Types of microphones

There are many different types of microphones used for both recording vocals and performing live. Some of the microphones that we use in college are

• Large diaphragm mic- this records vocals

• AKG d112 mics- records kick drum

• AKG C1000- overhead mics, records drums

• SM57- records guitar and snare

• SM58- live vocals

Condenser microphones

Condenser microphones have a wider frequency response range than dynamic mics but have a lower input sensitivity. Condenser microphones must have phantom power in order to work- phantom power is DC voltage which gets sent down the mic cable to power the pre amplifier of a condenser microphone. Most modern consoles also provide phantom power and so do certain video cameras and audio recorders. Condenser microphones are a lot better suited in quieter environments but during a live performance some of the better mics to use are,

•  Shure Beta 87A- A good microphone to use due to its frequency response of 50Hz-20Hz.

• Shure KsM9

Dynamic microphones

In order to generate an electrical signal, dynamic mics use a magnetic field and create audio signals using a capacitor. In comparison to condenser microphones these are quite a lot less sensitive to sound and are also good for live performances and recording louder vocals. Some of the best things about these microphones are.

• Quite a bit more affordable than condensers

• Dont need batteries to work

• Can handle louder noises

Some good dynamic microphones are,

• Shure SM58

• Shure SM57

Maintaining my instrument

As a singer there are many things i must do in order to maintain my voice alike other musicians and artists. Some very important things to do in order to maintain my voice include,

• Ensure warming up before singing- vocal exercises and warm ups.

• Avoid excessive smoking

• Consume a good amount of water each day

• Avoid screaming and shouting- could damage vocal chords

• Don't slouch whilst singing

• Controlling breathing

• Don't eat chocolate before singing

As a singer one of the most important things you can do in order to be prepared for a performance or to be in the studio would be to ensure that you are doing vocal warm ups. This only takes around 10 minutes but its super important as you don't want to strain your voice as thats where you can start to develop things like nodes, a bad throat or even the inability to sing. Vocal nodules are growths that form on the vocal chords, they are non cancerous but can cause some pain and a huge strain on your voice. Nodes can form for many different reasons some of them being singing to loudly, constantly straining your voice and also just singing to often. Smoking and/or vaping can make the symptoms of this much worse so as a singer i would advise not doing either as it could potentially harm your voice more and causeyou more pain whilst singing. Some of the symptoms of vocal nodules include; pain in the ears of neck, breathiness, having a raspy voice, and also straining of the voice. Although having vocal nodules is awful luckily there are some treatments that can overall help, one of them being voice therapy which teaches you to use your voice in a healthy way with no strain and in extreme cases sometime the only option is to have a surgery in order to get them removed.

Although the thought of getting vocal nodules can sound and seem quite worrying or scary, its an easy thing to avoid as long as you are always taking care of your voice. As i mentioned previously the best way to do this is to ensure you are doing proper vocal warm ups before you sing. A few of the warm ups that i find really helpful are loudly saying the word 'mum' over and over getting louder each time, doing this has improved my belt significantly and has made me feel more confident performing. I also find it helpful to widly open my mouth moving it around as if i'm eating a chewy sweet, this helps to relax my face muscles and makes it feel easier on me whilst singing.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15424-vocal-cord-lesions-nodules-polyps-and-cysts 

Recording techniques

Double tracking

Double tracking is a recording technique used where a performer plays along with there own performance which is pre recorded. This is usually used in order to create a bigger and stronger sound. This technique can give parts of a song a larger emotional lift than other parts in certain sections, the technique adds so much variety and emotion to a song. Famous artists such as the beatles often used this technique and the way they did this was by using ADT ( a tape delay which uses only one recording in order to stimulate double tracking).  The Beatles also used this technique on many of their instrument parts. An example of The Beatles using this technique would be in there song Cry baby cry and also While my guitar gently weeps.

You can do this technique using logic pro quite easily. Firstly you record three separate takes of the same vocal line, once recorded you should pan one of the tracks left and one to the right. After this your going to select both those tracks and press "create track stack" ensuring you select " summing stack". This ensures that the tracks can all be processed at the same time, you then add eq and compress heavily. Finally play all the tracks together and you should have a much more full powerful vocal line within the song.

Harmonies

A harmony is another vocal layer that is sung over the top of a vocal melody line, a harmony is usually sung a third above the melody of the song. Adding harmonies to a song can create so many more emotions for the audience as sometimes it can completely change how a song can sound. A clip that really inspired me was a clip of Billie Eilish singing the start of her song " like it like that". Whilst singing in GRLBND we have used this technique at points in all the five songs we wrote, i particularly like the vocals harmonies me and Emily do in our song "she's mine" and also " Amoristic killer".

