Click HERE for a FREE, no
obligation evaluation of your vocal talent!!
OKAY!! You're a Rock Star!!
So you've got yourself a band, and you've got
yourself a microphone and you've got yourself a PA and now you've got
some gigs!! Now whadaya do?
Sure you know how to sing, but do you really
know how to use that microphone? Following are some
tried and true techniques that will never let you down:
1. Placement of your mic
is crucial! Ideally your mic should be placed so that when you walk
up to it, it hits you right about at chin level. Of course if you hold
your mic in your hand or use a headset, then it's always at chin level.
The reason this is important is because you want your head to be in
a position that is optimal to singing - i.e. looking straight ahead,
chin slightly down - this relaxes the muscles at the back of the throat
and helps facilitate the sound to go up into your head where it can
resonate more easily).
- If you're into hard rock with lots of guttural
sounds and screaming and the like, then you'll get more mileage out
of placing your mic a little lower (about 3 to 4 inches below chin level),
so that you have to lean into it a little - this sets you up with a
nice natural and resilient support system and will help you get the
power that you want in your vocals. This is especially useful if you
happen to play guitar while you're singing - it also gets the guitar
a little away from your body so that you can take in more air and support
it more efficiently.
2. Be mindful of how close
your mouth is to the mic! If you're singing soft, ballad-y kinds of
tunes then you'll want your lips touching the mic most of the time.
This not only keeps you relative to the mic (i.e. you know where your
mic is at all times) but also will help to pick up subtle nuances in
your vocals better than if you're standing a foot away.
3. Similarly, if you know
you're going to be singing loud or screaming - BACK OFF!! Being a foot
away from your mic for extremely loud, high notes or passages is not
out of the question, and unless you have the privilege of having a super
attentive sound guy at your disposal, if you sing or scream too loud
into the mic you at least run the risk of sounding really crappy, or
if you have cheap speakers, blowing them out. Of course if you have
a really groovy board like I do, you'll simply succeed in it muting
your channel so that no one will hear anything you do from that point
forward until you figure out that your channel is muted. Bummer!!
4. This one is a no brainer
- never, never ever point your mic at a speaker, unless you like the
sound of feedback (which also isn't good for the speaker) and want to
make your audience run screaming for the hills.
5. Also, one way you can
avoid feedback from your monitors on stage is to make sure that your
monitors are at a 45 degree angle to your mics at all times (this is
why most speakers which are specifically to be used as monitors are
already angled). Adjust accordingly. |
