Imagine being asked, mid-service, to go up on the church platform and play an instrument you’ve never touched before. Many of us wouldn’t know where to start.
But when it comes to microphones, there seems to be an expectation that by simply grabbing that magic wand, luscious tones will automatically pour forth. Instead, feedback starts ringing, and the sound engineer dives for the faders and EQ. Besides, with all the technological changes over the years in microphone design, sound systems, acoustics, worship styles, and stage noise levels, there’s a lot of outdated information floating around that may make things more challenging for the congregation and the sound technician. This guide will help clear the air.
Follow these simple mic techniques to optimize your vocal sound in live worship.
- Mic Cupping
- Mic Positioning
- Look Down the Barrel
- Mic Shy
- Handling the Mic
- Working the Mic
- Speaking
- Ask for Input
Mic Cupping
This tip is really simple. Don’t cup the mic. Covering the grille or holding the handle directly underneath the grille changes the mic’s coloration and resonances. It also introduces feedback issues. Only a few mics are designed to overcome cupping, including Lewitt’s switchable-pattern MTP W950 condenser microphone.
Here’s the geeky reason oversimplified: A mic’s diaphragm and grille are designed to resist feedback and room noise from certain angles and to pick up sound from other angles. This is called its “polar pattern.” Holding the mic too close to the grille changes the polar pattern by blocking some sound and reflecting other parts of the sound. This can dramatically affect your tone and make the mic much more susceptible to feedback.
Pro Tip: If the mic is wireless, then avoid holding the mic in a way that covers the transmitter-antenna area toward the handle’s base. This is important to avoid signal dropouts.
Mic Positioning
The sound engineer has several electronic EQ tools to help address tone issues that stem from poor live-stage mic technique. A highpass filter adjusted anywhere from 100Hz to 150Hz can reduce the mic’s low-frequency sensitivity (the proximity effect) so you can sing more closely to the mic on a loud stage and minimize noise from mic handling, breathing, and plosives. An EQ cut in the 6kHz area can reduce harsh sibilance. But these adjustments take a bit of time to dial in and risk sacrificing some of your tonal quality and warmth.
Give the sound engineer a strong, consistent signal by positioning the mic properly. Instead of spending time fixing issues, the sound engineer can focus on bringing out the best in your voice if you start with good mic technique.
Whether using a mic stand or holding the microphone in your hand, good mic positioning means locking into a consistent sweet spot of distance, height, and aim — your microphone home-base position.
Mic Distance
Distance the mic one to three inches (the width of two or three fingers) in front of your mouth. The exact distance will depend upon the specific mic’s proximity effect and polar pattern, room noise levels, and your vocal technique, so fine-tune the distance by listening for your tonal sweet spot. On most mics, you’ll find that pulling farther away than six inches from the mic will make your voice begin to sound thin and harsh. Pulling in closer than an inch will make many mics sound muddy.
You’ll usually get the best signal-to-noise ratio and potential feedback reduction by getting as close to the mic as you can without the proximity effect taking over and becoming too bassy or muddy. This is especially true in particularly loud rooms. If you exhale loudly through your nose, then minimize breath noise by slightly increasing the distance between your face and the mic until it’s out of the blast zone.
Mic Height
Lower the mic to just below the lip. You want the air burst from your plosives (p and b) to pass above the mic instead of hitting the grille. The audience should be able to see your engaging smile.
Mic Aim
Point the mic toward the back of your throat where the back of your neck connects with your head — not toward the ceiling like an ice-cream cone. Aiming up your nose emphasizes harsher tones and breath noise. Aiming at the ceiling or singing into the side of the mic moves your voice off axis from the microphone capsule and may reduce signal strength and sound quality, especially on mics with a supercardioid or hypercardioid polar pattern.
Look Down the Barrel
Think of the mic as an extension of your upper chin. When you need to look at your notes, keyboard, pedalboard, or around the room at bandmates onstage or people in different areas of the front of house, always keep the barrel of the mic directly in line between your upper chin and where you are looking. This prevents drop-offs or dropouts, especially with supercardioid and hypercardioid mics, which are designed to reject off-axis sound.
If you’re using a mic stand, then turn your body and move to keep the mic capsule between your upper chin and where you’re facing. The key is maintaining a consistent distance and angle in relation to the mic capsule. If you struggle with this issue, then a microphone with a cardioid polar pattern may be a bit more forgiving as you climb the learning curve.
