Choosing the Right Live Vocal Mic

Vocal mics pick up the most important input that you have on stage at church. So what makes a winning vocal microphone and how do you sift through all the variables and spec sheets to figure out what's going to work for you? Today I'm going to walk you through what you need to consider when choosing the right vocal mic.

If you're new here, my name is James and I help church sound techs save the day by eliminating distractions in church audio. If that's you, go ahead and check out my YouTube channel to learn more.

How Do You Choose the Right Vocal Mic?

Well, the first consideration is that it makes the singer feel comfortable, the second one is that it makes the singer feel comfortable, and third...we have to make our singer feel comfortable. Our fourth priority is it needs to reject handling noise, reject feedback, and reject noise coming in from other sides of the microphone. It has to feel natural when it's coming through the PA, but there are some other things that can make it feel unnatural, and I'll walk you through that later in this post. Finally, it might need to be forgiving when it's not pointed exactly the right way and not exactly the right distance from the singer's mouth.

Condenser Mics vs. Dynamic Mics

As we venture into nerdville, there are basically two types of vocal mics that we'll find on stage: condensers and dynamic microphones. Dynamic microphones are really rugged. They've got a heavy diaphragm assembly and it's hard to break them. Unfortunately, this also means that they don't capture high frequencies as well as condenser microphones. Condenser microphones have a lighter diaphragm assembly so they can pick out more of the airy feelings on our vocal sounds. Although there are some dynamic microphones that sound a lot more like condenser microphones. Two that come to mind are the Heil vocal mics and the Shure KSM8.

Understanding Frequency Response and Polar Pattern

The first thing a lot of people want to think about when they're trying to choose a vocal mic is the frequency response. That's the balance of the high, middle, and low frequencies that the microphone's going to pick up.

But there's more to this story than what we're going to find on a frequency graph because that only deals with the microphone at one distance and in one direction. But microphones and vocals happen in three dimensions, and distance and angle all make a difference in how the mic sounds. The directional characteristics of a microphone are called its polar pattern, or when we point it at something, is it going to pick up frequencies only from the front and reject the back? And usually, that's what we want. That's called a cardioid pickup pattern.

But some other microphones pick up from the front, but they also have a little lobe in the back so that they can be narrower on the sides. This is called supercardioid, or if it gets really narrow, it's called hypercardioid.

How the microphone picks up directionally is called its polar pattern. The front of the mic is called on-axis. Basically, it's what the mic is pointed at. But if a microphone picks up from 360º, we call that omnidirectional, and that's not usually a great option on stage. A cardioid or unidirectional microphone has a heart shape on paper, but in reality, it's in three dimensions. So it's kind of like we took a balloon and stuck our finger into it, and that's what the pickup pattern looks like for cardioid microphones.

Supercardioid is really similar except there's a little bit of a lobe in the back where it actually picks up the sound so that it can reject more sound coming from the back and sides of the microphone.

If this polar pattern got even narrower, we would call that hypercardioid, but there are not a whole lot of hypercardioid vocal mics that you'll find on stage.

Now, remember how I told you that the frequency response chart doesn't tell the full story? Well, that's because this polar pattern is not absolutely perfect. As you go off-axis to the microphone or the microphone isn't pointed directly at the sound source, certain frequencies will drop off faster than other frequencies. So as you go 45º off-axis with the microphone, certain frequencies get dipped more than others.

Because engineering often involves compromise, sometimes when you get off-axis, the frequency response gets lumpier (and I reserve only the best technical language like lumpier for sound ninjas). Some microphones are engineered with amazing off-axis response and there's absolutely no change in the tone from on axis to off-axis. They're wonderful for MC mics or singers that just aren't quite as careful with how they're pointing the microphone. This is one place where throwing money at a problem actually works.

How Distance Affects Microphones

Now that we understand polar pattern, the next factor we have to deal with is distance. And there are two different factors here. There's the throw of the microphone (or how forgiving it is with changes of distance), and there’s proximity effect. Proximity effect is the low frequency boost that you get when you move a microphone capsule closer to the sound source. It's one of the products of having a directional microphone. Some microphones actually deal with this by using ports to eliminate that, but it's actually a good idea to have proximity effect and make the mic sound muddy when you get close to it on a live stage, and here’s why: if we take a look back at our polar pattern chart, you'll notice that the mic is still almost omnidirectional coming in from the backside.

And in live sound, the backside of our PA is also less directional. If you've ever gone up on stage while the PA is going, you've probably noticed how much muddy sound is coming back at you. And that's getting picked up by the back side of the microphone as well. So by including proximity effect into your vocal mic, we can turn down these lower frequencies. And it's also turning down the noise from the PA as well.

Now, the way that proximity effect interacts with the singer's voice and tone can either be a positive thing or a negative thing. So again, you just have to try different mics on different singers to know if it's going to fit them really well. For instance, I know a great singer, but she's got a really big buildup around 500Hz in her voice. It's just the way that she sounds. When she uses a particular microphone, its proximity effect reaches up into that frequency range and it makes something that's already challenging even more challenging.

So just because you've been using a microphone doesn't mean that it's the best microphone for you. Try some new stuff and see if it works better and gets rid of some of the problems you've been chasing around.

Now, the other thing that comes with distance is the throw of the microphone, or how easy it is to back up off of a microphone without having it drop off too much in intensity. Some microphones like the Nuemann KMS105 and the Shure Beta 87, are really good at picking up even when the singer backs off quite a bit. But other mics like the Audix OM5 drop off quite a bit. So your singer really has to stay right up on that capsule the entire time to not lose the tone from your vocal.

