Anyone have any experience with this? It seems that some amount of feedback is inevitable with every approach that I have tried.
I have heard of running vocals to a small, distorted amp offstage and then mic-ing that into the mix...but that seems a bit impractical.
Apologies of this should go in the "microphones" thread.
For feedback in between vocals a noise gate might help
or just a mic with a switch on it
I highly recommend these microphones made by Crank Sturgeon. Absolutely filthy vocals with out any effects.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/550799302/barky-box-original-model-lofi-vocal
https://www.etsy.com/listing/126948538/town-mouth-report-vocal-microphone
Quote from: Cementimental on November 09, 2017, 11:17:41 PM
For feedback in between vocals a noise gate might help
or just a mic with a switch on it
Gate usually works unless stage sound is loud. Which it usually is. In such case, there might be barely difference between shouting into mic vs. overall sound pressure on stage, so adjusting fine line of noise-gate may be impossible.
On-off switch is usually easiest, but can also result shitty abrupt cuts.
Seen shows where switching microphone on, will result merely piercing feedback & explosion of efx mass, which cuts out in really "glitchy" way when artists switches mic off.
I think one way to approach is simply consider how much distortion one needs? All at max fuzz and metal-zone type will make vocals often flat and lame anyways. With using boost / drive / pre-amp type of pedals, one may get much better sound for industrial type of vocals and much less issues with feedback. With combination of drive and loud sound, vocals may sound ripping, and without problems with extensive feedback.
For full-on-Masonna screams, is another thing, I guess.
QuoteGate usually works unless stage sound is loud. Which it usually is. In such case, there might be barely difference between shouting into mic vs. overall sound pressure on stage, so adjusting fine line of noise-gate may be impossible.
Yeah very true.
some kind of foot-controlled volume pedal could be interesting rather than a switch but maybe fiddly to rig up if using XLR.
Thanks to all for the responses...there is a lot of useful information here.
I have been focusing on spoken (rather than shouted or screamed) vocals, and the distortion is meant to give it more of a distant, radio-like sound rather than to add any kind of aggression. I have been using a CB mic with an on/off button, but the blasts of feedback come through between even the slightest pause...and thats great in some instances, just not what I am going for.
I am going to experiment with a drive pedal and see what kind of results I get. I considered one of the Crank Sturgeon mics mentioned above or even a bitcrusher, but I would really like to not buy another piece of gear.
Quote from: BTR on November 17, 2017, 04:46:33 PM
I have been using a CB mic with an on/off button, but the blasts of feedback come through between even the slightest pause...and thats great in some instances, just not what I am going for.
Sounded great when I saw you in Toronto, for what it's worth.
Quote from: absurdexposition on November 17, 2017, 08:55:11 PM
Quote from: BTR on November 17, 2017, 04:46:33 PM
I have been using a CB mic with an on/off button, but the blasts of feedback come through between even the slightest pause...and thats great in some instances, just not what I am going for.
Sounded great when I saw you in Toronto, for what it's worth.
Thanks! I really like that mic for my usual live material but I want to switch things up a bit.
Quoteradio-like sound
Then you probably should try involving some graphic EQ and/or filters. Maybe even some subtle ring mod
There's an ibanez 'lo fi' pedal which is specifically intended for a radio-ish distortion and has a setting intended for vocal use
Quote from: Cementimental on November 20, 2017, 01:16:58 PM
Quoteradio-like sound
Then you probably should try involving some graphic EQ and/or filters. Maybe even some subtle ring mod
There's an ibanez 'lo fi' pedal which is specifically intended for a radio-ish distortion and has a setting intended for vocal use
do you remember the name or serial number of this Ibanez pedal ?
Quote from: Kim V on November 20, 2017, 03:24:03 PM
Quote from: Cementimental on November 20, 2017, 01:16:58 PM
Quoteradio-like sound
Then you probably should try involving some graphic EQ and/or filters. Maybe even some subtle ring mod
There's an ibanez 'lo fi' pedal which is specifically intended for a radio-ish distortion and has a setting intended for vocal use
do you remember the name or serial number of this Ibanez pedal ?
LF7 ?
Quote from: BTR on November 17, 2017, 04:46:33 PM
but I would really like to not buy another piece of gear.
mate they cost $10 compared to all these pedals folks are suggesting. sounds exactly like what you are asking for without any outboard gear.
Quote from: Harvest on November 09, 2017, 11:25:32 PM
I highly recommend these microphones made by Crank Sturgeon. Absolutely filthy vocals with out any effects.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/550799302/barky-box-original-model-lofi-vocal
https://www.etsy.com/listing/126948538/town-mouth-report-vocal-microphone
ditto!
I have several and would never change them
I use a mic with an on/off switch and it works really well.
Subtle overdrive or preamp pedals otherwise. The main problem is that most people into noise/PE/etc never seem to understand that less is more. No one needs 5 cheap distortion pedals in their setup.
Something i tried with luck in studiosettings, but avoided except for a few times in a live setting because of the goofy look, is to use some cheap headphones as mic. They will have distorted sound, but still being cheap headphones they do not pick up the other sounds around just so easy.
So I just received my crank surgeon barky box and I am getting great sounds already just with some overdrive and a small amount of effects from the aux loop....
I now have a whole new world of learning how to mix vocals into my sounds
Unless you are after the distortion response of a specific amp, I would advise against miking your vocals twice as it will only increase feedback. You have two options here of which one was mentioned already by Mikko (try to avoid over-saturation and/or multiple distortion pedals in a row). The other option is to take note of monitor/pa speaker placement as the amplified signal coming through being picked up by the mic is responsible for the feedback loop (a certain frequency is picked up by the microphone -> gets amplified -> goes through speaker -> back to microphone ->...). If you want no feedback at all, ideally you would position the microphone in a way that monitored sounds are not at all picked up by its directivity area. If you want just a little feedback, you can direct the microphone more towards the speakers and experiment with that.
All of this also depends on the room you are playing in. I've had rooms where I was unable to use monitors cause feedback would interfer too much with my sound and other rooms where it was totally okay to experiment live with different feedback frequencies.