Live female vocal mic

[JSVice]

I know very little about live sound vs. recording, so I hope someone out there will have some suggestions. A band I work with has a female vocalist who has a tendancy to be extremely quiet. I feel that 90% of her problem is technique. The other 10% is that she just has a smaller voice than most people. I'm looking for suggestions for mics that offer alot of gain before feedback. Maybe something in a directional condenser would work better? All I know is that a standard 58 doesn't cut it for her.

So yeah.... clean, directional, hopefully not extremely feedback prone.

[JSVice]

I deem this worth one bump. No more, no less.

[natpub]

The Sennheiser 441 is good for that, the infamous Stevie Nicks mic. However, your gain-before-feedback issue is likely more one of how much rear-rejection the given mic has, and the 58 is great for that Also, how the monitors are placed, etc.will be a major part.

Give her an in-ear monitor and remove floor wedges near her. Then, use a studio quality preamp into the line of the board. Selecting a mic sensitive to her range may help, but proper EQ, compression, and quality preamp are more likely to give desired results. The in-ear monitors are a real life saver--pricey though, for the good ones.

GL,

K

[aussie_techie]

stop worrying so much about gear and work with her on her technique it will make more of a difference than a different mic which can have the potential for causing other issues in a live situation.

my first go to would be to try a Beta58a if the monitor arrangement suits the pattern, with a quiet voice the good side rejection should help but if her technique isnt up to snuff then there is the potential to be worse as if she diviates off axis it wont pick up enough of the voice. is impossible to say much more without hearing the voice. the suggestion of IEM would likley be a good step, again it depends on the person.

[WDG]

I like and use the AKG 535 EB for female vocals.

[vernier]

If a dynamic mic, have her keep her lips right on it, Beta58 is good for gals, or if quieter music, VX10, or similar.

[tINY]

I started using a PR20 - it's a good choice for $150. It's a super-card, so technique is even more important.

She needs to learn how to hold the mic and she needs to learn how to belt it out.

If she's up there because she's the drummer's girlfriend or because she's drop dead gorgeous, she can be replaced if she can't learn to sing.




-tINY

[Bat Head Sound]

The Electrovoice N/D 967 is supposed to have great gain-before-feedback. I haven't used one so I'm not entirely sure how true that is, but it's worth checking into.

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by Bat Head Sound

The Electrovoice N/D 967 is supposed to have great gain-before-feedback. I haven't used one so I'm not entirely sure how true that is, but it's worth checking into.

when a room has been tuned for an SM58 bringing in an ev or senn when you need high gain can just cause more peoblems, you wont get the gain before feedback you could if the room was tuned for those mics. a beta58 is close enough to an sm58 that its not a problem and even the AKGs arnt a drastic change so they will work. most live guys know the betas so know what they are working with, ev senn AKG and anything else arnt so well known.

unless you have the luxery of setting up the entire system you cant just stick up any mic and expert it to perform as it did at home

[Chris Parsons]

Beta 87 for live female vocals works great for a few singers I know. One of them I mix live sound for, and the mic sounds great, and it's hyper-cardioid so the GBF is great if you have the monitors positioned correctly. (one on each side as opposed to one directly in front)

-Chris