Must-have gear for Vocalists?

[Truckstop]

Hello all,

Over the last few weeks I've found myself a terrific role as the lead vocalist/frontman of a metal band. I have my own mic (SM-58) and a stand.

As we look to start performing live in the coming months is there any gear I should be looking at to make life easier?

Cheers

Alex

[chrismuzz]

Hairspray and spandex tights. Oh, and an xlr cable might not hurt.

[simon1964]

Blimey - if you've got your own mic and stand your way ahead of most of the vocalists I've worked with! In my experience, they turn up two minutes before the soundcheck, then after the gig flirt with the punters while we pack up the kit

[leroydiamond]

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1388967340' post='2328356']
Blimey - if you've got your own mic and stand your way ahead of most of the vocalists I've worked with! In my experience, they turn up two minutes before the soundcheck, then after the gig flirt with the punters while we pack up the kit
[/quote]

+1.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1388966100' post='2328341']
As we look to start performing live in the coming months is there any gear I should be looking at to make life easier?
[/quote]

A good set of running shoes so you can leg it at the end of the night while everyone else packs away the PA

[Musicman20]

A decent mic (oh, you have that already!).

Ermm, a mic stand, a good quality one! I suggest one of the Hercules stands. If you don't need a stand, you are set. You might want your own XLR cable, but you probably already have that.

Ahh, the world of the vocalist. I sometimes wish I could turn up with a mic, party, sing, then go home!

[BigRedX]

Unless your band finds itself playing a lot of venues that don't have their own PA that's all you need.

Your own mic is good even if it's just for hygiene reasons.

Personally unless you have a very specific configuration for your mic stand that isn't easily available from the average boom stand (or you have a tendency to destroy mic stands as you perform) I wouldn't bother bringing your own. At some point it will invariable get "lost" or packed away with the venue/PAs other gear. The less stuff you need to bring the better IME.

Edited January 6, 2014 by BigRedX

[clauster]

I think our frontman has the most kit in the band -

Mic box containing typically a Beta58, Beta57, Heil PR-35 and lots of XLR leads.

Rack with 2 different wireless mic systems (Sure and Sennheiser).

Boss VE20.

Another rack containing a Helicon and a Lexicon MPX1.

A passive splitter (buffered) to send a feed to FOH and another to his own mixer, then on to his own QSC powered wedge for monitoring.

Bag with assorted mic poles as he can destroy any pole in a matter of minutes.

[0175westwood29]

unless you get into the realms of vocal effects id say your sorted.

although i think its very gd for a singer to have there own mic, our singer has a wireless line 6 unit do you find that if the soundman is having problems they go to your stuff first? our singer has his own lead and last gig there was a bad hum on the vox they went straight saying it was his wireless so he calmly changed mics to theres and it was still there cue very apologetic soundman.

but honestly id say your set unless you wanna go into vocal effects but most of the time would be reverb and they can add that in foh

andy

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1389005124' post='2328563']
Mic box containing typically a Beta58, Beta57, Heil PR-35 and lots of XLR leads.
[/quote]

Tasty. Which does he use the most? I can't get enough of my Heil - I want to get the wireless capsule (bloomin' more pricey than a whole wired mic :-/ )

[quote]
Rack with 2 different wireless mic systems (Sure and Sennheiser).
[/quote]

Which systems does he use?

[EBS_freak]

PS, any self respecting vocalist must have one of these - [url="http://www.rebelmicstands.com"]http://www.rebelmicstands.com[/url]

[Truckstop]

Oh good! Because I've been a bassist all my life I feel weird not having any gear to show the band mates or take to gigs!

So, mic and cable it is then!

Cheers guys

Alex

[winterfire666]

In ear monitors maybe
theres nothin like bieng able to hear yourself when stage monitoring isnt up to scrach.

[clauster]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1389007550' post='2328600'] Tasty. Which does he use the most? I can't get enough of my Heil - I want to get the wireless capsule (bloomin' more pricey than a whole wired mic :-/)[/quote]

The Heil gets the most use. He only got it a few months ago and the clarity over the Betas un-nerved him a bit at first. Sounds great to my ears though Really clear and great dynamics through it.

The Shures only get used for rehearsing BVs and when we come up on an engineer who doesn't like the characteristics of the Heil. (Shures seem to be the Fenders of the mic world).

The Shure wireless is the Beta58 Rackmount system. Not sure about the Senheiser as it's about 10 years old and he hasn't used it in about 7 of those years. It just stays in the rack as a backup.

[clauster]

[quote name='winterfire666' timestamp='1389015977' post='2328774']
In ear monitors maybe
theres nothin like bieng able to hear yourself when stage monitoring isnt up to scrach.
[/quote]

Or a splitter and an active wedge. Nothing worse than in-house monitoring that doesn't perform.

[lonestar]

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1388967340' post='2328356']
Blimey - if you've got your own mic and stand your way ahead of most of the vocalists I've worked with! In my experience, they turn up two minutes before the soundcheck, then after the gig flirt with the punters while we pack up the kit
[/quote]

Ive often found that of these two items to bring along the singer will often forget one or both.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1389021921' post='2328873']
The Heil gets the most use. He only got it a few months ago and the clarity over the Betas un-nerved him a bit at first. Sounds great to my ears though Really clear and great dynamics through it.

The Shures only get used for rehearsing BVs and when we come up on an engineer who doesn't like the characteristics of the Heil. (Shures seem to be the Fenders of the mic world).

