#MicrophonePositioning

[learnhowtocreatemusic]

How to Properly Position Your Microphone for Optimal Vocal Recording: Tips for Best Results

Achieving a professional-quality vocal recording starts with proper microphone placement. Whether you're recording at home or in a studio, how you properly position your microphone can make all the difference in capturing clear, rich vocals. Poor positioning can lead to unwanted noise, distortion, or muffled sound. Follow these tips to ensure your vocal recordings sound crisp, clean, and professional.

1. **Choose the Right Type of Microphone**

Before diving into positioning, it's essential to select the right microphone for your voice and recording environment. While positioning is key, using the wrong microphone can hinder your results regardless of placement.

**Types of Microphones:**

- **Condenser microphones:** These are the most popular for vocal recording due to their sensitivity and wide frequency range. They're ideal for capturing detailed, nuanced performances.

- **Dynamic microphones:** More rugged and less sensitive than condensers, dynamic mics are often used in live performances but can work well for certain vocal styles, particularly louder, more aggressive vocals.

- **Ribbon microphones:** These are less common but provide a warm, vintage sound, perfect for capturing smooth, soulful vocals.

2. **Distance from the Microphone**

One of the most critical factors in achieving optimal vocal recording is how far you are from the microphone. Standing too close or too far away can result in distortion, inconsistent volume, or a loss of detail.

**Ideal Distance:**

- **6-12 inches away from the microphone** is usually the sweet spot for vocal recordings. This distance allows the mic to pick up the full range of your voice without overloading or capturing too much background noise.

- **Use a pop filter:** A pop filter helps control plosive sounds (like hard "P" and "B" sounds) that can cause unwanted bursts of air to hit the microphone, distorting the recording.

**Pro Tips:**

- For a warmer sound, move closer to the mic (6 inches), but be careful to avoid excessive proximity effect (an increase in bass response when too close to the mic).

- If you have a powerful voice or tend to project loudly, step back to about 12 inches to avoid distortion and maintain clarity.

3. **Adjust the Microphone Height**

The height at which you position the microphone relative to your mouth plays a significant role in capturing different tonal characteristics of your voice.

**Height Considerations:**

- **Level with your mouth:** Positioning the mic at the same height as your mouth produces a balanced, natural sound. This is the most common position for general vocal recording.

- **Slightly above your mouth:** For a brighter tone, position the mic slightly above mouth level and angle it down toward you. This captures more high-end frequencies and can result in a cleaner, crisper sound.

- **Slightly below your mouth:** Positioning the mic below your mouth and angling it up can result in a warmer sound. This can be helpful if you're looking to capture more of the chest resonance in your voice.

**Pro Tips:**

- Experiment with slight adjustments in mic height to find the sweet spot for your voice and style. Small changes can make a significant difference in the tonal quality.

- Stand up straight when recording to ensure proper vocal projection and clarity.

4. **Microphone Angle and Tilt**

The angle at which your microphone is positioned in relation to your mouth can affect how it captures your voice, especially when it comes to avoiding unwanted noise and plosives.

**Optimal Angles:**

- **Straight-on position:** This is the most straightforward approach, where the mic is directly facing your mouth. While this captures the most direct sound, it can also amplify sibilance (sharp "S" sounds) and plosives.

- **Slight off-axis positioning:** To reduce plosive and sibilant sounds, try angling the microphone slightly off-axis, so it's facing slightly above or to the side of your mouth instead of directly in front of it. This reduces the risk of harsh noises without sacrificing vocal clarity.

**Pro Tips:**

- A **10 to 15-degree tilt** off-axis is usually enough to minimize plosives without losing the full spectrum of your voice.

- If you're recording multiple vocal takes or harmonies, try different angles to vary the tonal quality of each take.

5. **Control Your Environment**

While proper microphone positioning is crucial, your recording environment also plays a significant role in achieving high-quality sound. Even the best mic placement won’t fix problems caused by excessive room noise or poor acoustics.

**Improve Your Recording Environment:**

- **Use acoustic treatment:** If possible, set up your recording area with acoustic foam panels, sound blankets, or other dampening materials to reduce echo and reverb. Hard surfaces like walls and ceilings can reflect sound, leading to a less clean recording.

- **Record in a quiet space:** Reduce background noise by recording in a space free from distractions like fans, air conditioning, or street noise.

- **Use a reflection filter:** If you're recording in a less-than-ideal space, consider using a reflection filter (a small portable acoustic shield) to reduce room reflections and focus the microphone on your voice.

6. **Maintain a Consistent Position While Singing**

It’s important to maintain consistent positioning throughout the recording session to avoid uneven vocal levels or inconsistent sound quality.

**Tips for Consistency:**

- **Stay centered:** Keep your head aligned with the microphone and avoid moving too far to the side while singing, as this can result in a loss of clarity or create an uneven sound.

- **Control your dynamics:** If you're singing softly or loudly in different parts of the song, adjust your position slightly, stepping closer for softer parts and moving back for louder sections. However, make these adjustments subtle to maintain consistent mic positioning.

