How do I get my omnidirectional microphone to not pick up the drums/guitar but only the vocals?

Submitted by turd-boi420 t3_116vft7 in Music

I'm using an AKG P120 omnidirectional mic and when I'm playing with my band, the mic picks up the drums and electric guitar, making the audio quality horrible and making it hard to hear the vocals. Is there any way to make it only pick up the vocals? How do concerts pick up the singer's vocals while not picking up the loud guitar or drums? Another thing to note is that most of the vocals are whispered so is there a way to just not pick up super loud things or something idk.

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SummerMummer t1_j98on68 wrote

"Omnidirectional" means it was designed to pick up audio from all sides. You need a directional mic: Cardioid at a minimum, although Super cardioid or Hyper cardioid would be better.

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DarthDad t1_j98qp4k wrote

Yeah omni is not for vocals

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Motivationgonewrong t1_j9brx8c wrote

In a studio it’s an interesting choice, if you have a room with a nice sound, it’s best to squeeze in some natural reverb that way.

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appleburger17 t1_j9ccmy8 wrote

Omni can be great for vocals just not while there is other stuff happening in the room.

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sebenak t1_j98ypd2 wrote

you don't

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bumwine t1_j99iwtf wrote

You can’t. You need a new mic.

SM57. It’s honestly the best deal in the industry and idk if they still have it but I got mine at 100 bucks as a bundle with a tripod stand and XLR cable.

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Motivationgonewrong t1_j9b9iav wrote

Buy a microphone for vocals. A simple dynamic will work well enough. Check out some vocal effects that can easily enhance the performance of any microphone.

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GeoHubs t1_j98rzhp wrote

A noise gate might help

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Heavens10000whores t1_j993hcb wrote

Someone showed up with a proximity activated gate once. Plugged it right into the mic and then the mic cable as normal. Every time he stepped off the mic, the gate closed and there were no drums or backline trying to leap into the mic. Quite the brilliant device and the only time I ever saw one

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Motivationgonewrong t1_j9bsisr wrote

Take it to a small club and smash the crash with a 50W valve guitar amp cranked to eleven, because it sounds better that way. Let’s see what is worth a gate in that environment. The tea ball by zvex is awesome. I’d love to own a few.

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Heavens10000whores t1_j9c7qg0 wrote

It was a small club. The crash was about 3 feet behind his head and his amp was raised behind him. But because it was a proximity gate, it did not open unless there was something physically there to open it

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JoakimSpinglefarb t1_j991733 wrote

You can't. Omnidirectional means "from all directions". You need a cardioid mic for directionality you need for vocals.

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appleburger17 t1_j9ccy1a wrote

The only way is to stop the sound waves from other instruments reaching the mic. You can help a little by putting something between the mic and instruments to create some level of isolation. Or move the singer and mic to another room. Or record the vocals after the fact while there are no instruments playing in the room. Or use a cardioid mic. Omni picks up sound equally from all sides. Cardioid will only pick up from one direction.

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