Recording - February 2014 - 40

the type of preamp, compressor, and settings, all with relation to the vibe of the production of the song. I just finished recording an album, Seven Hour Storm, for Misner
& Smith (misnerandsmith.com), a vocal-centric group, and in this article we'll go
through the vocal recording process together.
I've learned time and time again that whenever possible, it pays to avoid preconceptions about which mic to use in a given scenario. I've been collecting gear
for decades and at this point I own a few outstanding vocal mics, including two
of what mic guru Klaus Heyne refers to as the "Big Five"-the Neumann U 47,
U 67, and M 49, AKG C12, and Telefunken ELA M 251.
With that in mind, we started by setting up an asterisk-array test to determine
the best mic choices for our two vocalists-in other words, we arrayed our mic
choices in an "asterisk" around a single point so they could all be sung into at
the same time, so we could quickly learn which of our mics was the best fit to
each singer. Paul Vnuk talked about this technique most recently in his article
on home-brewed gear shootouts in our October 2013 issue; to read my take
on the technique, don't sweat if you don't have a copy of our March 2005
issue where I discussed it in detail... the article's available for free in
Recording's online reference library, at tinyurl.com/RecMagVocalAsterisk.
We quickly learned from asterisk-array tests that neither my M 249 (a 1961
broadcast version of Neumann's M 49) nor my C12 sounded best for the context of this album, for either vocalist! When all was said and done, we chose
a variety of mics for lead vocals on this album, most often an AKG C414EB
(with a CK12 capsule) for Sam Misner's lead vocals, and a Sanken CU-41 for
Megan Smith's. For specific songs calling for different approaches, we either
used dynamic mics-a Shure SM7 and a Shure SM54-or ribbon mics-a
Coles STC4038 and a Royer R-121.
Positioning the mic
The relative position of the vocalist and microphone depend on a number of
factors, including whether or not the vocalist is also performing simultaneously on

Vocal Recording-My Take
A noted producer walks us through a typical vocal session
By Bruce Kaphan

Most of the vocal recording I produce or engineer is for pop/folk/rock, and as such this article is
focused on techniques appropriate to these styles.
My preference is for lead vocals to be robust, clear,
and detailed-larger than life. For me, the magic in
a well-recorded vocal lies in the match of vocalist to
microphone, preamp, and compression, all in deference to the production of the song.
Choosing the mic
If time allows, I'll test a number of mics for the task
at hand. Ultimately I choose a mic, the distance from
the vocalist to the mic, the height and angle of the mic,
the use of mechanical plosive filtering ("pop filter(s)"),
40

RECORDING February 2014

an instrument, or is isolated from other vocalists or instrumentalists, the loudness
of the vocalist, the quantity and character of plosives in the lyric, desired intimacy of the performance, and the singer's skill at "working" the mic. I also pay
attention to the "proximity effect" characteristics of the mic, avoiding it for inadvertent bass response, or taking advantage of it for weakness in the low range
of the vocalist. In the case of an isolated lead vocal overdub, I'll usually ask a
vocalist to keep a distance of approximately 8" from the mic, requesting they
"work the mic" by moving a little towards the mic at points in their range where
they begin losing power, moving away from the mic when they're belting.
Because condenser and ribbon mics are sensitive to plosives (p's, b's, t's) and
to sound pressure in general, I try to avoid the most direct line from the vocalist's
http://www.misnerandsmith.com http://www.tinyurl.com/RecMagVocalAsterisk
Recording - February 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2014