- **Avoid excessive movement:** While it’s natural to move slightly when singing, try to stay relatively still to ensure consistent vocal quality. You can still express yourself, but keep the mic in mind!

Final Thoughts

Proper microphone positioning is a game-changer when it comes to vocal recording. By choosing the right distance, adjusting the height and angle, and controlling your environment, you can capture clear, professional vocals that elevate your music production. Experiment with these tips to find the optimal setup for your voice, and remember that even small adjustments can have a big impact on your sound.

Now that you have the tools to improve your vocal recordings, it’s time to put them into practice and make your next project shine!

[tomasvexxx]

Recording and pre-mixing in the live-room.

Place members of the performers in a circle or a halfmoon, and tell them to play their music. Organize the performers physically in the room based on your idea of how the pan settings in your mix will be - putting the bassplayer in the opposite of the drummer, usually is a good idea. This makes it easier to balance the mix, because these elements usually get centered in the conventional stereo mix.

When you stand in the center of this circle, try to pinpoint the naturally loudest soundsource - usually the drums, in pop/rock. Then balance the amplified instruments (also shape their tone) so you get a "natural" mix that sound great from your position.

Close mic all the amps, and mike the drums the way you use to. Handle annoying phase issues from your monitoring position (use headphones if your recording equipment is located in the live room). Experiment with ambience mikes - always put a mic at the position from where you balanced the instruments.

Record!

Mix! Pull upp the faders with the close-miked sounds, then gradually try to bring in the ambience mikes. Pan all faders according to the soundsources placement in the room. If your room sucks or you experience severe phasing issues, rely more on the closed-miked sounds - the spill from others instruments will create some ambience.

Print the mix, and sell your hit - you garage-punker, you!

[source: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showwiki.php?title=Tips-and-Techniques:Recording-and-pre-mixing-in-the-live-room]

[tomasvexxx]

the real key to sound is to run the mic preamps 10dB hotter than you normally would and back down the fader!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyy55ALu18Y

[tomasvexxx]

Columbia was heavy into Neumann M49 and AKG C12 mics back then. Both are large tube-type condenser mics. On the Brubeck groups, the engineers used one mic per instrument, and each mic was at a very respectful distance, about 1 1/2 to 3 feet away (Figure 1)... You still hear all the air off the sax reed, and still hear all the tone. They got the placement quickly. Distant miking like this sounds great; I think we overdo close miking.

Recording: Remastering Three Jazz Classics: The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Art Pepper, and Sonny Rollins - Pro Sound Web

[tomasvexxx]

One way to capture a larger than life sound is by recording a sound that is softer than the recording will most likely be played back. For electric guitars for instance, sometimes a small 5 watt amp into an 8 inch speaker can sound larger than a cranked full Marshall stack.

[tomasvexxx]

Much easier is to delay the two ambient mics by a few milliseconds, which moves them out of the haas effect (the delay range where delays affect sound quality and localization rather than being perceived as ambience) and into the range of perceived ambience. There is a logic to this from acoustic perspective as well. If there is a boundary 20 feet from you, its reflected delay time (from your position) is double the physical distance to the sound source (approximately 40 milliseconds), because the sound has to make a round trip out-and-back. Adding a few milliseconds to the acoustic delay inherent in a room mic seems to mimic this effect, making the ambient sound seem less muddy.

Get drum room mics out of haas!!!

Electrical Audio • View topic - delayed ambient mics...?

[tomasvexxx]

Under these conditions, the acoustic sound of Ed’s kit was very dry with very little room ambiance. I used no room mics—they were not yet used much in those days, and besides, we had to conserve tracks. The whole album was recorded using a 16-track, 2-inch analog tape recorder. The SM57s, with their built-in compressed mid-range sound, enhanced the drum sound already made acoustically in that space.

Recording: In The Studio: The “Daryl Hall and John Oates” Album & The $300 Drum Sound - Pro Sound Web

[tomasvexxx]

getting the snare drum and toms to explode are key. I like to place a widely spaced pair of Shure SM57s roughly 15 feet away from the drums and raised on mic stands so they’re approximately 3-1/2 feet off the floor (see diagram above). Don’t place the mics too far from the kit, or you’ll end up capturing relatively little of its direct sound. The optimal distance will be determined by how live the room is. I like to point the mics directly at the snare drum; it helps if the drummer has his or her cymbals raised high. The SM57’s inherent presence peak at 6 kHz will accentuate the attack of the snare drum and rack toms. At the same time, the SM57’s slow transient response and high-frequency roll-off will keep the cymbals from sounding too shrill when the tracks for the room mics are compressed during mixdown.

Placing Room Mics for Drums | Emusician

[tomasvexxx]

Originally Posted by Dan View Post desaxed? I ment that the capsule or ribbon not flat in front. The capsule/ribbon should be pointing a virtual point 1 or 2 inches in front of the bell, and the mic 5 inches up .

Mic for Trumpet player? - Page 2 - Gearslutz.com