What's a good vocal mic for live recordings?

[matt vallo]

Most of the bands I record live have male vocalist.
What microphone pattern is best for the live environment? Cardiod, hyper’s, etc…
What other characteristics should I be looking for?

Any input would be appreciated,
Matt

[Scoobster]

I'd go for a SM57 or 58 low noise, solid particulalry if handheld.

Cheers

[J. FO]

sm58 is definitely a work horse. higher end models are made, but the 58 actually does a pretty good job. Bjork recorded her last album with a 58, and probably the other ones too. and if you know bjork, oh god, you know that voice.

[JMS40]

I'm partial to the Audix OM6.

[Stone Knife]

According to MIX, Bjork uses the beta 58 for live work, FWIW. A slightly different mic than the classic SM 58. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[marcusb]

Beta58 has higher output and a larger boost around 3.5k for more cut. With most bands I work with I use my own Beta58s with pretty good success. It's a fair workhorse, but if i'm doing a rock band I tend to prefer a standard 58 (one of my own) as opposed to a beaten up house mic.

If you are working with quieter bands and vocal is supreme the Neumann KMS-105 is pretty awesome, it's hypercardioid with a very tight pattern, depending on your venue you need to be careful with your FOH and monitor tuning cos things can get ugly real quick but aside from that a very impressive sounding mic. If your band can control their stage level you'll get amazing results, if the band is loud and have a very loud on-stage sound it's probably not the best candidate as the increased sensitivity will turn it into a big room mic and pick up all the spill [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

If you do stuff in the studio also it's a great all rounder mic as well. I was using one for guide vocal takes a while back and they sounded so good we kept em [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] It's also quite nice on an accoustic guitar, similar character to a decent KM84.

On the mics to avoid list, I had the misfortune of mixing a band that brought in their own Sennheiser evolution series capacitor mics and they were appaling.

At the end of the day if you can't get it sounding good with a 58 it might be time to find a new career [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] hehe

Cheers,
Marcus