Recording 3 part vocal harmony group into a single stereo mic?

[Georgerob]

Hi all,

My dad has a 3 part vocal harmony folk group, and wants to record them on a budget. I'm in another part of the country so I can't do it for him (If I could I would use 2 mono mics in a stereo pair). He has a decent mac laptop but no other recording gear.

He wants to record all 3 singers at once, and has the idea that he can use a single stereo microphone and has his heart set on this Blue Yeti USB mic which has a built in DAC, and which he can get for £85 and then get going. I'm thinking this cannot be great as it's USB and only produces 16bit.

So I'm thinking of telling him to get a small DAC like a Focusrite 2i2 and a better quality mic. But I can't find a decent sounding stereo condensor mic for under £100.

Also, placement wise, I can't see how one stereo mic will record 3 vocalists well. He wants to place the main singer in the middle, facing the side of the mic, and then the other 2 either side, facing the diaphragms. But that would mean the main singer wouldn't be picked up as well right?

Any advice duly appreciated!

thanks

[Nightworker]

What's the budget they have if he's serious about it?

He could get 3x AT2020 and a saffire pro 40 all for under 900$ new. The AT2020 is not by far the best mic out there, but it does have a good sound and for a project studio home studio is more than enough. At the same time he will be able to record the three voice on 3 different tracks, using a good preamp and give you more flexibility for mixing.

[Carl Kolchak]

Originally Posted by Georgerob

He wants to record all 3 singers at once, and has the idea that he can use a single stereo microphone and has his heart set on this Blue Yeti USB mic which has a built in DAC, and which he can get for £85 and then get going. I'm thinking this cannot be great as it's USB and only produces 16bit.

:<------ snip -----

Also, placement wise, I can't see how one stereo mic will record 3 vocalists well. He wants to place the main singer in the middle, facing the side of the mic, and then the other 2 either side, facing the diaphragms. But that would mean the main singer wouldn't be picked up as well right?

Any advice duly appreciated!

thanks

Blue make some very good mic's, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about the quality of the Yeti (haven't ever use one though).

£85 seems a good price for that mic, but there is also the Yeti pro available for about £160, which allows 24bit / 192kHz over USB as well as analogue stereo XLR output (which would allow for future expansion, if your dad gets hooked and opts for a dedicated ADC pre-amp at a later date).

I'm sure if he's doing this himself, and just recording in to freeware as a live performance, with no overdubs - given the lack of experience (I'm presuming) in terms of mic placement, acoustics etc - he and his group will be thrilled with the results from an £85 Yeti @ 16bit / 44.1kHz.

Perhaps less thrilled with the same results from a £160 Yeti Pro, especially if the freeware does not support 24bit or he wants to record at 192kHz because the mic is capable of doing so??? I don't know.

In either case, he can always email the recordings to you to clean up / master, which I'm sure would impress the group.

As for recording the ensemble using a stereo mic - there's nothing wrong with that at all - just have the trio form a semi-circle around the mic, with the lead singer in the centre facing the front of the mic.

Do some test recordings, and have the two harmony singers at the side position themselves more on axis (singing directly at the mic) and more off axis (singing past the mic), positioned closer to the lead singer (narrower stereo spread) and further round to the side of the mic (wider separation), as well as each individual member moving further away / closer to the mic, until they have achieved the correct colour, balance, and stereo spread (you probably don't want two muffled, echoey harmony vocals hard left and hard right, with a pristine lead vocal straight up the middle drowning everything else out).

hope that helps.

[albee1952]

Personally, I would place 3 singers around a good LDC in omni(and hope they sing well enough to not need tuning).

[Georgerob]

Originally Posted by Nightworker

What's the budget they have if he's serious about it?

He could get 3x AT2020 and a saffire pro 40 all for under 900$ new. The AT2020 is not by far the best mic out there, but it does have a good sound and for a project studio home studio is more than enough. At the same time he will be able to record the three voice on 3 different tracks, using a good preamp and give you more flexibility for mixing.

Nightworker,

The budget is really for £200 and under. Thanks.

[Georgerob]

Originally Posted by Carl Kolchak

Blue make some very good mic's, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about the quality of the Yeti (haven't ever use one though).

£85 seems a good price for that mic, but there is also the Yeti pro available for about £160, which allows 24bit / 192kHz over USB as well as analogue stereo XLR output (which would allow for future expansion, if your dad gets hooked and opts for a dedicated ADC pre-amp at a later date).

I'm sure if he's doing this himself, and just recording in to freeware as a live performance, with no overdubs - given the lack of experience (I'm presuming) in terms of mic placement, acoustics etc - he and his group will be thrilled with the results from an £85 Yeti @ 16bit / 44.1kHz.

Perhaps less thrilled with the same results from a £160 Yeti Pro, especially if the freeware does not support 24bit or he wants to record at 192kHz because the mic is capable of doing so??? I don't know.

In either case, he can always email the recordings to you to clean up / master, which I'm sure would impress the group.

As for recording the ensemble using a stereo mic - there's nothing wrong with that at all - just have the trio form a semi-circle around the mic, with the lead singer in the centre facing the front of the mic.

Do some test recordings, and have the two harmony singers at the side position themselves more on axis (singing directly at the mic) and more off axis (singing past the mic), positioned closer to the lead singer (narrower stereo spread) and further round to the side of the mic (wider separation), as well as each individual member moving further away / closer to the mic, until they have achieved the correct colour, balance, and stereo spread (you probably don't want two muffled, echoey harmony vocals hard left and hard right, with a pristine lead vocal straight up the middle drowning everything else out).

hope that helps.

Karl,

Thanks so much for the info. You are correct - its just demos for their own amusement and to put online. He's using a mac pro laptop with garageband. His budget is under £200 really, so the Yeti Blue for £85 would seem good value then. I can't let him have the Yeti Pro.. it might be better than my Oktava LDC! ;p

OK so you'd have the lead singing into the diaphragm at the front, then the 2 others singing either off axis or on-axis at 90 degrees into the sides?

What about the pattern of the mic? It seems to have stereo, omni, cardioid, and bi-directional.. with the exception of stereo, are all the others mono modes? Or different types of stereo?

thanks!

[MIKEROPHONICS]

Rental?

[dave911]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Personally, I would place 3 singers around a good LDC in omni(and hope they sing well enough to not need tuning).

Unless you have a nice room you won't want the room sound so you'll be in fairly close.
If it is a true harmony trio you don't want the image jumping around.

[Georgerob]

Originally Posted by MIKEROPHONICS

Rental?

He wants something permanent, but thanks

[Georgerob]

Originally Posted by dave911

Unless you have a nice room you won't want the room sound so you'll be in fairly close.
If it is a true harmony trio you don't want the image jumping around.

Yes it is a true harmony trio. So close miked as much as poss then? He's just told me he's going to try and get the Blue Yeti Pro mic. I guess if it doesn't work great through USB he can always buy a cheap DA box and use the XLR in that case.