What Can a Shure SM-58 be used for?

[RyanEmerson]

I'm currently active in a punk band, and to make a long story short, I have a small budget. Very small. For vocals, I plan on purchasing a SHURE SM-58, which is an upgrade drom my crappy AKG D 8000s. My question is, for recording vocals in a studio, is the SM-58 sufficient? In what areas is it lacking?

Thanks.

[Massive Master]

If that's what you've got, use it. Try to keep it on a stand if possible, with a pop-screen or at least a standard windscreen and get up on it. For punk and pop-punk stuff, it should be fine.

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com

[apl]

What Can a Shure SM-58 be used for? A hammer!

Wasn't there an old Shure ad showing someone pounding a nail into a 2x4 with one?

[mrface2112]

it's perfectly fine and plenty of records have been recorded using sm57s, sm58s and their siblings, the shure 545 for vocals.

however, please realise that the mic is but a SMALL piece of the equation. the singer, the voice, the skill of the singer, the room, the preamps, the cables, the mixing board, the monitoring environment, the outboard effects, the mastering, the production choices AND the engineer (among other things) all play a large role in recordings.

so with that in mind, please understand that you CAN get a perfectly fine sound out of an sm58 in the studio........but please also don't complain that you're not getting that "pro sound" that you hear on today's commercial cds......

.....it's not that it's not achievable.....but there's a lot more than the mic that goes into it.


cheers!
wade

[bgavin]

It's a fine performance mic with a known sound.

Learn to not cup the ball with your hand. This changes the sound a lot.

[chessparov]

Ryan, you could get a SM57 and Shure's foam pop screen for it.
The vocals would sound a bit clearer than a SM58 that way.

Chris

[noisedude]

Bgavin - good point ... that's another Sennheiser E series advantage ... the tops aren't round!

chessparov - couldn't he just take the top of the 58?

[darrin_h2000]

You would be suprised how many things that 58 beats out there...keep it arround.

Use it like a 57 on the amp...if you need it there.