Mic Recommendation

[pmalloy]

I've got a question for all of you in the know...

First, I'm a novice to doing my own recording. I'm looking to make a good solid mic purchase that can be used for recording both music and some movie sound, but I don't want to spend much. I guess I want something that is a balance between cheap and good. If you have any recommendations, I'd love to hear what you'd suggest.

Thanks.

 

[baekgaard]

You unfortunately need to be a bit more specific. There is no such thing as "the ultimate one-size-fits-all" mic.

What kind of music do you want to record? And, related, what kind of instruments?

Are you planning on close mic'ing and tracking individual instruments with "one" mic, building it up layer by layer? Or are you planning on recording an entire "orchestra"/"band"?

Do you also want to record vocals, and if so, what kind of vocals (solists, a group, male/female, a few already known persons in your family, or an "open" amount of people, ...)

What kind of movie sounds do you want to record? On-location sound and dialogues, while you video the family? Adding narration later, doing overdubs? Environment sounds and clips of cars, people on the street, etc?

Do you have a mixer or preamp already? Are you planning to record portably to DAT, MD, MP-3, whatever, or is this into your PC?

And finally, how much is "not much"? Less than $50? Less than $150? Less than $1000? All of these can be "cheap", depending on your desired level

This will help us better to determine what level and kind of mics you need, and what other equipment you also need.


-- Per.

 

[ryanlikestorock]

If you don't own a Shure SM-57, you should. It's not the best mic for any application (other than maybe snare drum), but it'll do everything at a reasonable quality level.

 

[nicolaad30]

What are you going to record?... guitars, voice, drums, ???... If you dont care about quality, get a cheap condenser mic (NADY or Behinger) and it would fit any situation without a doubt... but low-fi stuff at the end.

For guitars, I would get an SM57 and for anythuing else one of the above mentioned.

 

[tubesrawsom]

sm 57 once you get you'll never look back i got one then i got another i love 57's i even wanna have there babies

 

[chessrock]

First, I'm a novice to doing my own recording. I'm looking to make a good solid mic purchase that can be used for recording both music and some movie sound ...

Yea, unforuntatly, I don't think you could find two applications any different than music and movie sound. I mean I suppose you could try using a Sennheiser shotgun mic on a few things ... I know a lot of voiceover people use them, so they might be okay on vocals; who knows? But I'm not sure that, in general, that kind of directionality lends itself well to most instruments, but you never know.

A lavalier could make for an okay instrument mic, I suppose. I know people who use them on accoustic guitar ... but I highly doubt they'll be able to take the punishment of a loud drum set or guitar amp. Again, something I suppose would be fun to try out.

But generally speaking, no. You have certain types of mics that are used for movie sound, and a whole different set of mics for recording music. And this is all for very good and functional reasons.

 

[mshilarious]

What about something like that little Sony stereo mic? It's cheap, anyway.

 

[chessrock]

What about something like that little Sony stereo mic? It's cheap, anyway.

I can see those being good for picking up environmental sounds and/or foley.

But when you're talking about film sound, you need something like a lavalier or a shotgun in order to zero in on the dialog.

 

[DJL]

I can see those being good for picking up environmental sounds and/or foley.

But when you're talking about film sound, you need something like a lavalier or a shotgun in order to zero in on the dialog.

chessrock is absolutely 100% correct.