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[karambos]

A singer says she has a very loud voice & thinks this will cause problems when she comes to record in my studio.

I have a Nuemann TLM 103, an AKG Solidtube, a Sennheiser 421, a Shure SM57 and a kick drum/Tuba/bass mic

Does anyone reading this think it really could be a problem?

[bloodstone]

I don't think it will be a problem.  Just tell her to "Step away from the microphone".  And maybe you'll have to pad the mic, or use one of your less sensitive mics. You can always turn the input gain way down on your mic pre, too.  The best thing to do is probably re-assure her that is won't be a big deal so she isn't freaking when you're tracking. I don't see how a 421 or a 57 couldn't handle an extremely loud voice.  Even the Solidtube isn't the hottest thing in the world.  Good luck.

[Fletcher]

The 103 will probably need an output pad or very little gain and the 421 will be able to handle it without a problem.  I've recorded shotgun blasts with a 421 without a struggle.

Best of luck with the session.

[carne_de_res]

Fletcher wrote on Fri, 04 June 2004 17:06

The 103 I've recorded shotgun blasts with a 421 without a struggle. .

i'm with Fletcher on this one.just take care not to point the
mic on axis to the barrel.hehe.

[djui5]

Fletcher wrote on Fri, 04 June 2004 09:06

I've recorded shotgun blasts with a 421 without a struggle. Best of luck with the session.

Who was the artist you were so angry with?

[asterox]

out of curiosity, what techniques did your theatrical friend have to adopt?

[Kevinc]

personally I cant see how a vocalist singing too loud could ever be a problem. The more you project the better in most cases. It`s only a problem if they`re loud in some spots and really quiet in others.

It`s not like your going to overload a mic with a loud singer if you mic them properly.

Guitar amps and drum sets tend to be recored at way higher levels than a voice can get at peak volume.

[buddhaman]

I can speak to this....I have one of the loudest voices in the recorded history of the world...

You know how sound men want loud guitarists to turn their amps down onstage?? that's the kind of problem I present to Microphones.

A couple of things to remember...Gain staging is the most important aspect of recording bellowers. Some mics will not be able to deal (very sensitive condensers) ... an input pad is your friend.

regarding loudness and vocal tone...I think some mics break up and get uneven freq response at high volumes....and some do not.

I have had great luck with both the Shure SM-7 and the Soundelux U99.

Good luck to you
Buddhaman

[brandondrury]

Quote:

Actually . . . it's about the tone. A singer gets more midrangey and piercing as he/she gets louder. The midrange frequencies get louder, while the bass and treble don't. I've been working with a singer who comes from a theatrical background, where you really have to project. It was a bitch to get his voice to sit well in a rock mix, and he finally figured out that he needed to change his technique. When it's really loud, you have to reduce the gain excessively to match it with the mix, and your ear can tell that something unnatural is going on.

I'm having this exact same problem with a I'm doing for a Alice In Chains clone band.  They nearly whisper during versus and destroy the choruses.  Actually, I'm thinking that I should have had him back off on the choruses.  I ended up splitting up the vocal to give me a verse track and a chorus track because I needed different eq for each.

Brandon

[Zoesch]

Like all the New Wave Of Death Metal vocalists who try to sing the verses and scream out the chorus (Screamo singers come close but they tend to scream from start to finish)...

The gated distant mix technique popularized by Richards and Visconti in Bowies' Heroes comes to help... let them sing on your average condenser and scream distantly into another... hope you have a good room and a good set of gates.

[Fletcher]

djui5 wrote on Fri, 04 June 2004 18:42

Fletcher wrote on Fri, 04 June 2004 09:06 I've recorded shotgun blasts with a 421 without a struggle. Who was the artist you were so angry with?

It was an "industrial" record... we used a shotgun blast for the kik and a shot from a .45 for the snare, then tuned them to the right note using an AMS DMX-1580... it's what the artist wanted, it's what the artist got... personally, I thought it was pretty dopey but they weren't paying me to think so I kept my mouth shut and recorded the shit they wanted recorded.

[Zoesch]

Fletcher wrote on Mon, 07 June 2004 21:26

It was an "industrial" record... we used a shotgun blast for the kik and a shot from a .45 for the snare, then tuned them to the right note using an AMS DMX-1580... it's what the artist wanted, it's what the artist got... personally, I thought it was pretty dopey but they weren't paying me to think so I kept my mouth shut and recorded the shit they wanted recorded.

Done similar (And some worse) things during my Industrial years, not that there's anything wrong with that, those were the days I was pushing my skills to the max, I've had people jack-hammering pieces of metal and both a 421 and a more distant KM84... the combo also works well for circular saws and other "found" instrumentation.

[Tomas Danko]

Say, how many rounds did you require to reload in order to make it to the first chorus? Were they on click track or just like, you know, shooting from, say, the hip?

[Eric Rudd]

Kevinc wrote on Sun, 06 June 2004 19:12

personally I cant see how a vocalist singing too loud could ever be a problem. The more you project the better in most cases. It`s only a problem if they`re loud in some spots and really quiet in others. It`s not like your going to overload a mic with a loud singer if you mic them properly. Guitar amps and drum sets tend to be recored at way higher levels than a voice can get at peak volume.

Sure it can be a problem. I really loud singer in a small room, like an iso booth, can sound like crap. It'll sound like, well, a loud singer in a little room.

No one has mentioned the sound of the space in which you will be recording. Louder singers will drive the room harder, which will affect your sound. Something to be aware of.

Eric Rudd

[Eric Rudd]

More thoughts on recording singers...

For me, recording vocals is the most-difficult, labor-intensive recording I do. It's hard work, most of the time.

As someone mentioned in this thread, drums and guitars can get louder...but they're a helluva lot easier to record because their dynamic range is not that wide.

Think about the wide dynamics of a singer...we have to record their breaths between phrases, and yet contain a full bore chorus. The human voice is a much more powerful instrument dynamically than drums or a Marshall amp.

Generally, I try to get the amount of gain and compression I want for the loudest segment of the song, then ride the gain up (either on the pre or the output of the compressor, depending on the sound I want) during the softer portions.

Don't be fooled, recording vocals properly is hard work.

Eric Rudd