Mic Choice for Banjo and Male Vocals?

Let'5_Pick

New member
I'm brand new to home recording. I've been laying down tracks with my free copy of Audacity and this beautiful little 37-cent plastic stick-mic that came with my sound card (Using this setup, I'm thinking about naming my first CD "Cold Fish" because it sounds like I'm sitting inside a big empty tuna can).

Anyway, I've decided I want to buy a decent microphone. I want a mic that will work well for both vocals and banjo - but $400 is probably my upper limit (preferable closer to $300). After reading everthing I can find, I think I've narrowed my choices down to the following:

AKG C3000 - 8th Street, $269
AT 4040 - 8th Street, $299
Octava MC319 - The Sound Room, $269

Any opinions as to my best bet here, or other mic's that I should consider?

Also, I was going to buy the little ART Tube MP for $50 or so, but then I started researching other pre's and wondered if it would be worth it to buck-up for a good preamp. I was looking at the Seventh Circle N72 kit or the ART Pro Channel. Should I just stick with the entry-level unit for now, or would I just be throwing $50 away?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

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BTW... Here's a cut off of "Cold Fish" :) ... This is an example of "boy meets multi-track recorder and something goes terribly wrong". I started with a Band-In-A-Box bass line for Tom Adam's "Sawmill Shuffle" and then just added a whole wagon load of banjo tracks on top of banjo tracks... until even the most sane person would consider jumping. Ummmmm... Can you hear the warmth of that plastic stick-mic??? Yeah, it tastes like Tuna!

http://home.kc.rr.com/gotbanjo/mp3/
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Banjo's are tough. They have that metalic, pick on string, peak transient thing going on. Overall a big tube condensor comes to mind.

If money was no object I would say a Royer 121 with tube pre to soften things up. However in your price range I will go out on a limb here and do some guessing.

SM57 - can handle sudden transients smoothly
MXL990 - Not subject to sudden transients, coarse, might be just the thing.
MXLV69 - Dark, with tube so it might smooth things out a bit
MXL V67 - Also dark, not as smooth as the V69

The 4040 is generally used on acoustic guitar for its mid range focus. I have used the 4033, similar response, and it over-emphasized the frequency range that was already happening on the banjo.

The Oktave 319 is kind of flat sounding with a strident high end. Could be the ticket. Don't have a clue on the AKG, never used one.
 
Yeah, banjo's are tough. In addition, vocal mics are subjective - what works for my voice might suck for yours, etc. You might want to find the vocal mic first, then see if it works for the banjo. If not, find another mic that works for the banjo.
 
How about that Nady ribbon? That just might be the ticket for you, and it seems to receive surprisingly accepting reviews.
 
I don't think you will find one mic to do double duty with the banjo. The banjo will fare best with an sdc (603, mk012, akg 3031 and up) while your voice would probably do best with a large. A dark horse winner could be a Shure sm7 or a Rode 1000 (or are they 2000 now?) Either way ...audition.
 
I've searched and searched for a while now to get 'that banjo sound'... I know some of you might disagree with me, but I tried my Rode K2 on the banjo. I tried several many mic positions. I finally found the sound I was looking for with the K2 in front of the banjo head at about 15" and pushed slightly back towards the back of the bridge.
It's hard to describe sound, but what I was looking for was something with so much twang, but more of a fuller, richer sound... With this set up, I found it.
 
Scott Dorsey at RAP (recordingaudio.pro) has mentioned the Electro-Voice EV 635a as being excellent for banjo IIRC. Also it has very good overall sound for vocals. Best on 1st and 2nd tenor male vocalists (or females) IMHO.

635a's make an excellent tonal counterpoint to a Shure SM57 or SM7 BTW.
Easier to "place" than a cardiod dynamic or condenser though, as they're omni.

FWIW they were used on many classical recordings in the 60's/70's.
(like "Bach's Banjo Concerto in D Minor"):)

You'd probably prefer a "clean" sounding pre. Like a M-Audio DMP3 or Joe Meek 3Q. IMHO the Meek offers more value, if you only need one
channel. The DMP3 is a dual channel though.

Chris

P.S.
Supposedly one of Elvis' AE's at RCA used the 635a on a couple of his early hits there. They didn't keep extensive track notes then, but suspect I know one vocal it was used on ("I Want You, I Need You").
 
I would try and SM57 also, what mics do you have available? What have you tried other than the computer mic?

War
 
My .02 worth. First, MK319 isn't really a bad choice, but we're not talking about a matched pair. This is one where I'd grab the MK319 from Guitar Center for $79, currently on sale. If you don't like it, somebody will buy it for $50, no big loss. Also- I think AKG C3000B is an awful choice for most applications, and banjo would be one of the worst. However- C2000B would work rather well. It is cheaper than the 3000, and is darker, which is good for your application. It has a small diaphragm, which responds well to the fast transients of the banjo due to it's lower mass, and it is a much better vocal mic in general than the 3000. You could own both of those mics with the cool H100 shockmount, for under $300. Best of luck.-Richie
 
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