Which MIC for a BARITONE Voice?

[@chantingmammal]

Gary Terzza, I love You. You announced for Central Independent Television, Channel 4 and worked on Radio, also You hosted CITV from 1987 to 1988.

[@GaryTerzza]

Kind of you to say, thank you 🙏

[@Tarantara.]

Yup.....I use an Audio Technica 4050 and as a Bass Baritone i find it fine and dandy!....and Love it. Thanks for all your fab tips Gary.

[@GaryTerzza]

And there is a bass roll off on the 4050 too for all those unwanted rumbles. Thanks for the comment Mark👍

[@D.Bunker]

*I have a bass voice. If you have a baritone voice and you want it to sound like a bass voice, try the MOJAVE AUDIO MA-201 Fet Microphone.* *This mic is typically used to mic-up kick drums on a drum kit. It is meant to deliver a clean, crisp bass sound.* *Unlike most studio mics that have a roll-off on the bass end - this mic actually has a slight increase in bass between 80hz to 100hz, which is why it is good for making a baritone voice sound like a bass voice.*

[@GaryTerzza]

Sounds like a bone shaker!

[@fdcox]

Wow, I didn’t realise there was such a price range for mics. I think I’ll stick to my Audio-Technica 2020 for now.

[@GaryTerzza]

You can pay much more… a Neumann U87 will cost you around £2,000. It’s a bit like buying a car - you can still go from A to B in a cheap runaround, or you may prefer the refined comfort of a Bentley (budget permitting of course!).

[@JothanGurr]

I sing in a Bass baritone range and the I agree that the C414 and it's clones like the AKG C214 and Warm Audio WA-14 are good choices but I've had the best luck with the Stellar X2 because of it's low end clarity and punch. I'm interested in the Mojave MA-201 Fet but I haven't tried it yet.

[@GaryTerzza]

Sounds like you know your mics!

[@JothanGurr]

@@GaryTerzza Thanks Terry, and I meant to say I really liked your video because this is a topic not often covered in our tenor obsessed world and the depth of your experience really shines through! Great practical advice is sometimes hard to come by in this field so thank you for sharing your knowledge!!!

[@GaryTerzza]

@@JothanGurr You are welcome 🙏

[@ReallyJustPlainProductions]

I know I'm a year late to the discussion, but barring singing (I really can't sing lol) would any of these mics you listed be good for gravelly, baritone voice acting? A lot of the demo reels I want to put together are comic dubs of characters that generally give off a gruff, bombastic or sometimes creepy vibes, and in some cases I'm obligated to grunt or growl into the mic, and I'm really trying to find the best model that can accommodate that style for the best performance I can deliver

[@JothanGurr]

A new mic that I fiound that emphasises the deep end of my voice without sounding muddy that I’m absolutely in love with is the MXL Cr - 89. I got mine for $200 as an Open box special on Amazon and I’m convinced it’s now one of the best mikes for low baritone/ bass voices. It’s got clarity and yet fullness at the same time which is such a hard trick to pull off with microphones. Hope that helps!

[@enricovillaruz]

Hi! Is the v7mic okay for bass baritone singing?

[@GaryTerzza]

I am not familiar with that particular mic. If you are singing on stage via a PA system then a dynamic mic such as the Shure SM58 would be a wise choice, but if you want to record your voice then a condenser mic (USB or XLR) is much better.

[@nayb1398]

Wondering about upgrading from a Rode Nt1a to a Sennheiser MKH 416. Could you give your thoughts on the Sennheiser? I find The Rode a little too sensitive.

[@GaryTerzza]

The 416 is very well regarded. Because it is a shotgun mic it has a narrow field of pick up, almost hyper cardioid in its polar patter, so reducing room reverb. However it will be important not to move your voice off-axis in order to maintain the sweet spot and get the most from the Sennheiser. All in all it will be a wise choice.

[@nayb1398]

@@GaryTerzza Thanks Gary. Keep Rockin'!

