New to Recording

[kerbinator]

I'm relatively new to playing guitar, at just over 7 months, but I wanna buy some recording equipment to mess around with. I'm mostly interested in playing acoustic guitar and some singing, so I've decided to go ahead and get a Shure SM57. I also "acquired" Adobe Audition 1.5, and I like the layout and ease of use, so I'll probably keep it.

Now for the questions. How exactly would I go about hooking up an SM57 to my Audigy 2 ZS soundcard? I'm guessing I would need to buy additional equipment? And what the heck is a shockmount? Would I need one? Remember, this is hardly for professional recordings, just for me to mess around with. Any suggestions, tips, or alterations to my plan would be greatly appreciated.

 

[manning1]

sm57>>>>mic pre or mixer (eg yamaha mg mixer)>>>>audigy line input.

if uou want something that will bring out the midi and synthesis features in your audigy sound card that will be a good complement for cool
try powertracks from pgmusic.com.
it has a number of complimentary features particularly in the midi area and music scoring and notation. it will also create vocal harmonies.
heres some user comments for you to read.
http://www.pgmusic.com/cgi-bin/Ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=002393

 

[Cosmic]

kerb,

You can find a lot of info on all the things you address on this site by using the search function, but, my two cents:
I use a free-standing digital recorder, so I'll bypass the soundcard issue, except to say, you will most likely need a pre-amp.
A pre-amp brings the volume of the mic high enough to be recorded well by whatever you choose to record on.
M-audio, ART and such are the cheap contenders in that field.
Shure 57, great for vocals, wouldn't know how well it would work for your guitar, depending on what type/model, style of playing, the room you're in.
But for fooling around, it should be enough to begin with.

A shockmount is a cylinder with rubber bands criss-crossing, allowing the mic to 'hang' in the middle of the bands, isolated from street rumble, footsteps and other bassy noises.

For your beginning purposes, I'd buy a pop screen for singing before I buy a shockmount for a 57. It is circular, on a gooseneck with a clamp with a fine mesh grille that prevents popping noises into the mic from your breath when you sing.

Hope this helps,

Best,

CC

 

[setabkcin]

Amen to that! An SM57 really wouldn't need a shock mount anyway, being that it's not as sensitive as a condenser. However, it can never hurt.

 

[kerbinator]

Ah, thanks for your help. Ok, from what you guys suggested, I'm looking at getting something like this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/184125/

right? Now I'm still puzzled as to how I go about connecting that to my computer, as there isn't a 3-prong microphone jack on my soundcard. Is there some sort of cable that converts the microphone output to my soundcard input???

 

[distortedrumble]

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-YAM-MG102.html try this as a mixer...good preamps and people recommend it... that 3-prong jack is called an XLR.
there are cables that you can get from radio shack or the music store near you that have an xlr on one end and a 1/4 inch jack on the other.

 

[Rokket]

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-YAM-MG102.html try this as a mixer...good preamps and people recommend it... that 3-prong jack is called an XLR.
there are cables that you can get from radio shack or the music store near you that have an xlr on one end and a 1/4 inch jack on the other.

That's the ticket right there. A good mixer will always be better for you in the long run, when you get more experience with recording, and you get to the point where you are recording more than one track at once (acoustic guitar and vocals, for instance).

 

[setabkcin]

That mixer would definately work. Especially since it has inserts on every channel. Those are great for multi tracking. I'd go for it if I were you. But I'm not you. So you decide.

 

[setabkcin]

However, a tube pre is usually better than a pre on a mixer...usually...so if you had both you'd be pretty good...but then again this is all opinion.

 

[Rokket]

I dunno.... I've heard the pre's on the Yamaha MG series are pretty good, and quiet. I am trying to convince my wife I need one. All I have for vocals is a processor, which has a decent pre amp, but not a great one.