My band and I want to start making some recordings so this is what i have come up with as a setup. A behringer 8 input mixer, an sm57, two xm8500's, and an imac. I figure we can do instruments/vocals in one track and then do drums separately because we can't afford much else. My question is wether or not a condenser mic would work for vocals while amps are running and being recorded at the same time (somewhat high noise levels) or would it have to be a standalone thing? The mic I want to get is a cheap behringer c-1 condenser. If it wouldn't work in my situation i'll just order two more xm8500's instead. Thanks for any response and I should say my budget is very limited which pretty much limits me to behringer
which so far I have been very impressed with for the price so don't go recomending an 1000$ mic instead.
as a general rule, you don't want to record vocals live with everyone else playing in the same room as the bleed would be unbearable, and would pretty much render mixing vocals out front impossible. even the pros have to pull out some tricks for this to work.
if you can put the singer in a different room (more isolated) and throw headphones on everyone else, you could at least have the singer doing his thing while everyone else gets their cues from him for live recording purposes. then, if the vocal track is unsatisfactory, you can re-track it solo for best isolation.
and you may want to get the condenser for this for more reasons than one:
first, it will lend a different sound to the singer, making it easier to mix.
second, condensers are usually more clear and airy, as opposed to a wooly and muffled dynamic.
third, you already have 3 dynamics. if there's one thing a studio needs, it's diversity. celebrate it!
i can relate to the quandary of budget--we're all on one, regardless of how small or large it may be. there's no sense in recording vocals on a c414 if your music is on xm8500s through an inexpensive mixer.
hope this is useful. good luck!
