Microphone Techniques That Work
Posted On: June 19. 2008 Written By: AaronBeats (5) CommentsMic Techniques You Can Play With…
In my quest to go above and beyond, and provide you with more than
just quality hip hop beats and r&b instrumentals, I want to make sure that I help you record quality songs to these instrumentals. With that said, I want to give you a few microphone techniques that can help you take the quality of your songs to the next level.
As a musician, you need to constantly find new and different sounds to make your music the next big hit. You should strive to sometimes re-invent, or do different things with your unique sound in order to keep people interested in the next thing that you are going to do. However, there is a problem. If you do not have the correct microphone techniques, or you don’t know how to use different techniques to get a certain type of sound, then you may be unable to carry out this activity. With the use of different microphone techniques, there are endless possibilities to the type of sounds that you can create.
One such technique that a pop singer or rapper can use is to create different effects is distance; the distance between the artist’s mouth and the microphone. For example, you can place the microphone very close in order to cut out additional background noises, or you can distance the microphone in order to give the sound a more natural feel to what is going around you in the booth, and it includes the reverberation from the room, compared to the close microphone session this is excluded.
The X-Y technique is a another technique that can be used where there are two directional microphones that are used to create a sort of surround sound effect. This is achieved because through each microphone there are different sound waves that are coming through. A variation of this technique is called the mid- side technique. Different types of microphones are used in this directional exchange of sound waves, such as a bi-directional (2 directions) microphone or a omni-directional (1 direction) microphone. Another variation of this technique is the near-coincident recording. This recording works a lot with time lapses and time delay in order to achieve a different and unique sound.
Although unnatural at times, the A B technique, if used properly, can offer the singer a stereo sound with a Decca tree effect. The A B technique can be created by setting up two omni directional microphones twenty centimeters or more away from each other. However, the further the distance, the more chance of the sound coming in unnatural.
If you are looking to create a three dimensional sound effect, you may opt to use the Binaural recording effect. This is carried out by using a head model with microphones that are strategically placed by the ear canals. As the music is played the sound is recorded through this set up with the help of the interaural level difference and the interaural time difference. However, this method is more ideal for music sources that are only listened to through headphones, and not for mass listening through speakers. Plus, this sound will not be able to be exactly reproduced because every time this technique is performed, it is possible that it could always a different result.
Musicians have a variety of options when it comes to microphone techniques. These techniques each produce a different sound according to the musician or the singers preference. These techniques can even be modified in order to tweak the sounds to project a more ideal sound for you as the singer/rapper, or as a way to try to diversify your sound.
Mic Techniques and all the other recording techniques that we’ll talk about can sometimes be just as important as the lyrics and performance. You can put down a hot performance with hot lyrics, but if it isn’t recorded properly, then your fans won’t hear it on CD the way that you hear it in your head.
So take some time, or get an engineer who understands how to make you sound your best. Believe me, it can really make a difference. Hit me up with some questions or comments on what else I can help you with. Until next time…
\/..peace
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Hi Aaron B I have two question about the recording techniques you just discussed. My 1st question is when you record is it better to record your vocals once or twice? And my 2nd question is how do artist get their voice to blend in with the beat? Because i have a home studio but i got the studio type equipment and to me the music i make doesn’t sound radio/cd quality.
What I do when recording artists, is I’ll record multiple layered tracks for background vocals, and a single layer for lead vocals. For example, most standard choruses, would have multiple layers. Sometimes I’ll record 4 tracks of the main melody for the chorus, in unison, and then add the harmonies; 2 tracks for each note on the harmony scale.
I then pan each of these things, for example, the first 4 tracks I mentioned for the root melody of the chorus, I’ll pan one hard left, one hard right, and then the other two pan each one kind of to a halfway point left and right, and bring the levels on those down a little bit.
I pan the harmonies where they best fit in the mix. And then as for the lead vocal, which will be sung for the verses and ad-libs over the chorus, I’ll put it in the center.
There is a lot more to cover regarding this, so I will put together some posts, and I’ll also try to put together a few videos to demonstrate a few of these techniques. I’ll also cover ways to make your vocals blend with the beat in a home studio.
Hope this helps!
I have a question that I think plagues alot of Rapper Trying to Record. What a Good Condensor mic to get I was thinking of Getting a Rode nt1-a And A presonus firebox interface Do think these are Good choices Wanna start Start buying Beats But Wanna get A good Setup first much love thanks Your music And Advise is Always off the hook
yo aaron, im a very lyrical rap artist and the highlights of my songs are aimed to be in the verses. i like to hit jaw dropping punchlines and clever inaligies. now to me it just sounds too doubled up when i rap the verses twice. of course i double up the choruses. but when i do it with verses it doesn’t sound natural enough. so i record the verse once and i do it with a good delivery and i double up like the end of every other line or so. is this a good techiniqe for a lyrical/raw punchline rap artist? hit me back. thanks.
first of all, thanks for the tips. my uestion is, as an R&B singer/songwriter, how do i get the right microphone for my voice because as you mentioned earlier , if the wrong techniques is used, the song might not come out as it sounds in one’s head. Do you live in NY, cause I’ll pay to work with you, and if not, do you know any other engineers who knows what they’re doing? Please reply , preferably to my email. thanks