New Mic Purchases

[axelfonze]

I've decided to finally bite the bullet and shell out some dough for some serious mics. Right now I have:
3 SM57's
1 SM58
2 ECM8000's
1 Cheap, Crappy VTECH SD Condensor
1 Cheap, Crappy Radio Shack Dynamic Mic

I'm mainly recording funk/soul/reggae music (3 horns (tpt, tbn, & alto sax), guitar, bass, vocals, and drums), and would like to be able to record the entire band at the same time (with the possible exception of overdubbing vocals). I've been looking at the SP C-1 & B-1, and Audio Technica 3035. I definitely want a LD Condensor for vocals, and have been leaning towards the same for horns. I'm pretty pleased (but would appreciate suggestions) with a 57 for the guitar cab, snare, and Bass cab, but I think I might like something else for drum overheads (using ECM8000's now), and I'd like something other than a 57 for kick. I have about $700-800 to spend (starving college kid (aren't credit cards great :|)).

Incase anybody wants to know, my other gear is:
Roland VS-2480 Pre's
Tannoy Reveal Passive Monitors
Sonar XL
Waves Rennesaince Maxx plugins

Thanks in advance for the input!

 

[Mark7]

Okay

I assume you might like the option (at some point) of close miking drums. So my suggestions would be:

1. For the overheads a Factory Matched Stereo Pair of MXL 603Ss: $150 to $200.
2. Snare. Use one of your SM57s
3. Kick. An Audio Technica ATM25 seems like a good choice. $150
4. The mounted toms. Use the other two SM57s you already have
5. Floor Tom. One of the Audix Mics (D1, 2 or 3) would probably work nicely. $130
6. Bass. Direct or maybe a Sennheiser E602 for $200 (alternatively get an MD421 off ebay for about the same)
7. Guitars. You could use your SM58 for one of them (how many do you have in the band?) and get either another SM57 or an Electro-Voice EV 635A for the other. $0 - $80
8. Vocal. There are so many choices for I'm not going to list them
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   Minus the vocal mic that little lot should come to around $560.

 

[Mark7]

Okay, as usual I didn't read your post properly before I answered. You only have the one guitarist.

Three horns eh!? Don't people usually recommend ribbon mics for that application? And aren't they usually tres expensive!? Are you totally averse to the idea of recording the basic tracks and then overdubbing horns and vocals later? If not then you can use any of the mics you used for recording the guitar, bass and drums for the horns. Or just track the horns with one or two mics (how about those ECM8000s? I guess even a 58 might work. Not that I've ever had the chance to actually work with a horn section of course.) Of course, doing them later also gives you the option of hiring some nicer ribbon or condenser mics.

 

[Gidge]

you already have the snare,guitar, and bass covered so Ill skip that....you may wanna consider also taking the bass direct........

overheads-Marshall MXL603's - $150
kick- AT ATMPRO25 - $50 (used from ebay)
toms - RadioShack 33-3032 $30/pair (theres still some out there)
vocals - Marshall MXLv67G- $100
horns - 3 Sennheiser 421 (about $200 used)

ok, $930 I went over budget......

maybe you can try the horns with sm57's or MXLv67's or a cheaper LD Dynamic like a Peavey 520i that has an average used price of $91..........


man how are you gonna handle isolation trackin this.......i think id consider overdubbing those horns also.....

 

[Giganova]

I agree with Gidge that the 421s are great for horns. They can take the high sound pressure easily and sound rather good. If you find a cheapo Sennheiser MD-441 even better! Check out Ebay, maybe even the German version of Ebay (www.ebay.de) were you can find tons of Sennheisers at a good price. That's where I got my 441 from. Ribbons are much better, of course, but tres expensive. I don''t think you can use the Shure SMs for the horns coz they sound very tinny. If you overdub the horns you might not need a dedicated mic for every intstrument and can safe a lot of money. Again, 421s would be a good coice coz they are very versatile. Just my 2 Cents.

 

[chessparov]

For a "ribbon like" sound, put Electro-Voice RE15's (or RE16's) on the
horns. They run around $80 to $100 each in excellent condition used.
Cool for smooth vocals, and are a common "desert island" pick by pro
engineers on most anything.

Chris

P.S. The Peavey PVM 520i is also a sleeper vocal microphone,
but is brighter than the EV's above.

 

[jake-owa]

I've never used these but pipeline says they're great and you can't beat 3 for $300! The'yre actually horns or drums but they handle tons of sound pressure.

Sennheiser E-604

 

[Giganova]

I bought a Sennheiser E-604 coz lots of people said they are ideal for horns due to the high SPL. It sounded absolutly horrible on my tenor sax, though, so I dumped it immediately. I wouldn't recommend it at all. It has a really dull sound on horns.