Tools For Live Performance By Producer & Engineer, Dallan Beck - Part 3
Posted by producer engineer at July 7, 2008 4:45 PM
Producer and engineer, Dallan Beck offers Part 3 of the series on how to capture great vocals. In this segment, Dallan discusses the Live Performance. studio.
TOOLS FOR LIVE PERFORMANCE
By Dallan Beck
Let’s
start with the microphone. Regardless of whether you are singing live or in the
studio, you will be using a mic to amplify your voice. In a professional
studio, though, they should have a great selection of microphones to choose
from. With live performance however, you can hope that the Live Sound Engineer
has a mic that’s right for you (and that it has been cleaned from the last time
it was used), but that’s just putting your vocal fate into the wrong hands.
Besides being a matter of poor hygiene (do you have any idea how much saliva
and spit is on that mic???), every microphone is a little bit different.
So
how do you go about finding the one that’s right for your voice? Well, it’s a
little tricky. You can go to your local Pro Audio shop and audition the
different vocal stage microphones while listening to your voice through
headphones. There are a lot of variables though to take into account – your
voice that day, the quality of the headphones and the ability for you to listen
to the sound that is coming out of the headphones and not resonating in your
head.
My
first recommendation, honestly, is to check out some live performances of other
vocalists that you admire and somewhat compare yourself to. See exactly what
microphones they are using. Nowadays, there are 2 major choices in stage mics.
There is the old standby – basically a dynamic microphone with a cardioid polar
pattern. This simply means that they are good at rejecting feedback, pick up
the most sound when the voice is directly singing into the top of the mic, and
don’t need any special power source in order to operate. They are always
working (unless they have an on/off switch). The Shure SM58 and Beta 58 have
been the most popular in this category. However, Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic,
ElectroVoice, Audix and AudioTechnica all make their own dynamic vocal mics.
They cost right around the $75 to $200 range.
What
is becoming more popular, especially because of monitors switching over to
“in-ear” style, are hyper and super cardioid pattern condenser mics. These have
an even “tighter” pickup pattern (in regards to rejecting sounds coming from
the sides), and will be much more sensitive to your vocal inflections. In the studio we almost exclusively use
condenser microphones to pick up every nuance of the performance. But we don’t
have to worry about feedback, however, live; it is always a consideration.
In-ear monitoring has allowed for more condenser mics to be used without the
risk of feedback. The Neumann KMS 105 and the Shure Beta 87A are popular
choices.
Now,
the stage condenser mics are going to cost a lot more money. They can be as
much as $700. So, budget is always a concern. You have to be able to afford it.
What
you are trying to get out of the mic, depends on your voice. The dynamic mics
can handle more Sound Pressure Level (SPL) than the condensers. So if you have
a very loud, piercing voice, the dynamic might be more your choice. You are
also going to want to use what’s known as “proximity effect”. This is an
acoustic property that basically states that the closer you get to the mic, the
more you will exaggerate the amount of low frequencies that are projected.
This, when used properly, can help your voice sound “bigger” than it really is.
Just
remember when testing out mics, that louder and brighter aren’t always better.
People sometimes equate these things. You are really looking for the most
pleasing “mid range” sound possible. This will allow the Live Sound Engineer,
to “crank” you up without driving away the audience. You want to be loud but
not painful to listen to!
So
once you find a mic that works for you, we can look at a couple of processors,
which will enhance your vocal delivery – the first of which is compression.
Compression
(again when used properly) will help keep your volumes in check. What it’s
really going to do is “level off” the loudest sounds and “bring up” the softer
tones. It’s going to keep you sounding fuller and more consistent. You won’t have
to “try” so hard to get the sound to project. Not that compression is a
substitute for resonance and proper technique, though. It will just enhance
what you can already do.
If
you find yourself setting up the compressor, you are going to have a couple of
parameters to deal with. The most important part to remember however is the
amount of gain reduction you end up with. This is usually a meter read-out in
db (decibels). You will probably be shooting for about 3-6 db of compression to
start with. You don’t want to “squash” your sound, just “tame” it. There is
usually a THRESHOLD control that sets where the onset of compression will
happen. The lower the setting, the more compression you will end up with. In a
more complex setup there will be RATIO, ATTACK, RELEASE, and KNEE controls, but
that’s too much for me to explain here. JUST REMEMBER that the more GAIN
REDUCTION you have, the louder you will need to turn up the OUTPUT of the
device. It should be an even exchange of decibels between Gain Reduction and
Output. We don’t want to “lose” any volume when using compression.
If
you want to add a bit of sustain onto your vocal sound, you can use a simple
DELAY or REVERB effect. With Delay, you are going to have a Time Delay setting
and a REPEAT or FEEDBACK rate. For a basic Time Delay, start with about 300ms,
and adjust the REPEAT or FEEDBACK rate so that it “echoes” only 2-3 times. If
you can TAP the delay tempo in, then try tapping the unit at eighth note or
quarter note tempos. If you want the Delay to be more noticeable, then tap at
Quarter Note Triplets. When you set the OUTPUT or MIX of the Delay, just make
sure it doesn’t overpower the “DRY” or original Lead Vocal sound. It’s just
supposed to fill in the gaps and add a “tail” to your endings.
REVERB
is always a touchy subject. Some singers just like a little ROOM reverb, which
will just thicken the sound a little bit. Others prefer larger HALL or PLATE
sounds to give them a “big” feel. You don’t need to “cover up” your voice, so
just try to select a setting that complements your voice and the venue that you
are in.
I
know that the effects settings were minimal, and it’s a much more complex
selection process. I’ve written a couple of books (one for Recording Vocals)
that goes into the settings and choices (with examples) into much more depth.
I
hope that all of your live performances translate all the hard work and passion
that you’ve put into your voice.
Ó2007 Dallan Beck. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with
permission.
Dallan
Beck is the Head Instructor @ SAE Nashville and the former Director of the
Recording Institute @ MI in
Comments
haha dallen I didn't know you were contributing here? Shouldn't you and kelly be working on the next top40 hit?