Pro-Mic Technique from a Singing Teacher

As a singing teacher a lot time gets spent working with students on their microphone technique. Becoming a master of the mic is a hugely important part of any performance. Therefore, technique with a microphone should be perfected and practiced at every possible opportunity so it can truly be mastered.

As an example. if you watch Jessie J singing you will notice she has professional and powerful mic that is different from the standard Shure SM58 mic. But, do not let this fool you Miss J is a microphone wizard and would sound equally as fantastic on a £10 Argos microphone!

Whilst singing teachers will have their own variations the following is a useful list to help you get the most out of the mic you use and develop great technique.

1.     Hold the microphone in your hand. It means it will be easier to move than stationery placed in a stand and will give you more control whilst helping to develop performance skills.

2.     Sing into the microphone properly! Too obvious!? But, you need to remember that a mic is directional and so the closer (or louder) you get to it, the louder the sound will come out of the speakers, which is great for dynamics. Ideally you should sing with the microphone head around an inch away from your mouth. Touching the mic head itself with your lips will only increase distortion (and, with a mic jammed into your chops quite probably bad diction!).

3.     A singer needs to sing directly into the head of the microphone.Don't try to look cool by tilting it down and singing into it from below... it will not sound good.

4.     The microphone is the shape it is for a reason. Hold the body and keep your hands off the round mesh head because this will alter the produced sound and can result in feedback.

5.     Always check the length of your mic lead to ensure you won't be fighting for more cord, or, pinging yourself backwards like a comedy cartoon character on elastic! It will not look cool either way :)

6.     And, always remember my 3 P's rule... Practice, practice and practice!! It really does make perfect you know.

And, that's it for today. Hope it proves helpful :)

TTFN