What Dave Pensado can teach us about recording vocals
Best microphone choices and more for recording vocals according to Dave Pensado
...Microphones?
Since I come from a musical background that has never concerned itself with the topic of microphones, let alone microphone types, choices, placements and techniques, I have found myself struggling in this aspect of my current music education. To make up for this, I have done a lot of research that will hopefully help me by having some wise and well researched information and opinions to fall back on while I gain more experience in this field myself.
While I can't deny that some of this work is a bit overkill, the repetition and research required to create the infographs you see in this post is exactly what I believe (and hope) will drill this topic into my long-term memory.
As such, while I hope it may be helpful to anyone reading this, I strongly urge you to go through the sources that they are based upon and doing some research of your own.
To start off with, I have created an infograph that shows the different microphone choices that Dave Pensado mentions in his book "Recording Vocal with Dave Pensado" (2018). Furthermore I have added information regarding polar patterns, frequency responses and other useful information about the microphones found from various sources that will be linked at the end of the post.
Please note that while I did try my best to gather and present accurate information, there may be mistakes and errors - and as such it should be used with caution and doublechecked as appropriate for the intended use.
Note: Where multiple polar patterns are mentioned, this is due to the microphone having a physical switch that changes between the mentioned patterns. Furthermore the "Bass roll-off", "Boost" and "Cut" are approximations made from readings of the frequency response charts and might therefore not be 100% accurate.
Further reading
Throughout his book "Recording vocals with Dave Pensado" he reminds us multiple times that we as producers and recording/mixing/mastering engineers are, when it comes down to it, working in a service industry. As such, our top priority should be to make the singer comfortable and provide a good service. One of the most important factors in getting a good recording is the singers confidence level. Therefore, any and all things that can boost the singers confidence level should be done. Among many, one of the ways this is done according to Pensado is building the singers confidence level in you. This is done primarily through good preperation, research and creating a stress free environment.
As a way to make this as easy to follow as possible, I have summarized some of the points that I found the most important in Pensado's book into a checklist format that I can follow when I prepare for a studio session with a singer.
1. Research the singer by listening to demos and prior work.
This will help you to: Select the appropriate microphones, select the appropirate audio levels, select the appropriate effects and prepare for different techniques such as background vocals etc.
2. Acquire or create a lyric sheet for easier communication during recording.
3. Create a headphone mix that matches what the singer is used to hearing/the demo or rough-mix you have been provided.
4. Make a good first impression that inspires confidence in the singer and their confidence in you. Make sure everyone involved in the project are helping with this.
5. Utilize the headphone mix to make dynamic decisions that help the singer and their confidence. Do this by pulling back the drums in case of timing issues, correcting the amount of reverb in case of pitch issues and emphasize certain elements you suspect will deliver a better performance from the singer
6. Be deligigent about documenting the session. This includes noting the microphone choice and placement, outboard gear and parameters
7. Never wear out your singers voice, confidence or energy level on testing microphones. Instead have everything ready to go when the singer arrives. If possible test out everything with a similar sounding singer first.
8. Enhance the singers performance where appropriate by tastefully suggesting things such as correcting posture, relaxing their throat, remembering the lyrics instead of reading or making them smile.
9. Never do the following: Solo the artists voice while they are in the control room unless specifically asked to. Never suggest that a singer is not hitting the right notes, instead tell them to "sing the song, not the note".
Further into the book there is an interview between Pensado and the artist 'Esthero' where the importance of the relationship between the singer and the recording engineer is made very apperant. In the interview Pensado asks if there is something Esthero is looking for from a recording engineer to enhance her performance, to which she responds:
"When I'm doing vocals, especially really emotional stuff, I need you to stay with me because I'm often doing things that are extremely emotional - things that I'm really attached to and invested in emotionally. There's nothing worse than being with an engineer and trying to get it out - especially if things are going really well - and I'm like, back it up to the second line and theu're sitting there going, "Which one was that?" I need you to be with me." (Esthero, 2018, p.53)
Once again this quote reminds us that, especially from the singers perspective, we as audio engineers are very much working in a service industry - and remembering that will go a long way in the music industry.
Although Pensado does mention microphone pre-amplifiers, the general gist seems to be that experimentation is key, and whatever works based on your experience is the way to go. Despite that, I did find one quote regarding pre-amplifiers I found interesting:
"The combination that's the most classic is a Neumann u 47 or a Telefunken 251 microphone through a Neve 1073 preamp - now that's an amazing sound!" (Pensado, D. 2018, p.40)
For future reference, here are a few bullet points of topics discussed in the book that was not included in this post:
1. A technical explanation of how dynamic, condenser and ribbon microphones work, including an explanation of impedence and its importance in regards to microphones and studio routing.
2. Microphone setups and techniques including pop-filters, shock mounts and boom stands.
3. Room setups and techniques including gobos, room acoustics and monitor positioning
4. An overview and general philosophy of compression and equalization in pre- and post vocal recording, including specific compressors both analog and digital.
5. An in-depth overview over using VocAlign and Melodyne.
6. Mixing tips and general philosophy of post-recording vocal production using de-essers, mid-side eq and comping.
In conclusion, well worth the read.
-Tobettermorrow
Sources & links
Dave Pensado (2018) Recording Vocals with Dave Pensado. [Place of publication not identified]: Hal Leonard. Available at: https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=acb97151-a5d1-3da4-9705-e39f204af6f0 (Accessed: 3 February 2023).
R-11
https://royerlabs.com/pdf/manuals/R-121manual.pdf
R-122
https://royerlabs.com/r-122-mkii/
AEA N22
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/N22--aea-n22-ribbon-microphone
https://www.aearibbonmics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AEA-N22-Specifications-8-16-18.pdf
Condenser diaphragms
https://mynewmicrophone.com/large-diaphragm-vs-small-diaphragm-condenser-microphones/
U47
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Neumann/U-47
U87
https://en-de.neumann.com/u-87-ai
C-800G
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C800G--sony-c-800g-large-diaphragm-condenser-microphone