I have a client who needs to buy her own mic for live situations. I have a
couple in mind but thought I'd throw it to you guys to fill out my choices.

Artist:

12 year old.
Classical singer.
Very powerful voice but dynamic for the type of stuff she sings. (think Sara
Brightman)

Budget:

+/- $100.00. Here parents will pay a little more if the value is there. She
currently has a SM 58, but it isn't doing the trick.

Thanks in advance,

Mike.

--


mikerekka at hotmail dot com hates spam

In article HAnjf.17$Eq5.13@pd7tw1no, geek wrote:
I have a client who needs to buy her own mic for live situations. I have a
couple in mind but thought I'd throw it to you guys to fill out my choices.


+/- $100.00. Here parents will pay a little more if the value is there. She
currently has a SM 58, but it isn't doing the trick.

Explain what it doesn't do and how far back she is using it.

Has she tried removing the foam from the inside of the ball?

At age 12 I am assuming she is a soprano and not an alto.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

She has pretty good mic control, the mic just doesn't seem to keep up with
her mid range freq. (does that make sense?)

We haven't tried removing the foam yet (good suggestion).

You're right, she's currently soprano moving quickly to mezzo-soprano. The
SB reference was to her style, not her range.

m.

--


mikerekka at hotmail dot com hates spam


"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
In article HAnjf.17$Eq5.13@pd7tw1no, geek wrote:
I have a client who needs to buy her own mic for live situations. I have a
couple in mind but thought I'd throw it to you guys to fill out my
choices.


+/- $100.00. Here parents will pay a little more if the value is there.
She
currently has a SM 58, but it isn't doing the trick.

Explain what it doesn't do and how far back she is using it.

Has she tried removing the foam from the inside of the ball?

At age 12 I am assuming she is a soprano and not an alto.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article VOnjf.28$112.7@pd7tw2no, geek wrote:
She has pretty good mic control, the mic just doesn't seem to keep up with
her mid range freq. (does that make sense?)

How? Does it make her sound nasal, or does it make her sound squeezed?

We haven't tried removing the foam yet (good suggestion).

Try it. If removing the foam makes things better, consider a mike with
more top end extension. If removing the foam makes things worse, consider
a mike with less.

You're right, she's currently soprano moving quickly to mezzo-soprano. The
SB reference was to her style, not her range.

Okay, so most of the time she is in head voice and so there isn't much
actual sound coming from the chest. So the mike is only maybe a foot or
so from her mouth, no farther away?
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

geek wrote On 11/30/05 12:03,:
I have a client who needs to buy her own mic for live situations. I have a
couple in mind but thought I'd throw it to you guys to fill out my choices.

Artist:

12 year old.
Classical singer.
Very powerful voice but dynamic for the type of stuff she sings. (think Sara
Brightman)

Budget:

+/- $100.00. Here parents will pay a little more if the value is there. She
currently has a SM 58, but it isn't doing the trick.


I would recommend the AE5400 from Audio Technica. It's a condensor and a large diaphram, too. We
have them for our vocals, which range from baritone to mezzo-soprano and they work great.

They're more pricey, but you'll never replace it.

--fletch

How? Does it make her sound nasal, or does it make her sound squeezed?



Both. She works the mic for volume, but the sound ranges between nasal and
limited. I'm used to working with her in the studio and tracking through a
NT 2, so I'm trying to get some of that range in her live performance. I may
be being a little fussy here, but I'd like her to have a mic that didn't
require the sound man to do a lot of tweaking. I'm not always there and
there is a huge range in the types of systems that she performs on.


Try it. If removing the foam makes things better, consider a mike with
more top end extension. If removing the foam makes things worse, consider
a mike with less.


I'll give this a shot for sure.


Okay, so most of the time she is in head voice and so there isn't much
actual sound coming from the chest. So the mike is only maybe a foot or
so from her mouth, no farther away?


Correct. She does some softer pieces that have the proximity at 1-2 inches,
but 6-8 inches would be the average.

Mike.

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:03:51 GMT, "geek"
wrote:

I have a client who needs to buy her own mic for live situations. I have a
couple in mind but thought I'd throw it to you guys to fill out my choices.

Artist:

12 year old.
Classical singer.
Very powerful voice but dynamic for the type of stuff she sings. (think Sara
Brightman)

Budget:

+/- $100.00. Here parents will pay a little more if the value is there. She
currently has a SM 58, but it isn't doing the trick.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Give the AKG C 535 EB a try.

Nice SD condenser commonly used for live vocals. The advantage of this
mic is that it sports a switch that allows you to select between flat
response, bass roloff, -14 flat, -14 with bass roloff. Definitely a
step up from the SM58.