Check out these great cardioid vocal mics.
If your hands cannot hold a mic, yet you often need to look at an instrument, guitar neck, people on the platform, and so on, then a headset mic will provide consistent mic distance. Check out these popular options.
Mic Shy
If the mic sounds too loud, then don’t back away or sing more quietly. Your tone will be much better if you remain consistent. Trust your sound engineer to adjust the front-of-house volume level at the console.
Instead of backing away from the mic, ask the sound engineer to adjust your monitor levels. If you control your own monitor levels and are unsure how to make the best adjustment, then ask for help. Monitor training is one of those easily overlooked details, and a refresher may help you clean up what you hear so that you can sing with full confidence.
When you sing strongly, you sound better. Your tone is better; your range is better; your breath control is better; your clarity is better; your pitch is better. Giving the sound engineer a consistent singing level during the soundcheck and set may prevent the kind of uncomfortable jumps in volume that result in your channel being turned down, perhaps for the rest of the set.
Handling the Mic
Even with mics designed to reduce handling noise, know that whenever you change hands, play with a mic cable, or even stomp your foot near a microphone stand, you may be creating unwanted low-frequency sound. Practice noiselessly swapping the mic from one hand to the other and removing and placing the mic in a stand. Instead of clapping your hand while holding the mic, clap your forearm or do a fist pump with your free hand.
Working the Mic
As you gain experience with your particular microphone, you’ll learn how to tweak its position to emphasize dynamic shifts in your voice.
Begin by determining your home base: the ideal distance where the mic has the sweetest balance of articulation and warmth. This is your starting and returning location. Experiment by moving the mic slightly closer, slightly farther away, and then to the sides of your mouth. Mics with a cardioid poplar pattern will allow you a bit more flexibility to sing to the right or left of the mic. Hypercardioids and supercardioids are designed to reject sound from these areas.
While staying within a couple of inches from your home base, note which mic positions can help soften or warm harsher tones, brighten dull tones, hide plosives, and add fades. You’ll learn how to adjust the mic position so you can belt out an especially high note without overwhelming the congregation or support a note near the bottom of your range without overindulging the proximity effect. Avoid the temptation to pan the mic farther than a couple of inches from your home base — hitting a high note with the mic a foot from your face may look awesome, but it’s not practical on most mics in live, full-band sound situations. Leave major adjustments to the audio technician at the sound console.
After working the mic position for dynamics and tonal color adjustment, consistently return to your home-base position. Think of working the mic as a way to slightly enhance the vocal adjustments you are already making through your singing technique.
Speaking
Speaking into a mic can yield different results than singing into one. Most people speak much more quietly than they talk. The change in support also creates pitch and tonal shifts, and because your mic channel’s EQ and effects are set up to maximize your singing voice, your listeners’ ears may have a more difficult time distinguishing your spoken words. This is doubly true if you’re talking over a band and even more so if there is a lot of room ambience or natural reverb.
How you speak and use the mic can help your message have impact — or lose it.
Speaking Pace
Avoid speaking too quickly, especially during your first words. The audio technician may need to adjust your settings, and your speaking voice may be less clear until your voice gets dialed in. Take your time and avoid jumping into a fast pace that may come out jumbled.
Mic Volume
When you talk, support your voice physically with your diaphragm and control your breathing just as when you sing. This will help prevent your tone from shifting and becoming less clear. Give the audio technician a good, solid volume level that matches your singing level.
Mic Position
It’s tempting to eat the mic when you speak to increase the volume level. On most mics, digging in this way also increases the proximity effect and makes your voice muddier and harder to understand. The simple solution is to maintain a consistent mic position and speak louder instead.
Vocal Effects
Audio effects such as reverb or delay on your channel will need to be adjusted when you speak. This means that you need to communicate with your audio tech ahead of time so they’ll be ready. Likewise, having a predetermined vocal cue, stage spike, or signal indicating the end of your speaking will inform the audio tech when to reengage the vocal effects for your next notes.
Ask for Input
Great vocals are vital for worship services. It’s hard to know how to improve your vocal technique without getting input from those best equipped to tell you what is and isn’t working well. This is the one kind of feedback you want! Talk with your audio technician for suggestions about how you can provide a strong, consistent, and musical vocal. Also, look for the gear that will best translate your singing to lead and inspire the congregation. Reach out to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700 for personalized recommendations. We’ll be glad to answer your questions and pave the way for your vocals to shine.
