Noticed a shitload of emcees here have mics that do them dirty with their vocals so I figured I'd write something up to adress it. Hope it helps. Enjoy.
Mics:
All mics work on the premise of converting the soundwaves you call a voice into electrical signals. The way they do this is very different from one to the next and all will show different results. Additionally, all mics have a condition known as “roll off” where they don’t record certain ranges of voices at the same volume that they record others. Mics also have ‘color’ to them which will alter the way certain sounds you put into them will come out of them and they’ll flatter your voice. Yes, there are mics out there that make bad singers sound good and good singers sound great. Inversely, there are also mics that make great singers sound like absolute trash (like computer mics). Here’s a simplified look at the 4 main categories of mic’s:
Crystal (Computer) mic: Uses the resonance of a crystal to transform voices to electrical inputs. These mics are the epitome of low-end mics. They’re priced extremely low – and their quality matches. What makes them so bad is that they lack clarity compared to other mics so all of your vocals sound like you recorded them through a pillow, and what’s worse, their ‘roll off’ is both in the low range (for us bassy voices) and high range (for you singers or femcees). They’re really only good at mids and even that they’re not great at. Their reistance is REALLY high so anything you record will always have ‘hiss’ on it at about 1/3rd the level you’re speaking at. I’d recommend anyone avoid these mics for anything other than their intended purpose of giving dictation to a talk-to-type program. They’ll be doing more to stifle your lyrical and vocal progress since they’ll be giving you false signals as to what your voice can and cant do. Also keep in mind that this is the mic-type that’s used in children’s toys, speaking picture frames, etc. Disposable stuff of that nature.
Dynamic mic: Uses an electromagnet attached to a paper or plastic diaphragm to convert your voice you an electrical input. Dynamic mics are considered the workhorses of the mic family. There are Dynamic mics optimized for literally every form of voice out there – so 9/10 situations you’ll be seeing a dynamic mic in a high-end amateur studio or pro studios – especially if you’re rapping. Most of the cheaper dynamic mics roll off on the lows (like the Radioshack mics in the 10-30 dollar range) pretty intensely but are good for mids and highs. The 50-dollar-range Radioshack mics pick up more low frequency sounds better than their cheaper counterparts (although for the same $50 you’re better off getting a used SM58) – but if you don’t have a bassy voice, then don’t be too concerned with the higher cost mics. Especially not if you’re putting together tracks for the net. If you’re going to a studio to record for an album – if they don’t already have a mic there (which will probably be an SM86 – great mic) then reconsider going there to record. Ask them ahead of time what mic they have – if they respond “radioshack” or “I dunno”, look elsewhere.
The range for costs and quality in dynamic mics is wide since the VR that they’re optimized for will differ from mic to mic. Also, most dynamic mics “color” your vocals which means that they alter a certain aspect of your voice to make it sound more appealing. This is a hardware design and is NOT something you can address with software, so make sure the mic you’re buying is in your VR and ‘colored’ in a way that flatters your vocals – if you’re going Pro that is. If you’re recording on the net and just getting started – once again, Radioshack has the mic for you! Practice with that till you really hone your style to the point that you know “okay..this is what I said and how I said it – and this is what the mic picked up and how it played it relayed it”. That’ll give you a better feel for what you should be looking for if and when you decide to step up to a better, more optimized mic. Always remember though – even the absolute crappiest of Dynamic mics is still dramatically better than the best computer (crystal) mic. Oh, BTW – 99.9999999999% of live performances (if you ever do them) will be on Dynamics and usually an SM58 which is still a great mic or an SM48 which is a ‘pretty good’ mic.
Condenser mic: Uses a much thinner element than the dynamic mics, and uses a capacitor to generate electrical inputs from your voice. The dramatically reduced weight of the diaphragm assembly is what makes this mic so accurate to what’s actually coming out of your mouth. These mics are not only a hell of a lot lighter than dynamic mics, but also more fragile – so if you drop em, high chance you’ll have to get em rebuilt. The clarity on a condenser is nothing short of orgasmic. Very few rappers, to my knowledge, use Condenser mics since they generally don’t need that level of clarity and accuracy – AND since many of their voices are a lot worse than you’re led to believe since they use dynamics that color their vocals heavily. Some of the more feminine femcees like Jean Grae use high end dynamics and condensers since their voices can have many intracies – especially where she’s singing and rapping together on some tracks. Vast Aire also used condensers on more tracks than a little bit like Real Earth and Cholesterol, who’s vocal clarity is staggering. Aside from the esoteric emcees, most will usually use them occasionally for specific tracks where their verbal agility needs to be heard or certain subtleties need to be picked up. I’d almost go as far as to say that only certain voices and voice types would benefit dramatically from a condenser – but that may be na overgeneralization. There are extremely highend Dynamic mics that rival the quality you get with low and mid range condenser mics – but by and large, you can’t beat a condenser for clarity. The downside to condensers (for home users) is that they use a power supply known as “phantom power” which is 48v with it’s own specific connectors to a phantom power-source. Just makes for more hardware to purchase, but IMO its’ well worth it to pick up an MXL990 (if your vice is lows and mids) or a 991(if your voice is all mids and highs) and purchase a cheap phantom power supply and go have fun with them. It’s a professional Studio quality mic without the big price tag. There’s also a kit that’s sold with BOTH of them in it – which means the odds of you laying a track where you can’t use one or the other is less than none.
