new to the board and to home recording...

[danogarvey]

actually ive been recording at home for awhile. but on shitty equipment. my band is just starting to get serious and so am i about recording. i was wondering about any mics i could use to mic analog keyboards and guitars. mostly low end, i understand i need a condensor, but what kind. im thinking 2 small diaphram and 1 large diaphram condesnsor and a few dynamic mics. i just dont know which brands are best. i play mostly airy long instrumental music, thanks for all your suggestions ahead of time.

ps im recording into a 424mkIII

 

[cominginsecond]

If I were you, I would get a new recorder before I got new mics.

Also, this question is way too broad. Do a search here on the specific instruments you'll be mic'ing, and then you'll be able to narrow your search.

 

[danogarvey]

whats wrong with the recorder...i dont do digital, so what would you recommend

 

[danogarvey]

im micing my amp for my guitars and my keyboard

im micing my nylon string guitars

also, saxophone, french horn, and hand drums, which i made a post about in the drum forum

we record the bass direct

 

[cominginsecond]

I would not recommend any analog recorders. The only ones that sound good are the ones that cost thousands and thousands and cost thousands every year to keep in tape and maintain.

Also, there are threads that exist for all of those instruments, so I'd get searching. Good luck.

 

[lanterns]

I would not recommend any analog recorders. The only ones that sound good are the ones that cost thousands and thousands and cost thousands every year to keep in tape and maintain.

Also, there are threads that exist for all of those instruments, so I'd get searching. Good luck.

really? the only analog rcrdrs that sound good are thousands and thousands and cost thousands to maintain?

i've heard excellent recordings done on less than excellent equipment.

 

[cominginsecond]

I was stating my opinion. Any computer, even with a sound blaster live, will sound better than a cassette four track. In any case, there's no point in him buying nice mics if that's what he's recording to, in my opinion.

 

[Big Kenny]

get a fostex, one of those red things. You'll like the sound a lot better, it is completely portable

 

[omtayslick]

get a fostex, one of those red things. You'll like the sound a lot better, it is completely portable

The Fostex MR8 Kenny is referring to is pretty decent. A drummer friend of mine had one. Miles ahead of cassette. Good recordings can be done on cassette, but it's a lot easier with something digital in this price range. Especially if you want "airy" instrumentals.

 

[mshilarious]

im micing my amp for my guitars and my keyboard

im micing my nylon string guitars

also, saxophone, french horn, and hand drums, which i made a post about in the drum forum

we record the bass direct

Try a Beyer M88. That's good on the horns, drums, and some voices. I bet it works for amps too, but I don't have amps so not sure there. It's dynamic, so you don't need phantom power (the MkII doesn't have that, dunno about the III).

Don't fret about the Tascam. I still use mine for live recording. The recorder part works great. The mixer section is very so-so. You just have to work carefully, and consider buying outboard gear like a good compressor, reverb, EQ, and preamps, most of which you'll want anyway even when or if you move to DAW.

 

[Warhead]

get a fostex, one of those red things. You'll like the sound a lot better, it is completely portable

Seriously, a really cool little recorder. Scratch pad to some, demo quality to others...but gets the job done cheap.

War

 

[Innovations]

The only downside to the MR8 would be too few inputs and a lack of phantom power, but a small mixer could solve that fine.

 

[DJL]

actually ive been recording at home for awhile. but on shitty equipment. my band is just starting to get serious and so am i about recording. i was wondering about any mics i could use to mic analog keyboards and guitars. mostly low end, i understand i need a condensor, but what kind. im thinking 2 small diaphram and 1 large diaphram condesnsor and a few dynamic mics. i just dont know which brands are best. i play mostly airy long instrumental music, thanks for all your suggestions ahead of time.

ps im recording into a 424mkIII

That's a good idea... a couple of matched SDC's, a good LDC, and a few dynamic mics would be a perfect start for a great mic locker. For a low budget (but killer sounding) mic locker... I recommend a Sennheiser MD421, Shure SM57, a matched pair of Marshall MXL603S's and a good LDC mic... I've never used the CAD M179, but it seems to be one of the favored budget LDC mics on this mic bbs.

With two 603S's, a MD421, Shure SM57, and a nice LDC mic... you should be able to record just about anything... and have a good foundation for a nice mic locker.

 

[Ronan]

I was stating my opinion. Any computer, even with a sound blaster live, will sound better than a cassette four track. In any case, there's no point in him buying nice mics if that's what he's recording to, in my opinion.

This has not been my experience. It is possible to make very good recordings with a 4 track cassette if you have good engineering skills (not to say the previous poster does not).

Its funny just today an old freind wrote to me and told me that he has been going back and listening to all of his old recordings (as an artist) that he has done over 20 years. He has been recording a wide range of studios over the years, and he said the best sounding thing in the bunch was a track we did together on a 4 track cassette.

I also want to chime in a differing opinion about the mics not really mattering if you are recording to cassette. There will be a signicant difference between microphones recording to 4 track cassette. People often forget until very recently cassette was the most popular end product for recorded music in the world.

 

[cominginsecond]

I didn't say the mics didn't matter if you're recording to cassette. I meant to say that his priorities are misplaced if he's considering buying new mics before he replaces the cassette four-track. I feel the recording medium is the most important thing, even more important than mics, and if you're recording to what I feel is the absolute crappiest recording medium that you can buy today, then I feel that's where he should focus his energies in replacing. Especially given the fact that he's playing atmospheric music and not punk rock.

 

[Ronan]

I didn't say the mics didn't matter if you're recording to cassette. I meant to say that his priorities are misplaced if he's considering buying new mics before he replaces the cassette four-track. I feel the recording medium is the most important thing, even more important than mics, and if you're recording to what I feel is the absolute crappiest recording medium that you can buy today, then I feel that's where he should focus his energies in replacing. Especially given the fact that he's playing atmospheric music and not punk rock.

Thanks for clarifying comingsecond,
Just to chime in with an alternate opinion, I think that mics are the single most important purchase you can make. In my expereience, the mics and the compressors are the most important tools for me when making records.

 

[DJL]

IMO, the music is the most important thing... and a good mic locker should last a life time... while many recorders come and go.

 

[cominginsecond]

True, but I still think he needs a new recorder first, because it's more important (and more fun, IMO) to begin making decent recordings now then to buy some decent mics and save up for months and months before you can start making decent recordings. You can get a decent digital recorder for under $500 easily, and that includes the option of recording with a computer. Once he gets a decent recorder then mics are the most important thing.

 

[DJL]

IMO, a good recording system starts with the beginning of the signal chain. Maybe danogarvey is happy with his recorder... so I tried to answer his question about mics rather than change the subject.

 

[cominginsecond]

OK, whatever DJL. I guess you've always been direct to the point on this message board, huh?