MY $3 mic

[rocky outcrop]

I know that there must be somthing wrong with me but the mic I bought from a second hand welfare store for three dollars sounds good. I think that because it is so crappy that it has no real bottom end and no real highs this gives it a self compressing type of effect. The vocalists who have used it seemed to like it and even after ti was mixed down and they had heard it back they still paid me. have I just gotten lucky or are my ears gone. my good mics are great but this cheapie has a certian somthing(other than a name or any other identification) is it just a case of horses for courses.

 

[swsmusic]

what kind of microphone is it???
the suspence is killin' me.
as joe meek said, "if it sounds good, it is good."

 

[VotaIdiota]

Hey man, I actually love the sound of a good ol' beta 58 on vocals a lot of the time..... if it works, it works...
by the way, what preamp are you plugging this $3 wonder into?

 

[Track Rat]

In pop/rock/rap songs, sonic color is where it's at. Any and all hi-fi/lo-fi tricks are not only legal but encouraged.

 

[Griffinator]

and if you need any evidence of that precept, look at the gymnastics they did to get that legendary snare sound on Fine Young Cannibal's "She Drives Me Crazy".

 

[BasPer]

And what did they do exactly?

 

[Griffinator]

I can't find the magazine that the interview appeared in right now, but the producer did some bizarre processing and re-processing, including some underwater recording (?!) to acheive that effect.

 

[jimistone]

hey i tried the underwater recording thing....the c-1 did great...alot of detail and shimmering highs and it was submereged for hours.....a big trout thought it was a lure though and struck it several times (my, what a wonderful effect that had on the final recording!)

this really IS a miricale mic
( the submerged c-1 had a simular sound of a waterlogged neuman)

 

[Track Rat]

the submerged c-1 had a simular sound of a waterlogged neuman

 

[BasPer]

I found the link:
http://www.digitalprosound.com/2001/03_mar/features/recnotes/fyc2.htm

Here is a quote:

"I took the head off a snare drum and started whacking it with a wooden ruler, recording it through a Shure 57 microphone,” he says. “As I did that, I started twisting the hell out of the [API 550] EQ around 1 kHz on it, to the point where it was starting to sound more like a crash. I blended that with a snare I found in the Linn itself, which was a 12-bit machine, so it sounded pretty edgy to start with.” But the coup de grace for the sound was when Z pumped the processed and blended sample through an Auratone speaker set upside down atop another snare drum, which rattled the metal snares and gave the result some ambience and even more high end. The whole thing was limited slightly and then sent to a track on a roll of Ampex 456 running on a Studer A800 at 15 ips. Only a slight amount of reverb was added to the track later on."

 

[rocky outcrop]

The mic has no name except for the phono plug wich I'm sure has been replaced so it not the original one but it says PEARL as in the drum manufacturer.The pre amp is just what ever is installed on the roland vs1880, though I did use an old roland pa as a pre amp cause I ran out of proper leads and had to resort to my $3 gem and its lead(wich is built in) is very short due to many trimmings in a previous life.

 

[chessrock]

I found the link:
http://www.digitalprosound.com/2001/03_mar/features/recnotes/fyc2.htm

Here is a quote:

"I took the head off a snare drum and started whacking it with a wooden ruler, recording it through a Shure 57 microphone,” he says. “As I did that, I started twisting the hell out of the [API 550] EQ around 1 kHz on it, to the point where it was starting to sound more like a crash. I blended that with a snare I found in the Linn itself, which was a 12-bit machine, so it sounded pretty edgy to start with.” But the coup de grace for the sound was when Z pumped the processed and blended sample through an Auratone speaker set upside down atop another snare drum, which rattled the metal snares and gave the result some ambience and even more high end. The whole thing was limited slightly and then sent to a track on a roll of Ampex 456 running on a Studer A800 at 15 ips. Only a slight amount of reverb was added to the track later on."

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Gee, I always thought it sounded like they did exactly that.