Off-Mic Vocalist

[I've recorded three vocalists on separate tracks, and one of them sounds different - he was too far away from the mic. What can I do?]

I've recorded three vocalists on separate tracks, and one of them sounds different - he was too far away from the mic. What can I do?

The following tips are taken from previous threads.

Depending on the situation, there's only so much you can probably do.

Having someone "on-mic" is not just about dynamics and frequency capture; It's also a very temporal, spatial thing. If the vocalist goes off-mic, you're probably only going to be able to deal with only small variations in this spatiality. Larger variations in directionality and distance from the capsule will remain evident. The day someone comes up with a fix for this, they'll be rich, because then we'll be able to record around corners!

So, if the vocalist was in fact 'far away' or 'off-axis' while performing, there's not much you can do to really bring it to the foreground. You can try some limiting which will uniformly boost the entire signal - at which point you'll probably have to remove noise with Noise Reduction, and even still, the performer may sound distant (just because of the room characteristics that were part of the file itself)...Of course, at times like these, you can always add some 'spacey' effects (like a stereo phaser or flange) and intentionally create a different sound; that technique has been used with great results in the past.

So, with a little EQ, and compression/limiting, you might be able to improve the sound a bit, or a lot...again, it's hard to make a call without actually hearing it. If it is possible, it probably wouldn't be bad to have him do it again, positioned properly.

Adapted from material originally posted by Audition M.D. and Jonrose