Mic for female singer - recommendations please

[Maurice Carr]

We have a female singer in our 5 pce covers band,
mostly 50's to 89's with some later stuff by Pink,
Gaga etc thrown in for good measure.

She is a strongly built Polynesian lass who belts
out a song at high volume, and for those of you
who have not experienced Polynesian singers, think
of Hawaiian or Afro-American singers with a strong
voice.

Her current mic is a Shure Beta58A.

We have problems with boom, particularly in the
mids, which is hard to get rid of and the other
lead singer has trouble adjusting his in ear
monitor because of the huge difference in volume
when she sings into this mic. I have it on good
authority this is really not a female singer's mic
and a better replacement suggestion has been the
EV N/D367s. The singer is currently taking singer
breathing lessons as she struggles to maintain
breath after a couple of sets.

I need to set her up with a more appropriate mic,
seeing the Beta 58A is not ideal.

What is the recommendation of you guys in the know
please?

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Originally Posted by Maurice Carr

We have problems with boom, particularly in the
mids, which is hard to get rid of and the other
lead singer has trouble adjusting his in ear
monitor because of the huge difference in volume
when she sings into this mic.

What is the recommendation of you guys in the know
please?

Rehearsing and taking lessons on the correct mic technique.

If she (or he for that matter) varies her distance from the diapraghm and sound pressure too much You're SOL live no matter what You do.

If the problem lies in the source, no amount of mic rolling will make it right.

IME/IMHO anyway.

Regards
Sam

[GregShadoan]

Beyer M88. Great Female vocal mic.

[DWBass]

^^^^^^^+1^^^^^^^^ add a good compressor into the mix. Even out those peaks and valleys!

[AmadeusXeno]

In my experience it's usually more about mic control, eq, and compression. The beta58 is a great mic. Your singer just needs to learn to hold it at different positions depending on how she is singing.

[stflbn]

I was going to suggest a Supercardiod or Hypercardiod mic, but you're already there.

I've personally had good luck with Audix OM5's for powerful female vocalists, but the same gal also had no problems with the Beta58A.


.

[4Mal]

If stand mounted - the Sennheiser 421 is a great vocal mic. The Beta 87 condenser has a very good rep amongst lady singers. I've had really good luck with the SM-57 using the Shure windscreen as well.

I know it's not the easiest thing to do but nothing beats lining up a few mic's on stands and moving from one to the next. Doing that took me from the Beta 58 or Senn 835 to the Senn 421 - with my voice there was just no comparison.

If you do try a 421 - you have to also work with then 5 position roll off feature as it can make a dramatic difference.

Downside to a 421 is that it is butt ugly as a vocal mic ...

[tangentmusic]

The old standby classic SM58 - good for any vocalist

[Maurice Carr]

Thanks all.

From comments on the BFM forum it seems everyone agrees that starting with technique correction plus a little compression is the best way to fix the problem.

A more female vocal friendly mic would just be the icing on the cake