lots of germ lovers here....

Hey Jeff-
You mat need to twist a few knobs while the singer warms up. Its kind of the thing about the GERM. You need to experiment a touch.

Couple hints-
If things are a bit bright turn the feedback up and gain down.
If its to dull reverse it.
If you need more color or guts hit in the pad and start driving both. If your mic has a pad you can take this even further...

I tend to prefer gain at 10 and feedback low, but it will depend on mic gain and source volume where the feedback ends up.
This setting tends to give a bit more low end thickness, lower harmonics, and a bit brighter on lop.
If you really want to get sick hit in the pad and thick and turn the feedback up as high as you can before you kill people.
Cheers
Wade

[Yutaka]

I'm not much of an engineer, but I've been recording vocals for the past few days with following settings : Gain 0 - Feedback 5.5 - Pad & Thick out. This is with TLM193, a female voice.

Honestly, I didn't experiment much with different settings, but as far as I can tell, it sounds great, and I'm not touching it.

[dpianomn]

i love the germanium with the pad IN.