Recording - May 2011 - 24

was part of what worked on women, helping bring out pleasing chest resonances. Try before you buy; the match between singer and microphone is particularly touchy with this one. And you’ll need a preamp with lots of clean gain; the M260, like the SM7B, has low output. It’s usually considered that the Chinese were the first to bring good largediaphragm condenser mics onto the market at a relatively affordable price, but in fact that honor probably belongs to Audio-Technica, a Japanese company. The 4000 Series of mics has received plaudits from many engineers; the AT4050* ($500) has enjoyed a reputation as a good, if bright, microphone for well over a decade, and they’ve recently added new models to the line. Again, I haven’t heard these much, but people I trust have, and say good things. A few years ago a company called KEL Audio introduced a line of microphones that went against the grain. While most condenser mics featured a greater or lesser degree of high-frequency rise (see the sidebar, “Why Not Flat?”), KEL voiced their first microphones for unusually flat response, and sold them for unusually low prices. They’ve gone up some (exchange rates, I suspect) but they’re still quite reasonable. Their least-expensive mic is the HM-1* ($180), which has a high-frequency response that’s pretty flat (like, ±1 dB, if their data are to be believed) out to 20 kHz, while the HM3C* ($250) is dead flat out to about 15 kHz, above which it rolls off. These are most unusual response shapes for vocal mics, and I haven’t heard them myself, but people who have suggest that, for the vocalist who needs flat, they do an excellent job.

Epilogue The title of this article is taken from a famous song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, with lyrics by James Weldon Johnson and music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, in the early years of the 20th century. It became known quickly as the “Black National Anthem”; it’s a celebration of resilience and determination in the face of terrible adversity—for the first years of that century were a terrible time for AfricanAmericans. I didn’t choose this title lightly. Rather, it’s a tribute to the power and strength of human voices. The triumphant and harrowing years of the civil rights movement often saw black Americans meeting in a small church for mutual support before another day of marches or boycotts; while Klansmen and night riders circled the building, the most important prop for keeping up spirits was the power of their voices. They sang, the newly composed freedom songs and the old spirituals dating back to slavery days, to keep their fear at bay and their courage up, and by keeping their courage up, they changed the world. As I listen to the news, once again human beings draw strength and courage from the power of song. A few weeks ago, over the radio, I heard a crowd of people singing in Tahrir Square; their voices sounded like the voices from those long-ago days in America, and they brought down a modern Pharoah. This vocal stuff, in the end, is serious business. A voice is not a small thing; a song is not a small thing. In the words of another spiritual, now is a needy time. Lift every voice... and sing.

NEUMANN TLM102

Paul J. Stamler (stamler@recordingmag.com) is a musician, recording engineer, and educator, living and working in St. Louis.

Why Not Flat?

Take a look at Figure 1; it shows the frequency response of the Neumann TLM 103, a typical vocal microphone (and a well-established older sibling of the much newer TLM 102 mentioned above). You’ll notice it’s not a flat, straight line; there’s a broad rise in the upper midrange-treble area, followed by a gentle rolloff in the top octave. But why not use a microphone with a flat frequency response? Isn’t honesty always the best policy? Sometimes it is. Classical vocalists are often recorded with small-diaphragm condenser microphones that have particularly flat responses— the Neumann KM 84 and the Sennheiser MKH series are common mics for this task. The mic is at some distance from the singer, and it’s really recording the room, with the singer in it. For that gig, flat is right. But for pop, rock, folk, jazz, hip-hop, etc., most well-liked vocal mics have responses that look like Fig. 1—decidedly unflat. Why? Partly because they must... see my June 2010 article “Mics, Mechanisms and Myths”, where I talk about the resonances inherent in the construction of a condenser mic, and how designers work with them instead of against them, placing resonant frequencies where they’ll enhance the sound instead of degrading it. But the other reason is that most of the time, singers don’t sing on their own. They sing with guitars, or bluegrass ensembles, or big bands, or metal power trios. And they need to be heard over the racket. A trick used by many recording engineers during mixdown is to pull back a broad band of frequencies in the midrange of the instrument tracks by a decibel or two, while boosting the same band an equal amount for the vocalist(s). That lets the vocals “fill the hole” created for them in the backing. Microphones with a broad presence rise do half the job for you; they give the vocals that extra bit of, well, presence they need to cut through the instruments in a dense mix. Sometimes, it’s effective enough that you won’t need to back the instruments off at all. (This, by the way, is a good argument for using flatter mics to record instrumental tracks. If every track in the mix has the same boost in it, you’ve negated the vocal mic’s advantage.)—PJS
24
RECORDING MAY 2011