Now, on the flip side, the OM5 is brilliant at rejecting feedback. So if you have a really loud stage and your singer can tolerate staying in the microphone, that might be a great option for you. Once we're on the topic of feedback, there are a few things you can do to try to eliminate feedback, but the microphone might make a really big difference.

Eliminating Vocal Mic Feedback

You have to think about the polar pattern, the smoothness of the frequency response, and the distance from the PA. On the frequency response side, if there's a little lump coming off-axis, that's going to tend to be the frequency that's going to feed back first. It's just another reason why buying quality gear really does make your life easier.

You also want to ensure that any stage monitors are pointed at the null lobe of the mic's polar pattern. Basically, if it's cardioid, put the monitor right behind it. If it's supercardioid, put it off to the side, it’s usually a 60º angle.

The third factor in keeping a mic from feeding back is how much mass the diaphragm assembly has. A moving coil microphone has the entire voice coil attached to the diaphragm, so it takes a lot more energy before that will start to move and ring, especially compared to a lightweight diaphragm of a condenser microphone. Because there's less mass, it will start to move more quickly with less energy.

Supporting Your Vocalists

Now that we're through nerd town, it's time to talk about our feelings, or our singer's feelings, because the mic has to feel good to the singer for them to perform their best. Some of the less tangible things that go into how a microphone makes a singer feel are its texture, how they imagine they should sound, and how the proximity effect affects the resonance that they're feeling inside their chest cavity. And this is one place where in-ear monitors can make things really tricky. Because you're shoving something in their ears and they're also hearing themselves resonating through their bones as well as what's coming through the little speakers in their ear canal. This texture and resonance thing can also make a difference with their monitor wedges, so you just have to watch out and try to figure out what it is that they need both from their monitors and from their microphone.

Ultimately, the singer singing has a lot more to do with tone than what microphone they're using. So when they feel like they sound good, they sing with more confidence, which makes them sing better. But if they feel like they don't sound so good, then they don't sing with as much confidence and then they sound worse. So it can be a cycle in either direction, and that's why it's so important to get this part right.

On top of that, confidence can be contagious. So if they're confident that you’re doing your very best to make them sound the very best they can, they can believe that you're fighting for them with your EQ, compression, reverb, mic choice, monitor mix all of that to make them sound the best, they're going to have a great day and sing really well. At the risk of sounding like I'm tooting my own horn, I've got a little story to tell you. At the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, there's about 14 worship teams that rotate around the clock 24/7, 365, and often I would sub running sound on those worship teams. Sometimes the singers would say to me afterward, “My voice felt so good when you ran sound. I don't know what it is or what you did to my monitors, but I just felt like I could hear myself really well.” But in all honesty, I recalled their monitor mix in their monitor console the exact same way that their normal sound tech did every single set.

So what made it different when I was running sound compared to what other people were doing? I've got two theories. The first is that the way that I EQ, compress, and push up the vocal to stay out in front of the house mix made them feel like they had more support coming from the backside of the PA. So they felt good right when they opened their mouth. The other part might just be psychosomatic, and they thought I was a good sound tech, so they believed that they sounded better. I don't know which one is which, but when singers feel good, everything else works well.

Now, I would also be remissed if I didn't warn you that asking a singer how they feel about their voice can get you into deep water in a hurry. A lot of singers struggle with feeling like they sound good. Even some of the most popular singers at the International House of Prayer struggled with self-confidence about how their voice sounded and didn't like to hear themselves back in a recording situation. I believe we have a spiritual enemy that tells singers lies because their voices are so powerful and can unlock the human heart in a way that no other instrument can. So the enemy will feed lies to singers to keep them from singing. And that forms what the Bible calls a stronghold, or a series of beliefs that have been reinforced over time to think a certain way. And the Bible also commands us to take every thought captive so that we can tear down strongholds that keep us from the knowledge of Christ. Unfortunately, only that person can tear down their own strongholds. You can be there to encourage them, you can help them, but it can be like arrows deflecting off of armor if they haven't chosen to take every thought captive and believe that they sound good when they sing. So if you start talking to a singer and their voice and how they sound, be really sensitive and patient with them when you're trying to uncover what problems might be happening with their singing. Because there's a lot of technique that goes into it, but the belief plays a big role as well.

The other tip I have is to own all the responsibility for everything that's within your control in helping them sound their very best. It takes a lot of relational equity and trust to talk to somebody about their singing. And the more you understand about singing and proper technique, the more you can be helpful to give them advice when they really are making mistakes in the way that they're singing. It actually might not be a bad idea for all sound techs to take some singing lessons (although some of y'all can't carry a tune in a bucket…so, maybe rethink that advice), although mic technique doesn't get too personal, so you can always just tell them to keep it really close to their mouth.

Of course, having the time and energy to even think about the vocal mic and which vocal mic is right for the singer requires that you get other stuff out of the way and working before that point. And so for you, I've got a free sound check checklist that you can use to make sure that you've ticked all the boxes and everything's ready for Sunday morning. Download it for free HERE.

Which Vocal Mic Should You Choose?

So if you want my advice on picking a vocal mic, I'm kind of on both sides of the fence. On one hand, you cannot go wrong with an SM58 and spending a hundred dollars. On the other hand, a vocal mic that costs a thousand dollars is probably worth every single penny. And if you think about it, singers don't have to spend money on guitars, guitar strings, guitar pedals, symbols, sticks, or any other gear. So maybe it's worth it for them to invest in a vocal mic of their own. It's more sanitary that way anyway.

If you found this post helpful, don’t forget to share it with your friends who could use some guidance in choosing the right vocal mics for their team!

Remember: it's all about the low end, avoid the sound tech solo, and nobody leaves humming the kick drum.

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