There are a few condenser mics that are in the 50-60 dollar range (like my personal favorite MXL 990 – mmmmmm…warm…) which pee on any dynamic for the same price as far as quality goes. The clearest Dyn I know of that rivals the 990’s quality is the SM86 which is literally 6 times the cost and a slightly warmer (smoother and softer without compromising clarity) lift on the vocals. There are clearer dyns and clearer comps – but that’s an argument that could go on forever, but for the most part, Comps are the king of the hill and even comparatively low quality comps can beat up on more performance-equitable and more expensive dyns. Also, the condenser (and extremely highend dyns) are the very few mics in the world that can show you that your voice coming out of your mouth IS like the voice you hear inside of your own skull. But the real question is; do you really want to sound like that? For 99% of the people in the world, the answer is “not on all my tracks, no”. The other one percent include the likes of Mariah Carrey, Celine Dion and Pavoratti who use Ribon mics anywho.
Ribbon mic: Uses an extremely thin ribbon in place of a diaphragm unlike all the other mics. Strictly a singer’s mic and is preffered in some circles due to the warming effects it gives to vocals. If you didn’t know Ribon mics existed – then they’re well out of the scope of this convo and will be completely unnecessary for anything you’d be doing. If you were a god(ess) of a singer you’d already know of Ribbon mics before you even entered this post
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Clarity:
OK, so you got your mic (hopefully not a computer mic, but we can still address those) and you’re ready to record. You lay your first verse and notice there’s a lot of noise or other quality shortcomings. Here’s how you address them:
Muffled: This is the first place where you’ll notice the difference between a low quality mic and a higher quality mic. If your lyrics all sound like you’re shouting them from the other side of a door, or with a gag in your mouth – then I’m sorry to say that the only cure for that is to get a better mic. Or take the gag out of your mouth and come out form behind the door. The easiest way to test this is if you open your mouth and say “ahh” with your tongue closing your throat, then open your throat, and continue to alternate it – if you can’t hear much difference on your play back with the mic about 6” away from your mouth – then your mic sucks. Test this same “ahh” procedure while opening and closing your throat while moving the mic closer and further from your mouth by opening and closing with the mic far, then opening and closing with the mic close and maintaining the same volume (ladies, you can send me video footage of you doing this – you know…just to make sure you did it right. :P ). I’ll be saying this a lot, but *nearly all of your problems during recording are a result of angle and distance*. Once in a while you’ll find some mics record with more volume on one side than on the other because those mics aren’t Omnidirectional, they’re unidirectional, or cardior or super/hyper cardiod or figure eight. They only take vocal input from one direction, or two in the figure-8’s case. Omnidirectional take it from all directions but increase the chance of picking up unwanted background noise. If the problem didn’t’ decrease after the open mouth test and the distance test, then I regret to tell you that there is no software that can bring up your vocal clarity since it’s the axis of all effects and repairs to your vocals. This is a bullet you’ll have to bite till you get a better mic with more clarity. This is also the leading problem with computer mics. Once again – avoid them. For lyrical purposes – they’re useless.
Pops: Popping noises are a result of your breath penetrating the sponge(s) covering over your diaphragm and causing it to vibrate. It usually happens with the letter P and B and some S’s and soft c’s which sound like S’s. The fix for this is extremely simple – just throw a stocking or a sock over the head of the mic. It’ll cure about 80% of all pops you’ll ever get and reduce clarity about 10% which is well worth it. If it dosent – pull the mic out of your mouth. The location of the mic is THE most important factor in recording, and I can’t stress enough that *nearly all of your problems during recording are a result of angle and distance*. But long story short, if you have pops even after you put the undies over your mic – then pull the mic back. It should be about 3” to 6” from your mouth. The rappers you see holding the mic up to their lip are doing something out of complete misinformation OR their preamp sucks and they have to eat the mic to be heard. In either case, it’s unprofessional as hell and the sign of an amateur (either the rapper or the venue). In a studio, the pop filter usually serves to keep people at the optimal distance for that mic more than it does to reduce pop. Pop is not necessarily a sign of a bad mic.
