help with mics please

[kingofallkings]

hi all, my first post here. i am relatively new to recording and have recently bought a roland vs2480cd and a set of roland ds5 moitors. i'm looking to record a demo for my band (drums, guitar, bass guitar vocals) and was wondering if i could get some tips on which mics to buy. i've heard that sm57's r good for snare and guitar amps, and AKG D112 for kick drum, but other than that i'm pretty clueless. we use disrorted guitar and very loud vocals if this makes a difference.

also i've heard that i should use preamps between my mics and my recorder and i'm pretty clueless about that too

any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanx

 

[Tifstorey]

I would recommend getting a decent pre amp for all your mics, this will give your sounds a boost. You want some decent condenser mics for all your vocals, especially if you'll be screaming down them ...Before we can give you some suggestions on some actualy mics though, what kind of budget are you looking at here for the mics? Mics can range from the £7.99 ones in Argos, to £1200 y'see. Give us an approx budget and we will help with some opinions on decent mics.

Peace

 

[kingofallkings]

well i have a reasonable budget, probably about £1000 for all the mics i'll need to get started, drum mics and a decent vocal mic. this budget could be stretched and i will be building on my mic collection when i get more money. also, i'd rather buy a few high quality mics than a lot of low quality ones which i will have to replace

 

[Tifstorey]

Well in which case, you might want to go to a company and ask them if they can do a deal for you? I picked out some microphones, which I would purchase if i was in your situtation.

Vocal: Rode NT2-A £199.99

Link: http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/?manu...&category_id=91b3be2d9efc08ea760e4c3070ce0a75

For your Drums, buying in a kit is the best idea, unless you know specificall what you want... I picked out 2:

Drums AKG kit £599.99

Link: http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/.../category_id/3e399f2b0fdeee4961f2e8973b2f723c

2nd: Shure PGDMK6 £329.99

Link: http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/.../category_id/3e399f2b0fdeee4961f2e8973b2f723c

Now obviously your going to want to go for the first, but this is £599.99.. It is expensive, but the mics are second to none for drums. Also includes the D112 for your kick.

For your Guitar and Bass, if you got some SM57 for the amps? Only cost around £75, but theyre still really good.

So, to price up: If you got 1 of the Rode Mics: £199.99
The AKG Drum kit: £599.99
2x Shure SM57 mics: £150.00
Total = £949.98

I think if you went to a company and told them you were interested in purchasing this, they would throw in a decent pre amp for you. Youll probably have your own favourite stockist, but if you dont here are some i use:

www.dv247.com
www.dolphinmusic.co.uk
www.nusystems.co.uk

Anyway...thats what i would do in your situation, hope it has helped a little bit...

Good luck!!

Peace

 

[kingofallkings]

thanx a lot, i will check these out.

 

[chessparov]

With all due respect to the other member's advice...

IMHO you'd be better off using most of the money to get recorded by a good AE in a pro studio. The main practical value of any equipment then can be for
songwriting and "routining" the material to prepare for that event.

BTW the SM57 is already a "good" vocal mic on its own, and can sound terrific on certain rock singers like Paul Rodgers, and Robert Plant.

Getting it to sound high quality does take some fussing with placement/EQ typically though.
In fact, it was Paul's main vocal mic, and Plant WON'T use anything else now!

Chris