The secret to pro-quality vocal recordings at home
March 9th, 2009
A lot of energy is spent seeking the holy grail of home-recording accomplishment: recording a decent vocal track. People go back and forth about warming vocals up using pre-amps, talk about removing nasal frequencies with EQ during mixdown. I dare say recording vocals is tougher than recording drums, but the dirty little secret to both is the same: you just have to use the right mic.
If you’re on a budget, it’s very tempting to select a microphone that can also be used for live performance, since good mics are expensive and a lot of us with home studios also spend time playing out. I can’t tell you how many basement recordings I’ve made with my live performance mics, nor how frustrating it is to fight with the flat-sounding a muddy sounding vocal takes that these mics produce in the home studio.
In my case, I’m talking about the Shure Beta 57. While this mic is an improvement over the SMC stage mic I used to employ for recording vocals, it’s a far cry from the studio-grade large-diaphragm mics I should be using to record the human voice. But where to start? Home recording enthusiasts like us don’t want to drop a grand every time we add a mic to the mix.
Shure’s KSM27 (pictured) is a reasonably safe bet at around $300 on the street. Though it’s on the smaller end, this mic provides the large-diaphragm bigness you might be looking for, and it can be used in drum applications too–as an overhead mic. If you need to record a choir or group of singers, the KSM27 is an excellent value. Here are a few on eBay.
We’ll cover more studio-specific vocal mics in the coming weeks. In the meantime, happy recording.
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