Mic placement for vocals - opinions?

[paulneedles]

I've been experimenting with mic placement for vocals. I'd noticed that footage of older recording sessions and live performances had the mic below or above the airstream of the vocalist, whereas nowadays it tends to be right in there. I've tried both techniques, they both seem to have their merits and drawbacks, but i'm interested to hear what you guys' opinions and suggestions on mic placement for vocals are.

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by paulneedles

I've been experimenting with mic placement for vocals. I'd noticed that footage of older recording sessions and live performances had the mic below or above the airstream of the vocalist, whereas nowadays it tends to be right in there. I've tried both techniques, they both seem to have their merits and drawbacks, but i'm interested to hear what you guys' opinions and suggestions on mic placement for vocals are.

That's an interesing and often ioverlooked point! I got more conscious of this after watching some live Tom Petty footage where he seemed to vary between 2 basic positions that gave him very different vocal sounds i.e a more nasal one with the mic being pratically on 'nose height' against an open, full one with a 'mouth' position.

Much like with a guitar cabinet, the vocal mic position can have a huge influence over the sound. But unlike a guitar cabinet, it all depends on how the singer is moving during the performance and thus it's about that dated and elusive phenomenon called Microphone Technique.

What's ironic is that most engineers complain about the lack of mic technique of today's singers but yet unlike earlier times, 'modern' singers grow up with microphones from the very start. Every band rehearsal or gig is a chance to work on your mic technique but you have to be aware of it. The problem is that a singer that never payed attention to these things will be over-whelmed in the studio when thsi suddendly comes up on top of the potential nervousness and stress vocal tracking might bring upon the unexperienced singer.

Make the singer comfortable, don't make them feel like they're taking a driving test. Make them try out different mic positions and let them hear how this affects the recorded sound/timbre.