close mic + room mic on vocals

vtone · 31st May 2004, 06:45 PM

I thought I remember reading a thread here once where people talked about a vocal recording technique that involved a close mic and an omni room mic farther back... can't seem to find it when I search though...

the cool thing about it was that someone mentioned using heavy compression on the close mic and an expander on the room mic... the overall effect was that, when the singer would whisper it would be up nice and close and dry, but when the singer would belt it out, there would be more room sound.

has anyone tried this technique? any tips?

jbuntz · 31st May 2004, 07:06 PM

I remember posting about this. It's pretty dependent on the room you are in. The times I tried it were in a farily small but live room (best choice available). I had acoustic panels on the singer's side of the room and the other side was open with reflective surfaces everywhere. If the singer is just singing you might try an expander on the room mic and make sure it doesnt close too fast so you can keep the reverb tails. You can even use two mics in the room. I tried it on a SCREAM-sing-SCREAM-sing song and didn't even bother expanding the room mic because the performance was so dynamic and it made the screams sound a lot bigger.

Another option is just gate the reverb send and it will have a simialr effect.

vtone · 1st June 2004, 05:42 PM

thanks jbuntz, that's exactly the kind of info I'm after.

I'm recording a singer who is known for his 'neurotic' performance, going from whisper to yelp... and I wanted to enhance his singing technique; even emphasize it. but I want to keep the volume even wether he is mumbling or screaming.

Quote:

Originally posted by jbuntz
Another option is just gate the reverb send and it will have a simialr effect.

you mean on the room mic?

DanV · 1st June 2004, 10:09 PM

This is a very cool method!
I'd love to hear some samples of it in action.
Another interesting thing might be to add a noise gate to the room mic that blocks out all low volume vocals ie whispering - and then a side chain gate that shuts down the close mic's signal when the room mic kicks in - then mess with attack and releases so it all flows well. Sounds like it would be pretty interesting in theory.

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31st May 2004, 06:45 PM	#1
vtone Gear addict Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 313	close mic + room mic on vocals I thought I remember reading a thread here once where people talked about a vocal recording technique that involved a close mic and an omni room mic farther back... can't seem to find it when I search though... the cool thing about it was that someone mentioned using heavy compression on the close mic and an expander on the room mic... the overall effect was that, when the singer would whisper it would be up nice and close and dry, but when the singer would belt it out, there would be more room sound. has anyone tried this technique? any tips?

1st June 2004, 10:09 PM	#4
DanV Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Brooklyn NYC Posts: 696	This is a very cool method! I'd love to hear some samples of it in action. Another interesting thing might be to add a noise gate to the room mic that blocks out all low volume vocals ie whispering - and then a side chain gate that shuts down the close mic's signal when the room mic kicks in - then mess with attack and releases so it all flows well. Sounds like it would be pretty interesting in theory. __________________ easy there tiger, your paper is showing

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31st May 2004, 07:06 PM	#2
jbuntz Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,650	I remember posting about this. It's pretty dependent on the room you are in. The times I tried it were in a farily small but live room (best choice available). I had acoustic panels on the singer's side of the room and the other side was open with reflective surfaces everywhere. If the singer is just singing you might try an expander on the room mic and make sure it doesnt close too fast so you can keep the reverb tails. You can even use two mics in the room. I tried it on a SCREAM-sing-SCREAM-sing song and didn't even bother expanding the room mic because the performance was so dynamic and it made the screams sound a lot bigger. Another option is just gate the reverb send and it will have a simialr effect.