mic preference for recording screams

[Goodfellas453]

i believe joey and some others use the sm7b mic for screams, do you guys use any other mics, what placement? do you prefer dynamic or condenser. how close do you mic? i have only had luck with my sm 57 and a outboard compressor, my condensers suck and am thinking about upgrading mic, Thanks guys!

 

[Goodfellas453]

and also when tracking, do you have the singer/screamer go through the whole song once, then mute recorded parts and do it again? or do you take it one phrase, another take of that phrase then another then next phrase?

 

[JeffEstrada]

Record by sections. This way your vocalist can focus on getting a little section perfect instead of having to worry about getting the whole song down in one take. You'll get much better takes this way.

 

[jimwilbourne]

I'd stick with the 57. It's mostly the same as the 7b
There are also mods you can get for your 57 that mimic the 7b

As for tracking, it kinda depends on the vocalist.
Example, if the vocalist already has a good idea what he's doing, and you're confident in his work, then go ahead and take it phrase by phrase.
If the vocalist is uneasy about his stuff, go through the whole song first then talk about each section before attacking each phrase.

 

[oroinvictus]

Whenever I can, I stick with an SM7B, it tends to sound a lot cleaner than a 57.

 

[samth3mancgp]

Condenser mics can work really well on screams too. I usually use a 7b, but I have a friend that uses condensers for all the scream vocals he has ever recorded, and they sound every bit as good as ones done with a dynamic after processing. I did a session with him recently where we used a Neumann U87. (He did the screaming.. I was tracking). FWIW, most of the condensers that he said he has used for screams are mid-range forward mics like the U87, TLM193, U47, etc. A brighter condenser like many cheap chinese ones would probably not work very well for screams. Doesn't Joey often use an AT4040 for vocals instead of the 7b? That's a fairly neutral condenser.

I agree that the 57 is the best choice for the money. SM7b is my personal choice like many others here, but I wouldn't rule out all condensers.. just the overly bright ones.

 

[OneDaySky]

SM7b baby....That diaphragm can handle anything!

 

[gotet10]

SM7b for me all the way.

 

[Joey.coldweather]

Depends on the vocalist/song really. I have used the 7b and got great results and then the next project sometimes next song it doesn't cut it. In my experience with that style of singing the 7b has a greater ratio to sounding good but I have swapped it for mics that suited the vocalist or song better. My main go to mics for this style of singing would be SM7b, U87(when I'm in a studio that actually has one), AT4060, 4040, 4050, and recently tried a R121 that convinced me to try that more often.

 

[Vinny]

Ksm32, SM7b, and AT4060 are all pretty good for the price.

 

[Fandus]

both sm7b and at4040 here. i like the at4040 more. i think of it as the audix d6 of vocals, it puts out a almost mix ready signal. i find having both these mics works well. it's like 40% of people will sound good through the at4040, 40% through the sm7b and 20% can just gtfo coz they suck.

 

[jimwilbourne]

Whenever I can, I stick with an SM7B, it tends to sound a lot cleaner than a 57.

idk man. they're kinda close...



I'm not sure why everyone is so intent on spending an extra couple hundred bucks on the 7b

 

[Vinny]

^^^^Sm7b is clearer. As long as you have a good preamp with plenty of clean gain, it'll do the trick on 90% of all vocals.

 

[corybrunnemann]

i believe joey and some others use the sm7b mic for screams, do you guys use any other mics, what placement? do you prefer dynamic or condenser. how close do you mic? i have only had luck with my sm 57 and a outboard compressor, my condensers suck and am thinking about upgrading mic, Thanks guys!

joey uses his sm7b as a talkback mic these days haha. he exclusively uses the AT-4040 for all vocals.

i used to use the sm7b too, but recently i've been using my AKG c2000b for everything, and i love it a lot.

 

[M-1000]

If you want to go the dynamic route, I really like the Audix OM series for screaming. I have A/B tested it against a Shure KSM32 and the Audix OM5 I have won hands down. A friend of mine gets great vocals from a 40/40 though, I am hoping to borrow it for comparison purposes soon.