Recording Screaming

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:03 am

i was wondering if anyone had some useful information on this. im prety sure there would have to be different techniques involved. im particular interested in getting that throaty sound that is like vocal distortion caused by the larynxs clashing together, but emphasizing it naturally by proper micing, not by resorting to distortion plugins like so many screaming bands do nowadays....

by the way i use a tube mic, but i have gotten a lot of dark (i dont like using muddy) sounds from it when i scream. singing through it sounds amazing though. so would using a condenser get more of that crispness?

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:28 am

You're already using a condenser mic...
Anyway, few condensers, tube or SS, were designed specifically for screaming. You might try a mic that is designed more along those lines. A Shure SM58, or its studio cousin the SM-7 might be moire to your liking.
Dynamic mics like those can handle the high SPLs you generate when your "larynxs dash together". You also have to take into account the mic preamp you are feeding the mic into....some of these do not like that strong a signal, either.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:02 am

yes it is a condenser, BUT tubes and non tube condensers sound completely different, so i put tube mics in a different category. the thing is i want more clarity and detail (more vocal distortion, throat grinding whatever noise) not less (sm58). ive tried the 58 and it just sounds like crap to my ears. to me, they just arent accurate enough.

now the sm7 i have heard a great deal about..maybe i should try testing that out. but what about the records major labels put out that have screaming..or even just local bands who are big and have a nice demo. their screams are very very detailed.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:44 pm

birdyyellow, I think you have birdie brains and birdie crap hearing and information? You got birdie crap, obviously for a microphone preamp as well?

If you want a microphone that they give you some better edge, better crappie vocal sounds to accentuate an already crappie vocal, you might want to consider the Uber Fabulous Sennheiser MD421? Since they appear to have a more extended response than the SM 58 and since their advertising back in the 1970s featured a smoking gun in front of the microphone with the claim that his microphone CANNOT be overloaded, by blowing your brains out in front of it. That microphone coupled with its 5 position variable bass cut filter, along with its black phallic form factor, should provide you with that beautiful sound of you, or your client, coughing up their vocal cords!

Just remember, to point the gun into your mouth instead of the microphone?
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:53 pm

"birdyyellow, I think you have birdie brains and birdie crap hearing and information?"

no i dont. i just dont like sm58s at all, and have never really found a use for them.

"You got birdie crap, obviously for a microphone preamp as well? "

yeah, you got me there. i just have the onboard pres for the 002r. i know i should really buy a nice preamp like the fmr rnp. but $500 is a lot of money, even though the quality will be night and day.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:54 pm

yeah ill try and find someone who has a md421 and test it on vocals. should be worth the adventure.

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:33 am

That's a good birdie. I'm glad you came to my senses. Oh, that smells nice!

Always smelling
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:55 am

Have another track laid up and have it slightly quieter than the original scream but transpose it down an octave(ish). Beefs everything up

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:34 pm

I like kick drum-specific mics for screams: they have guts, can handle high SPLs, and are usually boosted at that glottal level.

One of the older Zao vocalists seemed to do his screams and then retrack whispers--like, phlegmy, overenunciated whispers--over his stuff.

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:11 pm

Yessss Zao rocks...

Anywho, I just used an SM58, and I think we seriously used like a Radioshack mic or something cause it was a really rough sound. It doesn't sound GREAT but I mean, you're screaming. You can let them hold it and get up and personal. Norma Jean (or was it the chariot?) recorded their vocals like that. He just held the mic and paced around and acted like it was a show, so its more natural and brutal. I added some distortion to it via plugins. It's hard to reproduce that distortion from the PA live. Either that or I'm just dumb. *shrug*

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:43 pm

hey dude..... cant say much for the recording... but love the tunes... orginal as heck hahahaha

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:36 am

patrick_like_static wrote:

I like kick drum-specific mics for screams: they have guts, can handle high SPLs, and are usually boosted at that glottal level..

D112 is amazing for it.

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:14 pm

birdyyellow wrote:

yes it is a condenser, BUT tubes and non tube condensers sound completely different, so i put tube mics in a different category.

Sorry...tube or no tube makes very little difference, especially at the price point you're working with.

I've got or worked with tube mics that are as "crispy" as the hottest condenser, yet have owned or do own condensers which are warmer and fuller than virtually any tube microphone.

Just because it has a tube doesn't make it "warm and full."

The presonus tube mic pre is certainly nothing special nor is the FMR. (The FMR is decent, but nothing to write home about.)

A 57 or 58 through a Langevin pre or an API is going to sound damn good on screaming vocals (something with PLENTY of headroom that won't compress on its own - then you can add your own compression to your own tastes.) The pres you have or are looking at getting just don't have what it takes to coax out the best in the performance.

Sorry...it's just a fact.

J Thumbs Up

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:49 pm

Recording screams are not hard to do. I use a condensor, an AT (dont remember the model name off the top of my head) and it does the job cleanly and with little pain. Add a bit of de-es and your set, any other problems have to do with your mix skills.
http://multoc.com, http://myspace.com/earthvsthespider,http://myspace.com/yeolderelic, and http://myspace.com/vigildeath...proof is in there, just record it straight and don't worry about it so much, any thing you start worrying about makes it difficult.
good luck!
-Ashton Parsons

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:03 pm

hey Birdyellow -
I dig your stuff - all about frantic randomness in the abyss. You should check out some friends of mine, I think you'd dig them

http://www.myspace.com/tugnut

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