Trouble Recording Singing/Screaming

[joebass]

My band has recently been trying to record our singer screaming. When playing live, like a lot of screamers, our singer holds the mic very close to his mouth and screams right in it, giving it a good punch. But when we record, if our singer screams into it too closely, its just a bunch of noise and too much distortion, but if the mic is held far away, the same effect isnt achieved and the screaming loses its power.
What should we do?

[Jovianknight]

Change your musical style.

[Innertiac]

haha.

um. thats a good question. Try hooking up the mic to an amp, and then feeding a computer mic into the computer which is recording the sound coming from the amp. You'll get the same punch of the scream in the amp, and the computer will pick that up, instead of your singer's voice directly.

but ultimately, its not a great idea to rely on the imperfections of the static of the amp in a live show. the recording should be the ultimate, the smoother, more perfect version of the song, and the live one can have the edge and roughness ebcause it's, well, live, and the evergy comes from it being live. on CD, the energy should come more from it being good.

[PainKiller8191]

get a good preamp for the mic, turn the gain/trim knob down and the volume up

[himynameistweek]

yeah, a pre-amp will help. does he cup the mic? and is he using a condenser or dynamic?

[moaner]

you'd need a limiter/compressor.

[airborne50caliber]

wow moaner is the first to mention a compressor. THIS IS WHAT COMPRESSION IS FOR!

[neatobassman]

Yea, a compressor is what you need. What it does is level out the parts that are clipping (too loud and make the sound distort and sound like just noise).

[airborne50caliber]

yep. you'll want a heavy ratio for that situation, too.

[joebass]

we use a codsender mic. he does cup the mic so that his scream is directed right into the mic.

[neatobassman]

we use a codsender mic. he does cup the mic so that his scream is directed right into the mic.

that will just make it worse. Pretty much, if he's going to be screaming and you don't want it to sound like crap, you need a compressor.

[himynameistweek]

haha wow, i really didn't think of a compressor. i assumed it was some mistake that was being made. but yeah, that's most likely right.

[airborne50caliber]

wait, he CUPS a CONDENSER???

Go rethink your life.

No seriously, no wonder. That's not how you use condensers and you never cup a mic in the studio anyway. Studio is not like live. You will be able to get the same power placing the mic just under a foot away, and putting the singer behind a pop grille. Also the singer should not touch the mic.

[Lateksi]

Singin to mic very closely boosts bass frequencies, and cupping increases them even more. And makes sound kinda muddy. No wonder if his singing sounds bit different when he is singing far from the mic.
And conderser mics should always be on a stand and a shock mount (and don't forget pop filter), to get rid of handling noise.
Just tell your singer to learn how to get a good sound without stuffing the mic to his throat.

[KKKKKocaine]

Get a dynamic microphone, put on a limiter, cup it and scream.
I'm guessing it's a screamo band, in which case the entire distortion on your screams is probably very desirable, as opposed to an Aerosmith scream.
Of course though, don't rely on driver distortion completely, but from personal studio experience, standing a foot away from a mic and trying to get a live scream is horrible unless you practicly grate your throat with a meatknife.

But definately do not scream into a cupped condenser, the sound pressure levels will be a killer. As an example (if you want to punish yourself) get the screamer to scream in your ear and cup it.
I did this to a friend last night in a bar, just to iterate the point that shouting in someones ear actually makes it harder to understand them in a loud enviroment :)