Metal vocals Recording - Not Growl

[Skyweaver]

G'day All,

Found this Forum and thought I'd ask a question.

I'm recording second album and due to producer moving, I've decided to take on the production myself....

I have a great Guitar, Bass and Drum sound and just about to work on Vocals, (pre-production is finished.)

I'm using Nuendo and looking to get a decent mic and mic pre to record with, have a great room - just need the vocal hardware.

I do the old school Dio, Dickinson, Halford type vocals - if you check the track http://www.luthor.info/Skyweaver.mp3 you can hear the vocals from first recording.

Any suggestions, recommendations would be great.

 

[commandante]

Matt Smith and Kazrog both have killer voices and recordings. I am sure they will be able to help you out.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Any idea of the budget ?

 

[Skyweaver]

No real constraints on Budget, just really need to find the right gear

And thanks for the reply

 

[beechstudio]

If budget is not an issue....try U47 / NEVE 1073 / Urei 1176 chain.

 

[vile_ator]

Thats a good one. Or buy a Neumann TLM 103 for cheap and be done with it. Also I like the Audio Technica 4050 and the AKG 414 BULS and also the 414 TLII. All reasonably priced and work well as overheads if you buy a pair.

This is for metal vox where the guy is screaming, yelling whatever. Little things like differences in resonances and siblance are not as obvious under these conditions. Recording a clean voice or female voice will require more homework if youre really picky I think. Also I havent used it but the Shure SM7 is popular.

Colin

 

[Seizure.]

i got a realy cool example of some realy unconventional vocal recording method.

the grunts on this recording were actualy done with a C1000!!

http://www.grinroth.nl/mp3/Grinroth-forsaken.mp3

i know the drummer bytheway.. the guy fucking kicks ass!! realy big talent, considering he's just 19!!

 

[Skyweaver]

I went to a local studio and worked through all their mics and mic-pres

over the same piece of music, same phrase.

I picked the mic pre almost immidiately, and then when through all the mics on that mic pre.

The end result was a Neumann 194 and Buzz mic pre, with the U87, being the close second to the 194.

It took around 3 hours.

It was an interesting experiment and definately worth the time.

Thanks for the replies, hope this helps others interested.

 

[Matt Smith]

Cool, glad you found something that works. Maybe it's just me but I find it almost impossible to recommend a vocal mic (for an actual singing voice, at least) because it totally depends on the voice. Symphony X is a band I like a lot, and Michael Romeo helped me quite a bit when I was getting my studio computer set up. He uses a 414 to record Russ and it sounds great, so I got a 414. But it sounded like crap on my voice. It sounded veiled and kinda hollow in the midrange...just didn't work with my voice AT ALL. So I sold it and tried a couple of the Soundelux mics. Ended up going with the U195 (not like I could afford any of the others anyway). It has a nice presence (I never have to add anything in the mix) without being shrill like most cheap condensers nowadays, and good midrange.
But, I had to mix a song from our new record early to go on a compiliation, and I was fighting it all through the mix because it sounded thin. I really had to work to thicken it up. So the verdict is still out. I'm going to try out the Peluso 22 251, which is their knockoff of the classic ELAM 251. It's arriving today, so I'll give that a shot and see if I like it or the U195 better. This is through a 9098 pre, btw.

 

[Skyweaver]

Yep the mic is as personal as your toothbrush, and true the voice on its own can sound different in the mix,

I've heard of a technique were guys are singing the lead line then whispering underneath on a second track to thicken it up.