Ideal microphone placement, microphone, and mixing mastering process

DAEHRAW

New member
Greetings my droogs. I wanted to inquire what would be the optimum distance from a microphone for a vocalist with a strong vocal presence to stand as opposed to someone with softer vocal presence? Should the person with the prominent voice stand further away from the microphone and vice versa should the person with the softer vocal tone stand closer? If given an array of microphones to choose from which would you consider ideal for spoken word/hip hop? Perhaps a Large or Small diaphragm condenser mic? What must be absolutely considered when preparing for a final mix of the recorded product?
 
Everything depends on the talent in front of the mike, which mike compliments them, and levels must be set for each so that the "loud one" doesn't peak/clip, and the "quiet one" isn't too quiet. Also room sound, treatment or lack thereof, etc., etc. experiment until it sounds right. With microphones, a distance change of a few millimeters can make a huge difference.

GJ
 
Based on my own experience recording emcees in my basement (so take it or leave it haha), I'd recommend something simple like a Shure SM-58 with a pop filter. If you're recording spoken word or hip-hop, you probably want a pretty dry sound so the main idea is get them relatively close to the mic, but space them back a hair with the pop filter which will make sure you don't accidentally get the proximity affecting your low tones (obviously it'll help reduce pops at the same time of course...) Personally, if they have a strong vocal presence, I'd try to still keep them close to the mic and just adjust the levels so they aren't clipping. I like to get a dry sound and the further back they are, the more likely you are to pick up room noise and reflections. That's just my advice for home recording hip-hop, I know a lot of people use condenser mics but they're so much more sensitive and you have to have a pretty solid budget for a mid to high level mic and good sound design in your room for it to not sound like crap...
 
Try to use a condenser mic if possible! Then from there mess with the distance from the mic and the gain on your audio interface. Do a couple takes beforehand to get the levels you are looking for. Make sure it sounds good and you are not recording too soft.

softer person : you are probably going to have them closer to the mic and turn the gain up

LOUDER PERSON : turn the gain down and have them take a step away from the mic

Experiment and try to get the best recording.

Peace!
 
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