Dynamics

Vocal dynamics are all the variations in your tone, pitch and volume. How you choose to use your voice can really make or break a performance and without them you couldn't captivate an audience in the way that you may want to.                                                                               Pitch is how low or high your voice sounds, whereas volume is how quiet or loud you are. Both of these things can be used all throughout songs and performances and create emotion in order to emphasise key moments in a song. Adjusting pitch and volume also creates so much contrast and doing things like raising your pitch and volume can express so many emotions like excitement and being surprised.  If you were to lower your pitch and volume you can create more feelings of suspense and authority, with doing all these things you can mix higher and lower together but its best not to overdo it as it can sometimes start to sound overwhelming.                                                                                              Tone is the emotion and attitude within your voice, this is similar to expression as this is the way that you use your body language and facial expressions to back the emotion in your tone. Tone and expressions can be used in order to connect and relate to an audience, sometimes it can be happy and sometimes it can be sad. Your tone and expression should match your overall message and the audience you are performing for.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Pace is is how quick or slow a song is, this can effect the emotion within the song. Pauses during a song are moments where there are silences in a song to add drama and impact, using pauses can signal the change of a topic or even signify the turning pint in a song. Using both pace and pauses control the flow and rhythm of a song and always bring more interest from the audience. Using different paces can change what kind of audience listens and also how they feel, if a song is more fast paced usually there is much more energy and the song ends to be more happy. If a song is slower paced it tends to be more serious and usually has a much more important message.

Vocal recording techniques

Microphones

A large diaphragm mic is the usual microphone choice for vocals, most of them having a cardioid or a switchable polar pattern. Also cardioid moving-coil dynamic mics like the SM58 or SM7 are very popular choices along with ribbon microphones as well. Cardioid essentially means that the microphone is more sensitive at the front, it picks up your voice very strongly and cuts out most background noise. Most of these mics tend to have a figure 8 pattern, this means that its equally sensitive at the front and back of the microphone but rejects sound from the left and right sides.

Capacitor microphones tend to offer the most detailed airy sound with great high- frequency extension. They tend to be voiced to sound flattering, sometimes they can sound a bit spitty or brittle depending on the singing voice whereas moving-coil mics usually sound quite compressed.

Choosing the correct microphone is always going to be important, but the placement of the microphone whilst recording in a studio is particularly important to get the correct sound that you are wanting. Using a microphone stand helps you to easily find the placement as they are super easy to adjust, ensure that the singer is comfortable with where the microphone is placed at the start and as they relax more then you are able to move the stand to adjust the sound and tone of the singers voice. Setting the microphone to a higher position can reduce the amount of directional frequencies and can also help the singer to widen their mouth and open up their vocal chords for a more healthy sounding voice. If you were to bring the microphone lower down it will slightly change the way it sounds, you would hear more of the singers chest resonance. There is no right way to position a mic stand, it is all on preference and the way that you would like the vocals to sound.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-vocals 

Vocal doubling

Vocal doubling or 'double tracking' is a music technique in production where a singer records the same vocal part twice layering them over the top of each other. This gives the vocals a more wider sound and gives the vocals more impactful and powerful. Vocal doubling tends to be used in choruses of songs and also during melodic sections where the performer would like a more impactful, bigger sound. After the vocals have been recorded and you have recorded the tracks you need, the song then gets mixed usually by a producer, blending the two vocal tracks together.

Ensuring your prepared

Something that i feel is really important during a recording process is to ensure that you always show up prepared and rehearsed. Weather your in the recording studio recording vocals or singing a live performance you must always show up prepared and aware of what you are doing or are about to do. Being a vocalist it is a complete necessity that you know your lyrics completely, it shows a level of professionalism towards the audience and/or the people you are working with in the studio. I think that especially whilst recording vocals in a studio you need to know your lyrics as you can feel so many more of the emotions within and you believe the lyrics so much more. If you dont know your lyrics properly this tends to make your time in the studio a lot longer and more difficult, as a vocalist myself i know how much easier it makes it for everyone if you thoroughly know your part. Getting your vocals down in one take is every singers aim as once you've done that you have so much more time to work on other techniques such as harmonies and double tracking.

Practice plan

As a singer/ songwriter i feel that although i am very confident in my own ability, there are still many things that i feel i need to improve on to become the best i can be. Although i have many strengths i feel that sometimes i tend to sing songs that i am confortable singing, i dont tend to sing songs that seem challenging or difficult as i tend to get nervous that i will mess it up.

Some of the things i feel that i could improve at are

• confidence on stage

• stage presence

• Feeling able/confident to sing on a stage by myself

• Work on my mixed vocals

• Being afraid to belt as i worry that it will go wrong

• Vocal placements (not straining my voice)

• Ensuring I actually do my vocal warm ups

• Going into head voice (I tend to get shaky and nervous)

• Writing more of my own original songs.

The way in which i will improve at each of these different things is that i will make sure to remember to always do my vocal warm ups. This is something that i feel is perhaps more important than the rest as if i don't start doing this there is a possibility of me hurting my vocal chords and potentially even getting nodes. I will also watch youtube videos in order to find out what other vocal warm ups i can do and enjoy doing. Another thing that i mentioned i would like to get better at would be my stage presence and my confidence being on stage, i haven't performed on stage very often my myself as i am usually in a band with another singer therefore this is something i need to work harder on. One way i could do this would be to attempt to perform in POS (Live Lunch) as although i would find it nerve racking, in the long run it will help me out as i will become more used to performing alone. Doing this could also arise the opportunity to perform some of my original songs a i have not managed to do this before due to me worrying that people wont enjoy it. Overall, despite there being a few things that i definitely need to improve on i feel that i am in a very good position right now and still feel very confident in my vocal ability, i just need to really work on my nervs and my confidence.