We all know how much a great vocal sound can enhance any recording, however achieving this in the studio can be mystifying, over the next few months I will demystify the processing of vocals, using mic preamps, recording techniques, and the mixing techniques used to produce masterful results.

In my opinion, getting a good vocal sound is much easier than it was in the past, as studio quality microphones are now available for very reasonable prices. Having said that, I get lots of emails at Ralph Sutton.com and Studio D House of Blues Studios in regards to suggestions on recording vocals and I always answer. I do several panel a year where I also answer question's and offer helpful suggestion to engineers and producers with some of the problem they may encountering with recording great vocals. I like getting the emails and answering the question, how ever I know it would be better if I made this helpful information available to every one. When it comes to vocals obviously the vocalist is the most important ingredient to making a great vocal recording. So here is the senareio, the vocalist is delivering a good performance, which makes the engineering and producers job all about capturing the vocals in the best possible way.

The Right Microphone For Vocals

A lot of pop vocal work is done using a of large diaphragm condenser microphone like the Neumann TLM 67 Condenser Microphone or Neumann TLM 49 Condenser Microphone, now there are exceptions. Some singers and engineers like to use dynamic mic’s like the Shure SM58 Mic, which by the way I would suggest that every vocalist own one of these work horse mic’s as they are handy for just about every performance application you will do and it’s yours. Now back to the point, this mic has a tonality that suits their voice or the style of music. It's is also very possible to get a very good vocal recording using a small-diaphragm condenser microphone like the AKG C 451 B Condenser Microphone. Each microphone that I have suggested can and will give you very good results, so be sure to select a mic that suits your needs.
The more relevant issue is not the type of microphone its the tonality. Matching a microphone to the artist is more important than many people may value and if you've never had a chance to compare different mic’s in a recording environment, that's quite understandable. I get emails from people frequently asking which mic is the best buy within a certain price range, and that's really hard to answer in a serious way without knowing the voice being recorded. Most recording studio have a selection  of microphones to choose from, especially large diaphragm, which have a distinct tonal quality in and of themselves, so it's best to have a selection of microphones available to you, allowing you to select the best one for the recording.

If you are a Indie Music Professional I strongly suggest that you start making a budget to purchase a microphone because they are one of the most important tools in your box. Choose one that is natural sounding, with a warm quality, or one that offers good high end. You may wish to consider a tube microphone, these can sound very different, which is part of the tube sound here is a example of a good inexpensive tube Audio-Technica AT4060 Tube Microphone. For me, a good tube mic sound crisp and clear, and they also add weight and density to the lower low end frequencies. Now with tube mic’s you will find some that intentionally overdrive the tube to get a warm sound which can ends up sounding distorted. Thankfully most manufacturers now realized that the best sounding tube mic is the one that doesn't create a artificial sound at all, and depends on the tube itself to deliver it’s distinctness.

The Male and Female vocal qualities are very different and need to be treated as such, when selecting a mic for the female voice make sure that you take into consideration that their voice is smother and easier to balance than the male voice. The male vocal has a tendency to have more harmonic complexities than the female and requires more attention in that respect, so in choosing your ideal mic make sure that you pick one that has the ability in the frequency spectrum you like.
As you may know, mic with a strong presence top out in the upper mid-range and are most likely to give you some problems, if gone unchecked, now that same mic may also save a session where you're working with a vocalist who has a voice that lacks definition. This is not a case of good versus bad, but rather suitable mic versus unsuitable mic. Of all the microphones I've used over the years, very few of them have actually been bad from a technical standpoint, and even then, it's usually been from the viewpoint of noise rather than tonality.

What I have just said in regards to mic’s is also true for preamplifiers. Their is not doubt that expensive specialized microphone preamplifier can sound noticeably better than budget models, and I've used both, from the all in one like the Focusrite OctoPre MkII 8 Channel Mic Preamp to D.W. Fearn VT-2 Dual Channel Mic Pre , and I have had great results from both, artistically and technically. I will be doing a article on preamplifiers and talking about the different types and what you can expect from them in the coming months. Below is a list of some good sturdy Microphones that you should seriously consider owning.

Shure SM58S Mic

AKG C 4000 B Stage & Studio Condenser Microphone

AKG C 414 B-XL II Condenser Microphone