Volume: If your mic is “quiet” come closer. Come too close and you’ll be experiencing pop. This is a far simpler solution than the best one which would be a pre-amp – but it works extremely effectively. If your volume and clarity come up after moving closer, but still aren’t enough, you’ll need to adjust the volume on your “line in” or your mic to your medium (computer). Nearly all programs have a line-in volume. Feel free to use it. After that – if it still isn’t enough, turn up the volume on that track of vocals. If that dosen’t work, try turning the mic on
. Volume is not necessarily the sign of a bad mic.
Rumble and Boom: One of the top three things you’ll initially see the difference in with a crap handheld mic and a good one. Rumble and Boom sound like names for a club track – but they’re definitely not good. They’re easy to identify and easy to rememdy. If you’re holding the mic with your hand – before you start recording, twist the mic around in your hand, play with the wire a little bit, change hands with it and so on – then listen to the play back. Do you hear all that noise? That’s called “handling noise” and it’s going to keep happening all through out your recording when you speak and even when you don’t, unless you remain super-human still. Remember that the diaphragm responds to vibrations – and these are vibrations. To cut down on this – simply don’t go molesting and vibrating the mic while recording. If you can isolate the mic from your body or from any movement and vibration and still maintain the optimal distance and location – then you’re golden. If you have no choice but to hold the mic in your hand – then wrap a sock around the mic so it becomes a thick padding. Yes..socks and mics go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Also make sure that the wire won’t be hitting anything or moving AT ALL while you speak into the mic. If you have a clip or a mic holder – hold onto that since it won’t ever move on the mic It self. Remember that there are very expensive shock mounts and spider suspensions for mics to isolate this problem – so to cut it down with nothing but a sock is amazing – and it actually works. BTW, the resistance to handling noise one of the marks of a crappy mic or a great mic as far as vocal mics go.
Hiss: The last of the big signs of a crap mic vs a good mic. Hiss is all because of resistance in the circuit that is the mic. This is measured in Ohms and looks like the Omega symbol and most of the packaging for a mic will openly tell you what the resistance is. Anything over 500 ohms will hiss ridiculously – and yes, computer mics are WAY over 500ohms. Less than 500 ohms will be very silent but will still hiss somewhat (virtually everything will hiss somewhat). The longer your cord is, the more it’ll his as well, not to mention your connector to your computer. Gold connectors are about a dollar more than their Silver counterparts but their resistance is much lower so the hiss will go down substantially – especially if you have something like…15+ feet of wire off your mic to your recording medium. Some programs have hiss eliminators – but most of them will have some distortion to your vocals afterward since your vocals may be covered with them. You’ll have to play with the tolerance of the software for this one but it’s better to get a mic <500Ohm and a gold 1/4th to 1/8th connector to your computer.
Drop off (a.k.a. Roll or Roll Off): This one’s the big one and deserves special attention all it’s own. This is present in all mics at one point or another – it’s just a matter of if you’ll experience it with your vocal range or not. You can identify this one easily by listening to the voice you’re sending out – then listening to what the mic gave you. If you hear some times in your speech that you’re speaking at one relatively even volume (which will be shown on your decibel meter) but some words or parts of words become silent – then your mic is “rolling off” that particular frequency. This can be addressed with distance and position sometimes, but the mic’s hardware is what is causing this. You can address this to a large extent with your software by EQ’ing (Equalizing) the dBs of the frequencies that your mic is rolling off. This is the easiest way to address it. Getting a mic that’s in your VR is the best way to optimize it – and if you get one that colorizes in a way you like, then better still. That hardest way to optimize this is to increase your vocal level at the frequency it’s rolling because not only does this now change that frequency (which is going to change the sound and volume anyway) but it’s going to cost you dramatically with your breath control aside form sounding completely unnatural to the way you would naturally speak.
Also, what I omitted here due to the scope of this discussion is the Frequency Response chart which shows you how your mic responds to frequencies. Definitely search for a Frequency Response Chart for your desired mic before you buy it to save yourself some potential headaches. If you have any questions – hit me on AIM at Deepblue963 and I’d be happy to help. Manufacturers give a generic representation of a mic’s roll off using a range of frequencies which will look like “100-14000Hz” or “50 to 11,000hz”. These just state what range the mic will pick up sound in that frequency in without dramatic distortion – it doesn’t mention anything about when it starts to roll your lows or highs. Flat FR curves are considered more desireable for a wide range of vocals – but what’s truly desirable is one that suits your VR and will color for you in a way you want.
The end. In the next chapter we’ll discuss things like breath control, annunciation, cadence, etc. Any questions?