AES Los Angeles 2016
Historical Track Event H2
Saturday, October 1, 10:45 am — 12:15 pm (Rm 406AB)
Historical: H2 - Historic Microphone Technologies and Their Connection to Vocal Performance Techniques
Presenter:Alex Case, University of Massachusetts Lowell - Lowell, MA, USA
Abstract:
For the first century of music recording, the sound of the recorded voice was very much driven by the initial limitations and slow-but-steady advancement of the audio technologies available at the time. First there were no microphones and recording was an unplugged acoustic and mechanical experience. Carbon, ribbon, condenser, and moving coil designs followed, each having an audible impact on the pop vocal. With the extraordinary capabilities of gear available today, we face fewer constraints. In fact, a contemporary challenge might be that, freed of technical restrictions, we have too many possibilities —too broad a range of creative options for tracking the all-important lead vocal. In this tutorial, Alex U. Case highlights what we might learn from audio history to drive our decisions for getting the right vocal sound at our next gig.