what mics for sibilant vocalists?

[jerrymac]

what's the mic you reach for when you've got a sibilant vocalist?
OR
got any neat tricks for dealing with a sibilant vocalist AT the mic?

I'm looking for ways to deal with sibilant vocalists before the signal gets to the pre. I want to know if people deal with this in ways other than corrective EQ/de-essing/compressors/etc...

-jerry

[djimbe]

the guitarist I work with has a sibilent voice and we usually pick out a dynamic and turn it a bit so he's not hitting it full square. Or a Coles, but that mic doesn't sound too good on him very often. Some semi-crappy EV stage mic from the early 70's, or a M88 usually does the trick. NOT a TLM103, though our bass player sounds wonderful through that one...

[Mr PC]

Yeah--

In my limited experience, I've found that putting the vocalist off-axis does a lot to reduce the sibilance. Try turning the diaphragm 45 degrees off-axis.

PC

[RefD]

turning the mic 45 degrees off does work quite well.

my other trick is to use a crapped out SM58 from 1985 that must have been soaked in beer or something worse to sound as rounded off as it does!

if that mic is AWOL, i have a small flannel bag with a drawstring that i can tie over the address side of the mic (dynamics only).

one of those tricks usually do a servicable job of taming the "sibilant singer" without yanking down the top with eq or resorting to a de-esser, etcetera.

[psychicoctopus]

not happy with de-essers? what's the beef?

[RefD]

not happy with de-essers? what's the beef?

no problem at all, they're very useful!
just that the original question was asking for techniques that didn't involve processing.

[kellyd]

Shure SM7. No more needed. K.

[Meriphew]

Some of the upper end mics that I would try out would be:
Neumann M49
Soundelux E49
Soundelux E250

But, as Djimbe said, you should be able to improve your situation just by angling (sp) the singer a bit off the mic.

[@?,*???&?]

Shure SM7. No more needed. K.

Ditto.

A moving coil will usually stop sibilance in its tracks instead of a large diaphragm condensor.

[Moon Unit]

Electrovoice RE-20

Audio Technica 4050

Blue Baby Bottle

Just about any ribbon mic

[chetatkinsdiet]

I'm just going to put this in my signature from now on....

A Shure SM7. If that doesn't work, try an EV RE20. If that still doesn't work...the problem is the source.

later,
m

[squizo]

57 or a ribbon
BET!

[Professor]

I hate to throw in the old, 'depends on the voice' line, but it really does depend on the voice. I had a particularly sibilant soprano last year, and the mic that worked best for her was a TLM-103 - probably because the mic was bright enough to accentuate everything above the sibilance, and clear enough to catch all of the fundamental, and it allows me to notch a little out of the 7-9kHz range and retain a very clear and bright tone. But that was a soprano, and I'm guessing your guitarist isn't.
Dynamics will do well as mentioned by others. Getting the mic off axis, like almost at eye level and aimed almost straight down (depending on the singer and the mic), or getting the mic down at throat level. That last one might be something to try, though most singers will instinctively sing down at the mic, so try putting a mic up at normal height for him to aim at, and then sneak another mic in below it at about throat level. Oh, and backing the mic off a bit and having the singer face an absorbant wall could help you out as well.

Of course, once it's recorded, make sure you don't use a reverb that accentuates the sibilant sounds.

-Jeremy

[Ronan]

Shure KSM32

[cassettefetish]

Ask whoever records Daniel Johnston