It's a little pricey new but you can probably find one used in your
suggested price range.

In article vcqjf.320$112.277@pd7tw2no, geek wrote:
How? Does it make her sound nasal, or does it make her sound squeezed?

Both. She works the mic for volume, but the sound ranges between nasal and
limited. I'm used to working with her in the studio and tracking through a
NT 2, so I'm trying to get some of that range in her live performance. I may
be being a little fussy here, but I'd like her to have a mic that didn't
require the sound man to do a lot of tweaking. I'm not always there and
there is a huge range in the types of systems that she performs on.

Wait, wait. I thought she was a classical style singer? If she is a
classical style, how can she be working the mike?

Okay, so most of the time she is in head voice and so there isn't much
actual sound coming from the chest. So the mike is only maybe a foot or
so from her mouth, no farther away?

Correct. She does some softer pieces that have the proximity at 1-2 inches,
but 6-8 inches would be the average.

Oh, man, that's super close! That's not classical style, that's
very, very different.

If you get someone who is doing close singing and occasionally crooning
and who likes the presence effect of the SM-58 but tends to be nasal from
it, the first thing I'd suggest trying is the Beyer M-500. Little bit
outside the price range, but it will do the job.

For a conventional classical singer, you won't want that presence peak
and you'll also want a very different low end tailoring because the
mike is so much farther back. Look at the video of the Three Tenors
and see how those Schoeps things are placed... two mikes on each singer
because of the chest sound, and the mikes were placed more closely than
normal there too.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

12 year old.
Classical singer.
Very powerful voice but dynamic for the type of stuff she sings. (think
Sara
Brightman)

I think you can try the Audix OM6 (not OM5). It is dynamic and I like it
very much for the alto-soprano register. It's within your budget. I don't
think Audix OM7 would work as well... as my personal general rule of thumb I
do not prefere condenser microphone on powerful female voices... I would
rely more on the micpre choice with a good dynamic more then on a good
condenser with a poor micpre (mackie, behringer, you know what I mean).
That's my own personal opinion...
F.

"geek" wrote in message
news:HAnjf.17$Eq5.13@pd7tw1no...
I have a client who needs to buy her own mic for live situations. I have a
couple in mind but thought I'd throw it to you guys to fill out my choices.

Artist:

12 year old.
Classical singer.
Very powerful voice but dynamic for the type of stuff she sings. (think
Sara Brightman)

Sounds like a recipe for a destroyed voice. Puberty is the wrong age for
kids to be singing 'powerfully'. Ease off until 17 - 18 when the vocal
cords mature.

geoff

"geek" wrote in message
news:vcqjf.320$112.277@pd7tw2no...

How? Does it make her sound nasal, or does it make her sound squeezed?



Both. She works the mic for volume,

A classical singer near enough to, or attempting to 'work' a mic ?!!

geoff

Wait, wait. I thought she was a classical style singer? If she is a
classical style, how can she be working the mike?


This is the problem. When she's performing her classical pieces, she stands
off the mic and lets it fly. But she also does close-in pieces that are a
little more torchy and require the control. For instance, she just did a
Christmas concert where she laid down the usual Christmas classics but then
stepped off and floored everyone with Ave Maria and a Vivaldi piece. Great
stuff, but hard to "middle" a mic for.


Okay, so most of the time she is in head voice and so there isn't much
actual sound coming from the chest. So the mike is only maybe a foot or
so from her mouth, no farther away?

Correct. She does some softer pieces that have the proximity at 1-2
inches,
but 6-8 inches would be the average.

Oh, man, that's super close! That's not classical style, that's
very, very different.

If you get someone who is doing close singing and occasionally crooning
and who likes the presence effect of the SM-58 but tends to be nasal from
it, the first thing I'd suggest trying is the Beyer M-500. Little bit
outside the price range, but it will do the job.

For a conventional classical singer, you won't want that presence peak
and you'll also want a very different low end tailoring because the
mike is so much farther back. Look at the video of the Three Tenors
and see how those Schoeps things are placed... two mikes on each singer
because of the chest sound, and the mikes were placed more closely than
normal there too.


Thanks Scott, I'll take a look at the M-500 a little closer. I tried one a
while back, but didn't consider this singer in the comparison.

This is kind of why I brought this question to the group. For most singers I
could laser beam a choice (or at least come up with 3 sure fire options) but
this girl has been a tough one to nail down.

Thanks again,

Mike.

Scott Dorsey wrote:

How? Does it make her sound nasal, or does it make her sound squeezed?

I'll guess that she has her own midrange peak and combined with that of
the 58 they get a small sonic mess. Methinks a more linear mic would
help

--
ha

Have ya tried a Shure Beta 58, I really like those for live vox.