Immediate, Intimate, Intense Vocal Sound - How?

Yes, no condenser mic but a dynamic one - what you want is the proximity effect which enhances the low frequencies

folks are saying no condensor... but I say, if you can get your hands on a Neuman TLM103 and get the vocalist up real close to it, you are gonna get amazingly intimate proximity effect. Oddly, the Apex 435 ($65) is also great for this. How much experience does the vocalist have in studio situations? Also I experimented with this once... see if you can put a mic in your minivan (a car will do) and record the vocals in there. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised! greetings .t

Post a sample?

Also? You can use a spectral analyzer/eq (like the Schwa Spectro that comes bundled with Reaper) to remove the pops that come with proximity-effect miking. I learned this trick from a mastering engineer and it was like a light going off in my head!

Use a cardioid mic, close-ish, as close to on-axis as you can get without pops and essies. Try about forehead-level, aimed at the nose, about a hand's width away from the forehead with a pop filter. This will result in a very big, mouthy, intimate sound but also one with a lot of boomy proximity effect, especially on a baritone. So aggressively cut out the lows and lower mids with a shelving filter, and then use whatever eq is necessary to bring up the "spit" and mouthiness without bringing up essiness, and then play with that plus a distortion effect or saturation compressor. Adding one or more doubled monotone whispers can make for a "bigger" and smoother sound, but also a somewhat more reverby or "washed out" sound. I think the key to what you are looking for is low and midrange cuts plus crunchy compression/saturation/distortion effects (don't be afraid to use guitar distortion, if it works). That will give that "big voice/wet mouth" right-in-your-ear effect.

A lot has been said about using particular mics with particular patterns to get the proximity effect (low frequency boost). Can someone explain why you couldn't use eq to achieve the same thing? (and have more control over it)