The Shure wireless is the Beta58 Rackmount system. Not sure about the Senheiser as it's about 10 years old and he hasn't used it in about 7 of those years. It just stays in the rack as a backup.
[/quote]

The Heil gets mixed response from a lot of sound guys. I had a guy turn his nose up at it so I said to him, set your EQ on your channel strip flat, turn your gain down from where you'd have a 58... then come back and tell me you don't think it beats crap out of a 58. I think everybody sees Heil as broadcast mics. To be honest, their dynamic PR40 will beat most low end condenser mics in the studio. Very underrated mics. In fact, the PR35 sounds ace on pretty much everything you want to throw at it!

I was wondering the exact system he was using to see if he could change the capsule on the wireless transmitter. With a lot of the Shure stuff, it's only the real top end stuff that has the removal capsules. I'm investing in more ULXDs I think... and they will be having the Heil capsules put on them.

[fretmeister]

I'm a big fan of the little TC Helicon pedals.

Not necessarily for vocal FX / Harmonies etc, but they have a 'Tone' button that de-esses and applies a really nice compression setting to the signal.

They have a few different options

[url="http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/mic-mechanic/"]http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/mic-mechanic/[/url]

[url="http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicetone-t1/"]http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicetone-t1/[/url]

[url="http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/harmony-singer/"]http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/harmony-singer/[/url]


In my experience the thing that most singers don't understand is compression and EQ on vocals. Those little boxes solve a lot of that for a pretty cheap outlay.

[clauster]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1389025741' post='2328969']
The Heil gets mixed response from a lot of sound guys. I had a guy turn his nose up at it so I said to him, set your EQ on your channel strip flat, turn your gain down from where you'd have a 58... then come back and tell me you don't think it beats crap out of a 58. I think everybody sees Heil as broadcast mics. To be honest, their dynamic PR40 will beat most low end condenser mics in the studio. Very underrated mics. In fact, the PR35 sounds ace on pretty much everything you want to throw at it!
[/quote]

I really rate his PR35. The engineer at our local venue was trying to work out what the hell was going on when our singer first plugged it in. When he found out it's a Heil he was really happy. As far as he was concerned it was MUCH easier to place in the mix due to the flatter frequency response. He'd just been bamboozled that suddenly there was a lot more top end than with the 58s. The filter switch is good too. Almost completely cuts out any handling noise.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1389025741' post='2328969']I was wondering the exact system he was using to see if he could change the capsule on the wireless transmitter. With a lot of the Shure stuff, it's only the real top end stuff that has the removal capsules. I'm investing in more ULXDs I think... and they will be having the Heil capsules put on them. [/quote]

Oh God, more wireless gear is the last thing he needs.... It all ends up piled in "bass corner" at gigs.

[deepbass5]

I was gonna say, Van, PA, monitors a mate and a sack truck.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1389029703' post='2329038']
I was gonna say, Van, PA, monitors a mate and a sack truck.
[/quote]

That`s usually the bassist or drummer, isn`t it?

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1389027852' post='2329011']
I really rate his PR35. The engineer at our local venue was trying to work out what the hell was going on when our singer first plugged it in. When he found out it's a Heil he was really happy. As far as he was concerned it was MUCH easier to place in the mix due to the flatter frequency response. He'd just been bamboozled that suddenly there was a lot more top end than with the 58s. The filter switch is good too. Almost completely cuts out any handling noise.
[/quote]


That surprises me - the handling noise I don't think is anything special on it - the hp filter should cut the boom as opposed to anything else? A lot of sound engineers will put HPF at 100Hz as a given but the HPF is a really nice touch to have included on a mic.

The plosives are the only thing that I think this mic suffers with - it punishes people with bad mic technique! The supplied windscreen tames that though. It really is great though - with that top end, as you say, it's as close as damn it condenser sounding from a dynamic as you can get I think. Filter in, channel strip flat. Job done! Feels great with the rubberised finish - but I'm not sure how well it holds up over time...

[quote]
Oh God, more wireless gear is the last thing he needs.... It all ends up piled in "bass corner" at gigs.
[/quote]

Ha ha - wireless gear gets dumped with me as I'm the only one who understands it all! I'm responsible for everybody getting their wireless working and IEMs sorted!

[fretmeister]

Ear plugs.

If the monitor mix is crap or there just aren't any at all then ear plugs can save you.

When you've got plugs in you hear your own voice at pretty much normal volume as you get the sound transfer via the bones in your skull. But the band are lowered in volume by loads.

No need to struggle to be heard at all. Vocal will be as clear as day to you. As long as you can hear the band enough for pitch and rhythm you are good to go!

I keep 2 different sets of plugs for that reason.

Elacin ER20 for just lowering the volume with a flat response (no underwater muffle)

and some cheap foam rubber ones which do muffle the high end more.

The ones I use depend on the room and the rest of the band.

[Audiokostas]

My trusty AKG-D5 (much better in feedback resistance onstage than the ever-present Shure) in the small upper pocket of the bass bag.

In the big pocket, the playlist, lyric cheat sheets (hey, 's not easy to remember all those songs while playing, singing, drinking and posing), couple of xlrs with a Boss VE-20 as a handy (or footy ) eq, reverb, compression, volume because you can't really trust the sound wizard's apprentice when he dissapears in the middle of the gig or he gives you the thumbs up while he drinks thinking that all the angry signals you 're giving him about the voice sound, is part of the show.

Genz Benz streamliner with the Zoom B3, couple vocalzones (although a shot of whiskey before the start of the gig does the same trick), my flat cap (saves me from blindness since I sweat a lot and hair have departed long time ago so nothing -but the flat cap- stops sweat from getting in my eyes when I play ) and couple small bottles of water (when on stage) all in the tank bag in front of the bike, a well strapped 1x12 on the back of the bike (if the guys have refused to get it in the van) and who said that bassists/singers cant' t be mobile ?

Edited January 10, 2014 by Audiokostas

[gafbass02]

I swear by my TC mic mechanic great bit of kit.