[@ilblues]

That's twice in recent days I've heard someone say most men are baritones. Perhaps I don't understand what a baritone is, simply because my natural speaking voice is deep, resonant, chesty. Over the years, thanks to a marriage with 3 daughters, and a professional career where there were many women, I've forced myself to speak in a higher pitched voice because the estrogen crowd claims to have trouble hearing my voice. In a room with mostly women, my natural voice does make heads turn and cause a bit of a start in some of them. Complicating matters with regard to voice pitch - natural or forced higher - I sing and play guitar - but most pop songs these days have vocals in a higher range than I can not sing naturally. I have to cough up a nut to sing higher than a middle C - a D on a good day. Tending to cover songs in their original key, I've forced myself to sing higher than my natural voice. Yeah - I know - falsetto is weird - for much of what I sing it doesn't matter because funny voices add to the parody / comedy stuff I perform. It's just annoying for more serious tunes, where now I pay more attention to the key, opting to sing closer to natural voice, which is somewhat like Johnny Cash voice, but not as deep as Tennessee Ernie Ford (example Shenandoah). No offense, but if your speaking voice is baritone, then I'm a bass. Singing wise, I'd have pegged you for a tenor. Jack

[@GaryTerzza]

I think you are right - from what you sound like a bass 👍

[@ilblues]

@@GaryTerzza The choir director always stuck me in the bass section - low D was really starting to scrape bottom. I do appreciate your take on microphones - I don't really understand the "best mic" question for a particular voice range - since I've seen engineers make different mics sound the same by reshaping the EQ in post. Unless the users question means they want a mic that doesn't require EQing for their voice? That is a problem for a deep voice - making the vocal cut through a mix. Seems like most of the deep voiced singers I hear have minimal accompaniment so as not to lose the vocal in a busy arrangement. It does seem like the male crooner age faded with the onset of digital and bringing the 10kHz-20kHz range to music. Was vinyl better for the crooners?

[@Rivenworld]

AKG C414XLII is a good choice for around £600, multi pattern but a bit brighter than the NT1 so would be good for a 'bass' voice.

[@GaryTerzza]

I’m not familiar with the AKG, but that sounds an alternative worth exploring.

[@binarymilton]

Yes, I'm a baritone singer and the XLII is the best for my voice. And I've tried a hell of a lot of mics. The nice thing about the XLii is that it gives you support when you sing up in a tenor/falsetto range too. It also has good proximity effect (but it doesn't kick in until you get up REALLY close), so from that point of view it can work quite well on lighter/weaker sounding vocalists as well.

[@orestes1984]

Yeah OK, why are you giving this advice while using a Blue Yetti?

[@GaryTerzza]

I'm not using a Yeti - the mic I'm using in the video is a Sub Zero XLR condenser.

[@orestes1984]

@@GaryTerzza I swear to god it looks like a Blue Yetti.

[@GaryTerzza]

@@orestes1984 Nope, it’s definitely not. I have personally never used a Yeti.

[@orestes1984]

@@GaryTerzza VoiceOver Coach I am actually glad, because so many people think a polar pattern microphone with four capsules in it of such tiny size, connected purely to a digital device could ever sound any good.... In fact there are very few purely USB microphones that can sound good. I mean its not the digital side of things.... I do believe 32bit audio will fix a lot of those problems. especially on better microphones, with better capsules and designs in general... But there is nothing much useful you can do with a Yetti.... It would be obvious as a marketing scam because the Yetti doesn't even need to look the way it does.... The basket on the Blue Yetti is just there for show, what's hiding underneath it is sort of like the cheaper, lower end, zooms, and tascams, and lets be honest here, for not much more if you were going to go down that road for not much more money you would get yourself at least a Zoom H2N or the equivalent 2 channel Tascam (they unfortunately no longer make) which people are now paying scalping prices for which is the Tascam DR100 MK III. At least if you were going to go for something decent that sounds good, the ATR2100x is a dynamic microphone with a cardiod pattern that will give a (relatively) flat sound with some boos to the highs out of the box. I don't understand how people think they can get a good sound out of a polar pattern microphone with four tiny capsules in that thing other than marketing.... That's all... especially in an untreated room which most people possess at that price point.