EQing a shure sm57 for male vocal recording/mixing (baritone)

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brotman

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Hey guys!

Is there a way to give a more "condensor" EQ or feel to the shure 58? Any tips for EQing a 58 for recording usage? Most of the tips ive found online are about EQing for live usage. Anything to stop the "boxiness" of the sound. Or compression settings?
 
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Could you not re-sing it or overdub it to make it sound how you want?
 
word.

word. Its a live recording so I'd rather have vocals with a boxy tone than to fake it. They don't sound awful, but I definitely like the tone better through a large condenser. Its all good tho. Cutting the mids slightly definitely helps, and Ill try out an exciter or something to see if that adds anything.
 
The boxyness is all mids. A somewhat wider band Q will probably work the best, then you can narrow down the Q if need be. It's hard for me to suggest a frequency to target because I can't hear the recording, but sweep around until you feel you have it. A higher presence boost might not be a bad thing too.
 
At least now you have a reference to what you should be doing with a 58 when your playing out.
ie. Your positioning of the microphone (58 or like) while singing live.

Or ..... carry your own hand held condenser microphone - the list is endless but maybe a Neumann KSM105. ;)
 
brotman said:
Is there a way to give a more "condensor" EQ or feel to the shure 58? Any tips for EQing a 58 for recording usage? Most of the tips ive found online are about EQing for live usage. Anything to stop the "boxiness" of the sound. Or compression settings?

I am guessing cut the mids a by a few decibels (around 600ish), boost around the 200ish? Maybe even boost the highs? (I have been taught to make cuts rather than boosts but I may need to make an exception on this one)
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Is there a way for you to post an mp3 of this track?

Generally speaking dynamics lack air compared to a condenser so EQ won't find any anywhere and the closest you can get is with skilled use of an exciter. EQ should be able to help control the boxiness. Set a boost on an EQ band (assuming parametric or at least swept EQ is available to you), sweep until you find the boxy frequency and then cut. Adjust the Q to find the optimum bandwidth.
 
Go buy a DVD of your favorite band and take note of what mic they're using. 9 times out of 10 it'll be a 58. A 57 has the exact same capsule as the 58, albeit with different capsule porting and windscreen.

The 58/57 has been used on countless live recordings and they sound great. Nothing wrong with the mic the way it is.

Cheers :)
 
thanks!

thanks everyone, especially @guitarplayr82 and @iqi616. Cutting a few db at about 200 and 500 really helped it.
 
Mo Facta said:
Go buy a DVD of your favorite band and take note of what mic they're using. 9 times out of 10 it'll be a 58. A 57 has the exact same capsule as the 58, albeit with different capsule porting and windscreen.

The 58/57 has been used on countless live recordings and they sound great. Nothing wrong with the mic the way it is.

Cheers :)
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Exactly. Not only that but there's more to sound than just frequencies. I'm pretty sure you're going to be disappointed trying to EQ one type of mic to sound like another. If it was that easy, everyone would only need one cheap mic and one good EQ. Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
 
Mo Facta said:
The 58/57 has been used on countless live recordings and they sound great. Nothing wrong with the mic the way it is.
Click to expand...
I've found myself wondering lately why you don't hear plosives on live vocal performances even though there's no pop shields.
Totally irrelevant to the discussion but longer {and louder !} than piece of string, eh, Mo ? :thumbs up:
 
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