What microphones do i need?

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 1:04 pm

Hi everyone, I'm new to the world of recording, but I want to get involved. I have a macbook with 2 gb of ram, and I was wondering what equipment I would need to record my band, and possibly others. Because I would like the option to record everyone at once, I'm looking at the presonus firepod, so my question is if you had to choose 8 reasonably priced (I'm new to this remember so I'm not going to spend $1,000 on a single mic) microphones to record drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and vocals, what would they be? Any advice would be great, thanks.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:17 pm

Short answer:

5 Shure SM57's Vox,2guitars,bass, snare
1 EV RE20 Kick
2 Rode Nt5's or equivalent Small Diaphragm Condensor-Overheads
(or 2 reasonable LDC's)

That should put you well under 2 Grand.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:04 pm

I really like the AT3035 for a budget mic that's good at vocals, acoustics, for room sound, etc.

I got mine new for $130.

I wouldn't suggest a 57 on a bass cab, only because it doesn't have much low end response. I'd say your best bet is a good direct box, and then mic it with something like the At3035 or the Akgd112. A compressor will you you about $150 dollars new and will be a great tool for you too. I won't get into that much, but I think that is worth a lot more than any single mic.

My favorite Kick mic is the AKGd112. $140 new.

SM57's are pretty good for guitar cabs/toms, etc...they don't catch a lot of snare detail though imho. 80 dollars should get you a new one, be careful of ebay scams and knockoffs, though. Taiwanese trash mics have really nice packaging that holds something that looks like the guy who built it is someone who heard about a 57 once a long time ago.

Samson C02 overheads sell for about 100 for a pair, and they are very even and honest mics that have pretty detailed sound.

Basically, the mics won't make the music sound much better. Well, they will, but it starts at the source. I've got some good stuff but if you're recording an out of tune 20 dollar guitar, a 2500 dollar mic into a 3000 dollar compressor into a 5000 dollar preamp will still sound like a 20 dollar out of tune guitar.

Use the money you save to great good cables...they help a lot. I like mogami gold...hotwired cable sells mogami on ebay for 30 dollars for a 25' cable. It's a good deal.

The other thing...get some good speakers...that's your lens you see your music through.

Im no pro, but I've been recorded in some good studios, the Art Institute of Seattle, who has a 180,000 dollar room I got to use. The studio I built for under 2000 ended up sounding better because of the source of the sound.

So I would take that into consideration.

-Dave

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 4:09 pm

Thanks Dave, I'll take all of that into consideration, but I have to ask, where can you get a D112 for $140? They cost around $220 everywhere I've looked.

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 4:27 pm

Check out "hollywoodproaudio" on ebay. That price on the mics is minus the value of the gifts he throws in, but they're solid, useful things you can see in some of his auctions. You'll normally have a choice of a few different things, like headphones amps, all kinds of things. His mics are New In Box, legit items. I've bought all my mics from him and he's a straight shooter. Make him an offer on a mic and he'll set you up, he often throws in free extras in his offers that are pretty decent. Also, if you get a few mics at once, he'll probably combine shipping to save a little more cash on your end.

The firepod is supposed to be pretty decent, I would check musicians friend vs. ebay for pricing. The internet can save you a lot of money if you're willing to wait a while for shipping.

John Vestman has a bunch of awesome advice on recording.

I would suggest checking out www.getsigned.com for advice on every level of recording, from tracking to mastering.

-Dave

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 8:48 pm

On the cheap huh ? OK if I had to record a band on 8 channels on a budget I'd do this,

2-NT5's or C4's-$350 to $400-Drum OH's

3-SM57's-$300-Snare & Guitar amps

1-D112-$200-Kick

1-SM58 or Budget condensor-$100 to $200-Lead Vocal

D.I. Bass and Keys

That's 8 channels for the rythm tracks and you can record the vocals later. $1100 at most and all of the mics are standard studio fare except the OH's which you can upgrade when the budget allows. Good Luck!

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:28 pm

Audix DP5a will give you an I5, a D6, a D4, 2 D2's, and these can be had for just a hair over 500 on ebay, and will destroy the I will mic everything with a SM57 crappy approach. I would buy a at2020 (im in love with using this mic on overdriven guitar amps), and works good for a room mic, and I even use it on backing vox that will run you about 80 bucks on ebay. So Im up to right at 600 here. You can get a pair of c1000s's (people like to talk crap of these mics but they are very usable as overheads, especially for the money) 200, or buy the pair of NT5's which are great. If you go the NT5 route that brings me up to about 950. Spend another 60 bucks on a used sm58, and you are just a hair over 1000 bucks with 9 mics to your closet. This setup owns the others listed aside from a really good vocal mic, but you will make very very good vocal recordings with an at2020, or sm58. PS the AKG c2000b is a great budget mic for vox, other than that save up a few more bucks and get a Rode NTK. Cheers!

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:44 am

Hmm.. How high quality of a recording are you aiming for?

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