mics/equipment/techniques to avoid?

[brupbacher]

hey all, i'm just sorta starting out in my recording adventures. as of right now, i got a tascam cassette recorder, tascam 388, focusrite saffire 8 ch. I/O, and a bunch of 57's and a bluebird condenser. i also have a roland space echo which is in need of a new pinch roller at the moment.

i want to get more mics/gear, and i'm trying to avoid modern sounding equipment. i'd like to go for a more husker du, replacements, suicide commandos, generation x kinda sound. and possibly some do-wop and early country sounds too.

i was just wondering if anybody has any mic suggestions, both to look into and to avoid. i definitely try not to over mix when i'm doing the whole "mixing process" thing, and so far, i've gotten some pretty decent results (even in garage band).

my budget is pretty small at the moment. i'd like to maybe get a ribbon mic so i can start experimenting with this whole mid-side thing. and i still need to find a good kick/bass cab mic. i tend to mic pretty minimally on the drums and am looking for more of a live sound than a multitracked sound.

any suggestions would be helpful. thanks.

 

[moresound]

You'll have fun with a ribbon microphone.
As far as a kick drum microphone try a look at the Sennheiser e602.

 

[FALKEN]

I would avoid using the same mic on kick and bass cab. It will make them blend together. For a vintage sound you will probably want to use a dynamic mic on bass. An RE-20 would be nice. You will want to stay away from any "pre-eq'd" sounding mics and just go for more natural ones. Shure beta 52 is supposed to be natural sounding, but I haven't heard one, because I use the re-20. Ribbons are kind of a fad right now. They are nice but more expensive and delicate than their dynamic and condenser counterparts. You might want to consider a small diphragm condenser at some point as well, just to hear the differences and have that choice available to you. A shure sm-81 or AT 4033 would be nice here, they would both work on drum overhead, bass, piano, or other random instruments.

 

[moresound]

You could always get a LDC with muti patterns to get the figure of eight pattern that a ribbon would give you to achieve mid-side recording.

 

[Ephi82]

As far as mics. and if you are just getting started, you have everything you need with 57's and a Blue condensor. These mics are excellent. My point is this: you will learn A LOT about recording by pushing a limited amount of gear to its limits.

A 57 will record just about anything other than a bass and kick drum, and the condensor will get you the vocals and acoustic guitar. You didnt mention drums, but you could close mic snare with a 57, use 2 57's for overheads and put the bluebird 2-3 feet off the kick. You will have to play with Eq, but use your ears and you'll come up with a very nice retro/lo fi sound. By the way, the tougest thing to track is a bass, and the easiest solution is a Sans Amp Bass Driver DI. I would buy this before another mic. I would also treat my room first too. I would also consider quality outboard pre amp and compressor before another mic, but that's my opinion!

Just my opinion.

 

[brupbacher]

thanks for the info...

i actually did my first recording with the 388 about a month ago. overall, it went pretty well, and i did end up recording the bass direct in. it turned out pretty good on the demo mix, which was more of a primitive mastering job in garage band. i'm gonna get an 8 channel snake pretty soon, so i can digitize all the tracks, mix them, and then spit them back out onto the 388. either for overdubs or to be mastered. do they master 1/4" tape?

anyway, i appreciate the suggestions. i know there's a lot of hype surrounding ribbon mics these days. my friend jeremy, who's been an engineer and steve albini fanatic for years now, recommended that i get one. maybe a fathead. also, does anyone know anything about the ev blue ravens and cardinals? i've heard the ravens are great for guitar cabs, but like one of you said in your posts, i wanna stay away from mics that are pre-eq'd.

also, i'm totally down with the philosophy of getting everything you can out of minimal gear. things are much less distracting when you don't have a million and one amp simulators to choose from. in my limited experience, a little compression, eq, and reverb can go a long way.