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Need microphone advice ..

lopxtc

lopxtc

Jan 18, 2007
488
3
50
St. Louis, MO
#1
Hey all ..

The band I play in is starting to record more of the songs to put onto the myspace page, and for others to hear. The problem we have is that right now the recording gear is simply one persons laptop and and an external computer microphone. This works good except for when I am playing and then the microphone doesnt record the bass well and it all sounds muddy and distorted in the end.

Now for myself at home I play through my mac-mini with a Pre-Sonus firewire interface and studio monitors. I wanted to use this same interface plugged into my laptop and hooking up a regular microphone.

Now for this purpose what kind of microphone would be good? I know next to nothing about microphones and would really be open to any advice. Dont have a lot of money to spend so if I can find something that will make do in the $100 range that would be great as we are working on a more quality recoding setup and this would be for the interim.

***EDIT***

Sorry I should note that right now we are sans-vocals so we are recording instruments only at the moment.

Thanks,

Aaron
 
#2
A Shure SM57, in addition to being a great stage hammer, is an industry standard for just about any recording and sound reinforcement situation you can think of. You can record just about anything with them, and they're a lot more forgiving on placement than condensers of any sort or mics with omnidirectional polar patterns. Plus, they're cheap!

Unfortunately, their one downfall is in the extreme ends of the spectrum. They don't pick up extreme highs very well, and they don't pick up deep bass very well. Consider running a DI in conjunction when throwing an SM57 in front of a bass cab, and be prepared to EQ kick drums.

Another great mic to have around is the Audio-Technica AT2020. That's a condenser, so it requires phantom power and is much more sensitive to just about everything. But, the bass response extends very far and it has a fairly flat EQ, save for the presence bump that a lot of microphones have. Best part is, it's in the same price range as the SM57 and fills out as another all-purpose microphone - it just can't do high SPLs like close up on a snare or a blaring guitar amp.
 
#5
Ditto, in my home studio I have (2) 58's, (2) 57's and (1) Behringer C3 (pretty impressive for $89).

The Shures get used the most, and I have never felt I needed anything else. I do plan however on another C3 (for stereo applications)...but doubtful I will bother with anything else.
 
#8
Are you just trying to record bass, or are you looking for a better room mic to record the band?

I gotta tell you, I have tried many different mics to record our jams and then I got a couple of Kel HM-1's to use as overheads, they got rave reviews on alot of forums I traffic, and they are so cheap I figured what the hell.

i gotta tell you these mics are nice, they aren't bright and harsh like most of the cheapo condensors around. They work great as room mics and drum OH.

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#10
lopxtc said:
The whole band ...

Aaron
Click to expand...

For a room application, my C3 would be my first choice as it's a large diaphram mic, and does well picking up a band in a room. I'm not sure I would bother with my shures for ant kind of distance recording, they're not really designed for that.

I would however consider 2 of them (C3's) and for the price these will do a great job, been there, done that, worked perfect.

You can also use them to record individual instruments if need be.
 

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