FIG. 1



Recording - May 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2011

Recording - May 2011
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Phonic S16 Digital Mixer
Lift Your Voice
Chameleon Labs TS-1 MKII Mic
Melodyne In Action
Roland OCTA-CAPTURE
Comparing Auto-Tune and Melodyne editor: A Producer’s Perspective
Samson Meteor Mic
The FATSO Family
Reviewed and Revisited: Antares Auto-Tune 7
Readers’ Tapes
Lauten FC-357 Clarion Mic
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 14: The Role Of The Producer —Part 2
Game Audio—Your Next Career Move?
sE Electronics Voodoo VR1 Ribbon Mic
Recording’s Bass Column
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - May 2011 - Recording - May 2011
Recording - May 2011 - Cover2
Recording - May 2011 - 1
Recording - May 2011 - 2
Recording - May 2011 - 3
Recording - May 2011 - Fade In
Recording - May 2011 - 5
Recording - May 2011 - Contents
Recording - May 2011 - 7
Recording - May 2011 - Talkback
Recording - May 2011 - 9
Recording - May 2011 - Fast Forward
Recording - May 2011 - 11
Recording - May 2011 - Phonic S16 Digital Mixer
Recording - May 2011 - 13
Recording - May 2011 - Lift Your Voice
Recording - May 2011 - 15
Recording - May 2011 - 16
Recording - May 2011 - 17
Recording - May 2011 - 18
Recording - May 2011 - 19
Recording - May 2011 - 20
Recording - May 2011 - 21
Recording - May 2011 - 22
Recording - May 2011 - 23
Recording - May 2011 - 24
Recording - May 2011 - 25
Recording - May 2011 - Chameleon Labs TS-1 MKII Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 27
Recording - May 2011 - Melodyne In Action
Recording - May 2011 - 29
Recording - May 2011 - 30
Recording - May 2011 - 31
Recording - May 2011 - 32
Recording - May 2011 - 33
Recording - May 2011 - 34
Recording - May 2011 - 35
Recording - May 2011 - Roland OCTA-CAPTURE
Recording - May 2011 - 37
Recording - May 2011 - Comparing Auto-Tune and Melodyne editor: A Producer’s Perspective
Recording - May 2011 - 39
Recording - May 2011 - Samson Meteor Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 41
Recording - May 2011 - The FATSO Family
Recording - May 2011 - 43
Recording - May 2011 - 44
Recording - May 2011 - 45
Recording - May 2011 - Reviewed and Revisited: Antares Auto-Tune 7
Recording - May 2011 - 47
Recording - May 2011 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - May 2011 - 49
Recording - May 2011 - Lauten FC-357 Clarion Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 51
Recording - May 2011 - 52
Recording - May 2011 - 53
Recording - May 2011 - 54
Recording - May 2011 - 55
Recording - May 2011 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 14: The Role Of The Producer —Part 2
Recording - May 2011 - 57
Recording - May 2011 - Game Audio—Your Next Career Move?
Recording - May 2011 - 59
Recording - May 2011 - sE Electronics Voodoo VR1 Ribbon Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 61
Recording - May 2011 - Recording’s Bass Column
Recording - May 2011 - 63
Recording - May 2011 - 64
Recording - May 2011 - Advertiser Index
Recording - May 2011 - 66
Recording - May 2011 - 67
Recording - May 2011 - 68
Recording - May 2011 - 69
Recording - May 2011 - 70
Recording - May 2011 - 71
Recording - May 2011 - Fade Out
Recording - May 2011 - Cover3
Recording - May 2011 - Cover4
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