We have all heard great ways to make vocals sound fantastic. However, they are not necessarily easy or cheap. For those of you that struggle to find that perfect pocket for your vocals in the mix here are a few tips. Disclaimer: some of these tips may require you spending money and some will not.
The first thing that you need to do is listen to the voice you are trying to put through the sound system. I know. Profound. But you have to know what your vocal sounds like before it hits the microphone. Once you have a good picture of what that vocal sounds like it should be easier to get him or her to sound great through the system.
Flatten the Mic
Start without any EQ on the microphone. Just let the microphone project the voice. If you are getting rings because the EQ is flat that means you need to fix gain structure somewhere or maybe you need to rethink the EQ on your wedges. Often, many sound guys want to preset a microphone before they listen. I understand the propensity to revert back to an old trick or to a standard setting, but voices are too important to a worship service to just throw on a setting that we think is probably going to work.
Differentiate Between Background Vocals and Lead Vocals
Many times I get asked how I make background voices blend so well and and lead vocal stand out so much. I typically do this by giving the background vocalists one or two types of microphones (two that are similar) and then I give the lead vocalist a microphone that has a very different natural tone. For instance, If I was using Shure microphones: I would put the background vocals on a Beta 58A and maybe a couple on a Beta 87c but then I would put the lead vocal on a SM86. This allows your vocals to stand out on their own without having to do much work carving them out. This also makes gain structure easier to manage. For example, if all of the people are on the same microphone and the goal is to make the lead vocal stand out you will have to turn his microphone up considerably. However, if the lead vocal has a very different microphone in tonality then the volumes can stay about the same and he or she should pop through very well.
Help Your Singers Understand Their Microphones
Worship singers are rarely professionals. Therefore, they rarely understand which microphone they have in their hands. For instance, if someone grew up singing on a highly sensitive condenser microphone they were most likely taught (or learned) to pull the mic away from their mouth when they hit higher notes. The technique can become a problem when that person sings on a dynamic microphone because a most dynamic microphones are not nearly as sensitive. When this singer pulls the microphone away you loose too much volume. On the flip side, when someone grew up singing on a dynamic microphone (an SM58, for example) and is used to “kissing” the microphone and then sings on a Sennheiser E865 condenser microphone, he or she may sound very dull and muddy because he or she is too close to the capsule. Often churches spend money on higher-quality microphones but don't help the background vocals learn to use them properly. If you can teach this it will totally change your vocal mix.
EQ'ing the Vocal
Once the vocals blend well because of the right types of microphones and the right techniques for the microphones it might be time to do a little EQ'ing.
Notice that I said might.
I have learned that if you get these things right that you don't have to do much at all to make them sound great. However, if something is really missing then here are a couple tips. If you have a sweepable EQ then boost the frequency about six of eight dB on your hi-mid. Then slowly turn the sweep as the vocal sings. If you find a frequency that is really annoying or feeding back then go back and cut it about two to four dB as needed. This is a simple way to set vocals without having a preset in your head. Many engineers think that you have to cut a microphone at 1 kHz or 250 Hz that's not necessarily true. When you flatten the EQ, pick the right microphones, and teach your people how to use them, there really isn't that much EQ'ing needed.
