Recording vocals without headphones in the studio
| October 7th, 2010 | 27 Comments | « Previous | Episode 23 | Next » |
Inspired by a recent discussion about the Daniel Lanois production of the new album, Le Noise, by Neil Young, I thought I would show “recording with out headphones” in action on my current production.
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October 7th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Regarding cutting vox w/o phones: Nice isolation, sounds greater than 9db so it works well.! Was the mic choice based on the excellent off axis pattern of the SMb7 or was there luck in a limitation of choices? What were you using for playback? I have cut vox in CR for years! Sometimes the rehearsals end up comped into the final. There is a gtr/vox duo that I work with that I always stick headset mics on during arrangement sessions and other stuff in the CR. It can catch some interesting things.
Love the show!
October 7th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Very neat episode. I like seeing people using various recording methods. You have a lot of good info. Thanks.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
So….. did you flip the phase on your monitors when recording this? I know that’s Beck’s trick for doing vox in the control room. If you did, that’s thing everyone needs to know about!! Sounds great!
October 8th, 2010 at 12:07 am
We actually had many mic choices at the studio (including several great LDCs) but I really wanted the sound of the SM7 on this album.
October 8th, 2010 at 12:13 am
No fancy speaker phase flip trick. I just cranked up the NS-10 until he had enough volume to get into the tune. The NS-10s are good because they do not have a lot of low end. Low end will get into a directional mic more.
October 8th, 2010 at 12:24 am
Hey Ronan,
Looks tough out there in Italy…especially the food part.
Any quick link to a website that shows how to wire speakers out of phase? Especially now in the days of powered monitors – what’s the easiest way to get there?
Thanks,
Lost in Portofino
October 8th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Wow! That’s sweet man. I’ve used the phase flip trick, but that’s crazy how you got extremely isolated track without that trick! Nice on!
October 8th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Thx. Ronan.
Appreciate your vids. here. Great that you take the time to share and exchange ideas, in such an open minded way. Nice track btw. Greetings!
October 8th, 2010 at 6:24 am
Thanks for this information Ronan! I’ll share it with the engineer I’m working with and give it a try.
I love your work.
October 8th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Ronan,
I’ll pile on the additional “thank you’s” for taking the time and energy to produce and share your videos; very educational and inspirational!
Yesterday, a couple of hours before receiving email notification of this video, I had purchased my very first SM7B…is that weird, or what?!?
Keep ‘em comin’, Ronan!
Best,
Harold LaRue
Columbus, OH
October 8th, 2010 at 8:24 am
I have to try this. My kids always say that my singing is way too laid back on my demos…maybe this will help pump up the excitement.
My studio is all disassembled at the moment though…moving back to northern CA.
October 8th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Ronan,
Just have to say, “Recording without headphones” sounded really good “on the web”….I can only imagine what it sounds like in the control room.
You are my “online” mentor
I appreciate the time you take to share.
Jeff
3pstudio@comcast.net
October 8th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
I think you will love it. A real workhorse mic.
October 8th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
If you are going XLR into your powered monitors you can actually buy a phase invert adapter. Its a really simple passive adapter.
October 9th, 2010 at 11:41 am
If I were to use the phase invert trick, would I want to intentionally get a lot of clear signal from the speakers, so it would be most accurate to what is already recorded.
My thinking is that this would cause the most phase cancellation, giving you the very minimum of music in the vocal track.
Thanks for all your videos Ronan. I’ve learned a lot from you. Keep up the excellent work.
October 9th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Printing -15db, now there’s a man who’s confident with his tools! Great vid, thanks Ronan!
October 11th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Nice to hear you are spending time across the pond! Great vid, as usual. Hope to see you some time soon. Cheers.
October 12th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Cool but I still don’t understand how you didn’t pick up the rest of the instruments though the vocal mic.
October 17th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Damn it – Now I want CAKE!!! Thanks RCM – It was nice to “see” and “hear” what you talked about in Boot Camp. Boot Camp rocked. Keep up the great work.
October 25th, 2010 at 1:01 am
Thanks Ronan this is the first Video of yours I have seen and it’s great.
October 31st, 2010 at 11:47 pm
@Steve Hebert – the mic didn’t pick up the monitored track because it’s a dynamic mic (Shure SM7b), meaning only what’s right in front of it is being picked up. It’s very good at not getting the ambient surroundings I suppose.
November 1st, 2010 at 8:58 am
Hey R4×2, You are on the right track, but its because the mic is a cardioid or directional mic, and dynamic directional mics often have better rejection than their condenser counterparts. But some dynamic are actually omnidirectional with little to no rejection.
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I had to try this out. Surprisingly, it worked very well and I had almost no noticeable bleed. Great way to keep the “talent” comfortable.
January 31st, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Was the singer hearing himself in the monitors too, or just the track?
January 31st, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Just the music was in the speakers. Some guys will pump the voice back through the monitors as well, but if the singer does not ask for it, I will not do it.
February 24th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Do you think you can get the same clarity out of an SM7b compared to mid priced condensor such as KSM32 or lower priced Studio Projects C1?
February 24th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
The SM7b is a great vocal mic. They are used if on many major albums, so as long as you have a decent pre-amp you should be able to make it sound very good and detailed.