Brand New to Recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter munchkindice
  • Start date Start date
M

munchkindice

New member
Please bare with me because I know almost nothing about recording. I am currently working on a song in Logic and want to record vocals for it. I own a shure sm57 that I have used for live instrumental performances and my laptop has a built in mic but those are my only two options at the moment. When I researched it some people I read say I need a preamp, others say an audio interface, and others just say that the sm57 is terrible for vocals. So basically my question is what is the bare minimum I need to get a decent sound? Should I buy a different mic, a preamp, an audio interface, some combination of those things? I also just want decent quality, I really don't have too much money so I just want something that will get the job done. Also, if I do want to record more in the future, vocals or instrumental, would this setup still work or would I need something else? I appreciate any help you can give me.
 
H Munch' and welcome.
The phrase "rock and a hard place" comes to mind! First thing tho', the SM57 is NOT a "terrible mic" for vocals, it is in fact something of a classic along with its more commonly used stable mate the '58.

It IS unfortunately very insensitive, that is to say you need a loud sound into it to get even a feeble signal voltage out. The fix for this could be, on ther face of it, a mic pre amp but I would not suggest such for several reasons.
Next option is an Audio Interface and this is in fact the best one by far. Snag. Anything good enough to amplify the '57 satisfactorily will be a bit expensive. I have however read good reports of the Focusrite 2i2, around £115 here, nothing cheaper is likely to be much good (If you can find one, the Emu 0404usb had decent pre amps but I have no idea if they work well with macs?).

But much depends upon your vocal style/genre. If you are belting out rock songs even the weaker pre amps on a cheap AI might be ok but any kind of ballad/intimate stuff? Forget it.

I will include a last option simply for completeness. A modest mixer. Something with two mic inputs. Soundcraft would be top of the list but, tho' they get some stick, products by Behringer are pretty good as are mixers from Yamaha, Tascam and others. Such a mixer would feed into the 1/8"(ugh!) line input jack on the computer. Not ideal but should work. Mixers start here at less than £50.00.

A capacitor (aka condenser) mic would give much more output but most need "phantom power" and that means a mixer,pre amp or AI, double whammy on the pocket!

Dave.
 
Thank you for all of the advice. I was looking at the Focusrite 2i2 and have a few questions but they are probably pretty obvious so I apologize. First, I noticed that there are a few models, some slightly more expensive than others. Are there major differences between them or is the cheapest model ($119) okay? Also, do I need to buy any specific wires to connect it? I really know nothing about this stuff but would like to learn.
 
An audio interface is what you need. A USB interface will come with the USB cable, all you need is an XLR-XLR cable to plug in your mic. There are many not-too-expensive options, read through reviews and available options - Sweetwater is a great vendor resource.
You haven't mentioned them, but you are going to need headphones so you can hear your backing tracks while recording with the mic. Suggest you read the sticky threads at the top of this forum before buying anything!
 
Don't think of mics as being strictly on a scale of bad to good, think of them as either fitting or not fitting your voice. If the SM57 fits your voice then it's a good choice. There are sure to be other mics that are different but still work with your voice, perhaps even better than the 57, but it's a good one to start with. You may find a pop filter to be helpful.

You need and interface: mic inputs, headphone output, monitor output and USB connection to the computer in one unit designed for home recording.
 
Okay, thank you for all the tips. I am currently on sweetwater looking around. As for the headphones, I use a pair that I have while working in Logic so I assumed those would work for recording as well?
 
Last edited:
You will need closed back headphones for tracking, especially vocals. For mixing you really need speakers ("studio monitors") and a decent room.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
You will need closed back headphones for tracking, especially vocals. For mixing you really need speakers ("studio monitors") and a decent room.
Click to expand...
BoulderSoundGuy is right, but it is going to be a while until you get the other parts right. You can get by with what headphones you have until you have an idea what you are doing. Plan on buying a good set of monitors sometime down the road - sometime down the road.

Get your mike and audio interface working and spend some time learning how to do the recording first.

Glen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top