live mic for screaming vocals?

[cocaine white]

hi, my name is pete and i scream for my band iamerror.

i got some christmas money and want to invest in a vocal mic for live situations. however, sm58s don't really capture the abrasive high end that my vocals require to cut through in the mix. otherwise, they sound kinda muddy.

with this in mind, what would my best option be for $240?


thanks all.

<3

[ssaudio]

a beta58

or a better FOH engineer

I'd go for the latter

[cocaine white]

FOH engineer? what? haha.

thanks, i'll keep the beta in mind.

[ssaudio]

Front Of House

[vernier]

You might get a tad more of what you're looking for from a 57 or Beta-58, but I love regular 58.

[XHipHop]

Go over to gootube and look at what mics other screamers are using live and see if they are getting the sounds you are looking for.

[uncle duncan]

Heil PR20 might be good.

[severe]

I suggest a mic that's received a lot of attention here, again, lately. The SM7. And, of course, this mic also gives you the option to give the mids/presence a little boost if needed. However, due to its size, I guess it's not the kind of mic you'd wanna run around with...so it depends on your application. As a bonus, you'd have a great recording mic to add to the pile.

Maybe you can find one used.

[tINY]

Try a C3000 from AKG




-tINY

[robd]

Try the rode S1. I guarantee that it will not lose a single bit of your abrasive high end. Indeed, it might even help you out a little in that regard.

[muziekschuur]

Hi, I recorded some grunt and scream metalbands in 2005 and for studiowork you want a EV RE20.

On the podium you like an EV N/D967 microphone. This microphone will help you compress your voice, but at the same time you will be clear and crisp.

A channelstrip for yourself with GATE, COMPRESSOR and EQ might be advisable too.
It doesn't have to be too high tec, just a nice gate and compressor will help you with doing your thing. Make sure you reinforce the connection between microphone and wire so you can throw the mic without it disconnecting and ruining the show. A selfmade microphonewire of 15m with a fluor GREEN or ORANGE wire is extra extreme....


Muziekschuur

[Jim vanBergen]

Hey, I do a lot of FOH work. Obviously you don't want a NewYorker for FOH, but I've done a LOT of hard rock/metal work for broadcast as well as live work.

My favorite to the kind of vocals you descrive is an Audix OM7. This is a REAL screamer's mic. It takes a lot of preamp gain (Audix's tend to need 10-15dB more gain than an SM58) but rarely more than 40dB for a regular singer, so a screamer's vox should not be tough to deal with. Any from a Mackie/Allen & Heath up to Soundcrafts, Yamahas, Midas, DiGiCo or Midas you'll have plenty of gain.

The design has a reinforced basket (so you can abuse the mic pretty well) and a hypercardioid design so the monitors can get REALLY loud. This mic was designed for The Red Hot Chili Peppers and was marketed as such from about ten years ago.

What else: if you want GROWL to cut thru, you want a capsule that can really take it and dish it out. I keep Beta 58s and Beta 57s on hand, and like OM5 and OM7 mics, but the 'sleeper' mics I have are Beyer M69 and M88s. When nothing else is right on a voice, one of THESE is the trick for me.

SM7? KILLER in the studio. Not a live tool.

Electrovoice mics are great sounding, I have experienced too many manufactuing inconsistencies. Even so, the N/DYN series have a great vocal sound.

Heil mics- excellent for vox as well.

You need to try several out and compare. Hope you find a FOH mixer in scotland!!!

Cheers-

Jim

[TER]

Second for the OM7.

t

[Protools Guy]

Another vote for the SM-58 / beta 58.

[rcm]

I do not have any helpful advice since I am reall a studio guy and do not deal with live sound. Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your band on my space.

[cocaine white]

to rcm: thanks a lot dude, i appreciate it.

so now i'm torn between the beta58 and the om7, and im wondering, is the price jump from the 58 to the om7 really worth the better sound?

thanks for all the replies <3

[ssaudio]

Originally Posted by cocaine white

is the price jump from the 58 to the om7 really worth the better sound?

nope

the differences in PA, Monitoring and Engineers (never mind the rooms) will far outweigh any possible difference the mics will make. Until you are in a position where you have consistency over those three factors you are just going to be frustrated by it all

[DaInGaIlToAgL]

I have mixed a few screamer bands live, (none that anyone has heard of...) and the thing that has always made the screaming vocals cut through is a really fast compressor. Even something like a PreSonus ACP88 can work, just make sure it's releasing fast enough to make sure the sibalance is not lost.
A 58 should do you well, you may want to do that thing that every FOH and monitor engineer hates and cup your hand around the capsule... but you probably always do that.

[Farview]

It also helps if you don't cup the mic. If you block the back of the wind screen it changes the response of the mic. Holding it properly will keep it from sounding muddy.

The Sennheiser 838(?) are really trebley, I seen more than one screamer use it successfully.

[chetatkinsdiet]

I've never used the OM7, sounds cool. My vote would go for getting a few older EV mics.....RE15-18.

Better yet....spend the $270 on a dbx160x and use that in the vocal chain.

m

[subatomicpieces]

if you're touring and playing venues smaller than a theater, then bringing anything other than a 58 or beta58 for vocals is asking for trouble. most places you play will have them already. chances are that the house engineer already has the monitors and mains rung out for them.

I mix a lot of screaming bands. and, I've never had any problem with beta58s.

I'm sure that there are better mics for the vocal. But, you absolutely will not find a mic that's better for the job of consistency across many different sound systems/rooms/engineers.

[vernier]

You'll have to try 'em. To me, the Beta 58 sounds too polite, but our girl singer who screams like a banshee sounds good with the Beta.

[DivideByZero]

I have nothing to add to the conversation, but I dig the Zelda II reference (if I'm not mistaken, that is)