Ape Trax Studio Blog

It may or may not come as a surprise that many of the singers that walk through the doors of our studio know little to nothing about microphone technique and how it affects their voice and, of course, their final recording.  I’ve seen singers attempt to use a microphone from just about every angle and distance and yes, extreme setups can be correct for certain situations, but knowing what suits your voice and your musical style is crucial in the final sound of your music.

What is mic technique?

Just singing in the general direction of a microphone is not enough in a studio environment where the highest quality is expected. The recorded sound of voice is influenced by many factors other than their actual voice.
Distance to the microphone is important because the closer you get to a microphone, the louder the end result is going to be. Cardioid microphones also exhibit what’s called the “proximity” effect, which boosts low frequencies as the singer gets closer to the diaphragm of the microphone.

Why should I care about mic technique?

As studio engineers we try to keep the dynamic range of recorded vocals within a certain range (we are allotted only so much dynamic range on a CD) using studio equipment like compressors and limiters. The greater the dynamic range, the harder our equipment has to work, and the harder our equipment has to work, the greater the chance of there being unwanted artifacts making their way into the recording. That said, the singer can be of great help by controlling the way they approach singing into the microphone.

Tips to improve your microphone technique

Use a pop filter to capture plosives. This typically happens when singing phrases containing “B’s” and “P’s” that produces a quick blast of air that hits the microphone diaphragm resulting in an unpleasant thud.  A fine mesh pop filter is designed to disperse these blasts of air before reaching the microphone.

Position the microphone slightly above your mouth and pointed downward about 8 – 12 inches away. This is a great starting point for most singers and works well in most cases, but always remember to experiment.

Do not cover the microphone with your hand. Many singers like to sing with the microphone in their hand, and this is fine, just be sure not to cover the main capsule with your hand. This can only lead to muted frequencies and inferior vocal recordings.

Change the microphone distance based on volume. This is important and rather difficult to master for many vocalists. In order to keep the the overall level of volume within reason it recommended that on louder phrases you back away slightly from the microphone to avoid overloading or distortion. The opposite is true of softer phrases, get a bit closer to the microphone to avoid letting in any room noise or monitor bleed.  If the song is structured in such a way that there are long phrases of loud and soft parts,  consider concentrating on each of these sections separately.  You can hold one postition for the softer vocals, and then go back and re-adjust for the more aggressive ones.

Try different microphones. While not really microphone technique, this is extremely important to the final sound vocal sound. Some voices sound good with a $3k studio condenser, and some sound great with a $50 dynamic mic. Typically all-out screaming just doesn’t sound any better, and many times worse, on an expensive vocal mic.

Place written lyrics in front of you. If you must use written lyrics, please arrange them properly so you can see then while practicing the points above. Do not attempt to sing and hold lyric cheats on your hands at the same time–it doesn’t work. Have someone else hold them for you if needed, or setup a stand at a comfortable height for singing.  Be aware that having a music stand too close to the mic can cause some unwanted reflections that most vocal mics will pick up.  We’ve found that the best setup to avoid these reflections is either taping or clamping the lyric sheet at eye level onto the boom arm of another mic stand or lowering a music stand to about waist height and tilting the rest back into a lectern position.  With this second option,  you’ll have to use your eyeballs more to keep an eye on your cheat sheet so you don’t drop the direction of your voice.

Just remember to experiment, and be conscious of what you are doing when you step in front of a microphone. Just singing in the general direction of a microphone is not going to cut it. Remember, it’s your music, your baby…do it right.