I need a mic and have no idea what I'm doing!

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sjaguar13

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First of all, I have some PA speakers and a 6 channel head and no mic. I've also been taking voice lessons for about two years (I still suck), but I don't have a mic. Also, I'm currently building my DAW and need mics for instruments. I figured the mic I sing with would also be good to record, I could be wrong. Will I need two different mics. To record a singer, 2 guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer with a 10 input sound card and 14 channel mixer, how many mics would I need? I want some good quality, so if I could get by with 3, but really need 5, I'd rather get 5. What kind of mics should I get, Shure? The first mic I want is the one I (or if I could find a better singer than me) will sing with.
 
You'll be using this mic for live performances and recording? I'd go with a Shure SM58 then. If you're looking for a recording mic, you may want to check out some large diaphragm condensor mics, which you'll also need phantom power to use.
 
Is a Shure SM58 the mic for singing live and recording me singing and that's it, or can it be used for something else, too?
 
sjaguar13, here's what I'd recommend as the best and most inexpensive solution.


First of all, I have some PA speakers and a 6 channel head and no mic. I've also been taking voice lessons for about two years (I still suck), but I don't have a mic.

I'd actually recommend you get an SM57 instead, because it's a great live vocal mic, plus you'll get a lot of mileage out of it in the studio. You could get 58's but they won't translate as well in the studio. Might as well kill two birds...

Also, I'm currently building my DAW and need mics for instruments. I figured the mic I sing with would also be good to record, I could be wrong. Will I need two different mics. To record a singer, 2 guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer with a 10 input sound card and 14 channel mixer, how many mics would I need? I want some good quality, so if I could get by with 3, but really need 5, I'd rather get 5. What kind of mics should I get, Shure? The first mic I want is the one I (or if I could find a better singer than me) will sing with.

You could use the 57 - which is a dynamic and requires no phantom power. A much better solution for vox is a Studio Projects C1 condenser.

The 2 guitarists can use 57 on their amps. If you're overdubbing, you can also use the C1 and the 57 together on the amps. Also, a lot of guitarists have some sort of amp emulator like a Sansamp or a Pod, and in that case you can also run direct.

For the bass, no mics. Run direct.

For drums, 57 on snare, a pair a Behringer ECM 8000's on overheads and an Audio Technica ATM25 on kick. Four mics is more than enough.

Prices should look like:

SM57 $79 X 3 = $237
C1 $199
ECM8000 $39 X 2 = $78
ATM25 $139

Check out zzounds.com for all those mics except for the C1 which you can get from musiccenterinc.com

That's just $653 for 7 mics that'll give you a lot of versatilty and be enough to cover what you're doing. That's about as cheap as you can do it right now to get started. They're all actually pretty great mics.

My 2¢ and hope that helps!
 
Ok thanks! I'm off to find a Shure SM57, but first, two questions. One, what does the 57 and 58 mean? Two, what is phantom power?
 
57 and 58 are the model #'s. A sm58 is basically a 57 with the capsule. If you unscrew the top they will be the same.


Phantom power is the power that condenser mics run off of, most of the time you should be able to get phantom power on stand alone preamps or mixing boards.
 
If I can unscrew it and the become the same, why don't I just get that? It's the same, plus it's has a capsule if I want it.
 
the sm58 is $20 dollars more than the 57.

I may have been a bit misleading, what i ment by capsule was the mesh ball windscreen that comes on dynamics.
 
If I unscrew the windscreen, is it a SM57? I could get that and if I wanted a windscreen, I could put it on, and if I didn't, I could leave it off. Does it sound better with or without the windscreen? I thought windscreens were good. Why would I want a mic without one?
 
Spare yourself the bother and get the SM57. Hell, get half a dozen of them. You'll never be sorry.

Phantom power is additional voltage required to power condensor mics. Do not concern yourself with them until you have read "The Big Thread" in its entirety. The thread is titled "How does polar pattern relate to diaphragm size..." or somesuch.
-kent
 
I'd say, if you intend on using those mics live too, get one SM58 for vocals, and buy SM57 for everything else you need them for. The cap is handy for live vocals, but you don't want to be messing around screwing it on and off when recording...

Then, look at what you want to record. Look at how you are going to record it. If you're closemicing everything in your packed rehearsel space, with amps on a volume to actually hear them above your drums, then you don't want to use the ECM8000 mics when tracking guitars and drums together. Actually, you'd rather not record drums and guitars at the same time in that room. There's loads to learn. Read the mic thread. Read other threads. Use common sense. Drink. Yup, that's right, you need whisky.

:confused:

I need whisky... Oh my...

Oh, and windscreens are good when you need them. If there's no need for them however... Why would you put anything between the mic and it's source if there's no need for it??

Oh, and you don't have to read the big thread to use a condensor. Condensors will sound better on some things even if you don't know what you are doing. But knowing what you are doing helps...

Now go study some more.
 
I have this video on recording. It said to record everything seperate. I really wasn't planning on recording the drums and guitars together. If I were, you said I shouldn't track them in at the same time in that room, does that mean I need a better recording room, or I should have them in two different rooms so mics from one don't pick up the other? I have the guitar POD and my brother has the bass POD. The things I really would need the mics for is the vocals and drums, unless the guitar would sound better micing the amps.
 
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