Vocal Miking
Most sibilance, plosive and room problems yield to placement before a new mic.
Related
Three numbers to start from
A vocal mic has a few measurable starting points: 15 to 25 cm from mouth to grille, 10 to 15 cm above the mouth, and 10 to 20 degrees off axis. A condenser works well from there. Shouting and rap can move in to 5 or 10 cm, at the cost of proximity effect lifting the low end, which needs a little control at the preamp or on the EQ. Keep the pop filter about 5 cm off the grille; pressed against the lips, the air still reaches the diaphragm.
Sorting by symptom
| Symptom | Change first | Change later |
|---|---|---|
| Piercing sibilance | Raise 10–15 cm, angle 10–20 degrees | De-esser, different mic |
| Heavy plosives | Pop filter 5 cm off the grille, off axis | High-pass, edit the take |
| Too much room | Cardioid, blanket behind the singer | Booth panel, another room |
| Dull, boxy voice | Move back 5 cm, check grille contact | A condenser instead |
| Headphone bleed | Lower the backing, singer steps in | Closed-back headphones |
The order of the table is the order of the work: if placement can fix it, do not reach for a plugin, and do not change the microphone first.
Sibilance and plosives
Sibilance lives around 5 to 8 kHz and comes from air passing the teeth. Raise the mic and angle it off axis and the sibilance steps back before you touch a de-esser. Push the reduction too far and "s" turns into "th" while the consonants smear. Plosives are the puff behind p, b and t; straight into the diaphragm it lands as a low thump, and an off-axis angle plus a pop filter removes most of it. Proximity effect is strongest inside 10 cm, thickening the voice and adding low end. Keep it if that is the sound; if not, roll off below 80 Hz at the preamp.
The pattern chooses the room
Cardioid rejects what is behind the mic, not what is in front. In a bedroom, two parallel walls send reflections straight back into the capsule, and a heavy blanket or a booth panel does more than a more expensive microphone. Omni takes the whole room and only earns its place when the room is worth hearing. Loud headphones leak the click through the earcup gap into the vocal track, where it cannot be removed later; lower the backing and let the singer work closer.
When to step back
Classical singing, folk and wide dynamic passages flatten under a close mic. Move the singer back half a metre to a metre and let the room carry the tone so the dynamics survive. A poor room plus a distant mic only collects more noise and reflection; moving in and adding a little reverb is the more honest choice.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Along the same line
Sources
- Huber & Runstein, Modern Recording Techniques, vocal tracking chapter
- Bartlett, Practical Recording Techniques, vocal miking section
- Shure, Microphone Techniques for Recording（厂商文档）