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I am starting to take recording seriously, myself and friends have a group that raps, with occasional singers for choruses, etc. I am piecing together a home studio for us, as now we are recording into a laptop at various locations. I am in IT, so the computer was easy (and cheap). I got a good deal on an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, the monitors and software are taken care of, the big question, even after doing some homework, is what mic to use?

I am thinking about the Electro-Voice RE20 after reading it is well suited for aggressive vocals and can take whatever is thrown at it. There is also the Blues, Shures, etc. I recognize that my knowledge is very limited, and I have pretty much no way to try these out in any real environment.

I recently came into some money so I set out to improve my/our recording situation. After my investments in the other pieces, my budget is around 500, but I could easily save a bit more and go higher if I am convinced it will make a tangible difference. Whatever I get will have to do for the time being, as i don't see myself having another opportunity anytime soon to buy any serious equipment. I am trying to maximize the money I have so at the very least, we can have (semi/pro)fessional sounding promo material.

Some background info, we do 90s and current style rap, I have a loud, rough voice. The rest of us range from more on my end to one who is high strung and a bit nasal. Right now, we're recording in a bedroom, the new space will be in the basement of my new home, which is pretty bare. I am also looking for advice on how to treat the room to improve recording viability. Or should we build some sort of recording booth? I am great at rapping, but extremely amateur in the recording process, I am looking forward to and appreciate your advice.

Comments

moonbaby Wed, 08/18/2010 - 08:49

Large diaphragm DYNAMICS are always good for this. These include the afore-mentioned RE-20; it's slighty brighter and more sensitive brother, the RE-27;the Heil PR-40 (bigger proximity effect than the RE's); the Shure SM7; and the Beyer M99. The RE's are especcially good in a bad room due to their tighter pattern.
Also, nothing wrong with the Shure SM58, in fact it will handle being eaten and rough handling very well.
Personally, I'd leave the LDC mics (Blues, etc.) to the goyls. Not good in a poorly-treated room.

anonymous Fri, 09/24/2010 - 21:20

Any large diaphragm condenser will do the job. The highs are not usually cut on rap vocals so it's a good idea to get a mic that has nice open highs, or maybe a slight boost in the highs depending on the tone of your voice(s). What pre are you using? That is going to make the biggest difference. If you could spend 250 on a mic and then use the rest for a better pre, then that would definitely be my choice. If you don't want to buy a pre, then I would suggest the Rode NTK. It's a tube powered microphone and it can also help with getting a nice sound.

http://theaveragejoseph.com/blogwp/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Summertime_Example.mp3

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