Old Newbie and the Holy Grail.

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12m

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I am 80 years old,a veteran reed player of the big band era and an absolute
tyro concerning technology.First I thought if I throw cash at it ,I can't help but be successful.So I bought a Mac Pro eight core(theory confirmed)&Mackie
Speakers(still cool).Then came microphones and the money first idea crashed.
Without going into the specific brands I bought three mics.Two were on high
recommendation from the folks at SweetWater and cost over a grandaroonie.
The third,a Blue Snowball was the best of the lot for recording the Blues and
Ballads that I do.$100 and there goes the most do re mi is best theory.
I did not dig the idea of a drawer full of expensive equipment that I did not use
so how did I react?Spend more money of course.Because my favorite colors
are Red and Gold I bought a MXL Genesis.Crap shoot time pays off!It is a perfect match for my Apogee Duet and my three saxophones.Very smooth and even Creamy sound.But this success was pure dumb luck.How does one buy
equipment over the web(I live in Maui -no equipment stores)that is unreturnable?It seems mic purchases are very subjective.Oh well,after I croak there should be some good stuff at the garage sale.
 
There are plenty of music stores in Maui too. I have friends in college over there. Some in Maui and some in hilo... both of them record and play music.
 
12m said:
I am 80 years old,a veteran reed player of the big band era and an absolute
tyro concerning technology.First I thought if I throw cash at it ,I can't help but be successful.So I bought a Mac Pro eight core(theory confirmed)&Mackie
Speakers(still cool).Then came microphones and the money first idea crashed.
Without going into the specific brands I bought three mics.Two were on high
recommendation from the folks at SweetWater and cost over a grandaroonie.
The third,a Blue Snowball was the best of the lot for recording the Blues and
Ballads that I do.$100 and there goes the most do re mi is best theory.
I did not dig the idea of a drawer full of expensive equipment that I did not use
so how did I react?Spend more money of course.Because my favorite colors
are Red and Gold I bought a MXL Genesis.Crap shoot time pays off!It is a perfect match for my Apogee Duet and my three saxophones.Very smooth and even Creamy sound.But this success was pure dumb luck.How does one buy
equipment over the web(I live in Maui -no equipment stores)that is unreturnable?It seems mic purchases are very subjective.Oh well,after I croak there should be some good stuff at the garage sale.
Click to expand...

Mics are tough to recommend. Especially for vocals since everyone's voice is unique. The nice thing about mics is that you can usually sell them used for about the same amount you paid for them. So if you buy one you don't like you can probably get most of your money back.

You could ebay those expensive mics and then use the money to buy some more used mics to try out.:D
 
welcome to the club pops... i doubt i ever see 80 but if... then i hope i'm still doing audio too...:cool:


look for an EV re20... or a shure sm7... for dynamic mics they are way cool for horns... also ribbon mics... the only drag is all three requiremore gain than most other mics so some cheapy pre's dont work very well for them...
 
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Look into existing studios on Maui and what kinds of mics they have. Most would probably rent you minimal time (buy an hour of time or so) to try out their mics. That way you can get a pretty good idea of how your horns sound on various mics for minimal cost. Same goes for other gear. Look up Jonathan Starr of Big Gorilla Sound in Wailuku. He's a regular poster on the Gearslutz Board and appears to have a pretty substantial operation. Seems to be a nice guy as well. You could also look him up and contact him through the Gearslutz Board.

Aloha kakou.
 
Our resident mic guru, Harvey Gerst, is still a spring chicken at 71!

You have made some different choices than most, either because you prefer brighter mics for the sound or because of the hearing loss! That's OK, I'm only 37 but my right ear works like it's twice its age . . . :( Or maybe those mics are closer to the sound of 78s. Who knows? But you know what you like, so go with it. Just be aware of your preference when shopping.

I would think you'd like the Genesis a lot more than the Snowball though . . . what were the $1K mics? I'm guessing one was an AKG C414, but the other :confused:
 
Haystacker,the only music store on Maui is Bounty Music and their selection
of microphones belie their name.Hilo is on another Island and the last time I was over there the music store also sold carpet.
I just looked in the phone book and there are 2 studios listed.I wish that idea had occured to me.
One of the mics I bought was an Audio Technica AT4047.I found it "harsh"
for my kind of playing but great with my son's R&B band.I payed $550 and it has been used not over 6 times.Like New.Anybody want it for $300 send me a PM.
If you like me because of cash,you will hate me within a year.
If 80 is the new 70 Equipment is the new Heroin
Which name does not belong?
Lester Young,Earl Warren,Buddy Tate,Herschel Evans,Liberace
(I want to find out if I am totally alone)
 
Hey 12M, good to see you here!

You sent me and email a while back and I think I may have replied with a boat load of technical stuff. But very cool that you've found your way here.

Say, a very fine person in Hawaii is Rick Keefer at Sea-West Studio in Pahoa:808-965-8841 He would be a great person to chat with or drop in for a visit if you're ever in his neighborhood. Say hey to him for me.

best, Michael

oh Liberace - he's that cat who used to blow a different kind of horn, right? ;)
 
12m said:
Lester Young,Earl Warren,Buddy Tate,Herschel Evans,Liberace
(I want to find out if I am totally alone)
Click to expand...

I dunno, are there two Earl Warrens, or can Supreme Court justices really blow :confused:
 
...and the winner is

To prevent loss of sleep I will (TA TA!)give the answer.In a weird way Earl Warren the Chief Justice was close as my Earl Warren was the great lead Alto saxophonist of the early Count Basie Band.Lester Young,Herschel Evans and Buddy Tate all played tenor saxophone with Basie and all swung ferociously.
Liberace was the highly coifed gay pianist with the candelabra on his piano and sequined suits.
He was very big in the 50's and 60 and had his own variety show.Before he died he was sued by his gay lover for palimony which did not affect his popularity which consisted mostly of elderly silver haired ladies.So There.
(and I do not know what mic he used.)
 
12m said:
(and I do not know what mic he used.)
Click to expand...
liberace_3.gif
- is that a Shure Unisphere B?
 
12m said:
Liberace was the highly coifed gay pianist with the candelabra on his piano and sequined suits.He was very big in the 50's and 60 and had his own variety show.Before he died he was sued by his gay lover for palimony which did not affect his popularity which consisted mostly of elderly silver haired ladies.
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To be fair, I think Liberace swung too, or is that swished? I think you're a bit off on his fanbase tho, he's a lot more well liked than that!
 
I highly recommend the Liberace museum in Las Vegas.
Seriously. It's worth the short cab ride and modest admission.

Also bonus points if you know the name of his character from his appearance
on star trek.
 
zorf said:
I highly recommend the Liberace museum in Las Vegas.
Seriously. It's worth the short cab ride and modest admission.

Also bonus points if you know the name of his character from his appearance
on star trek.
Click to expand...

Was he Harvey Mudd? I want him to be :D
 
12m welcome to the board!

I started out here a dumb kid with no idea about recording at all, and now I hang around here basicly an adult with a lot of dumb ideas :)

But really it sounds like you need to hang out with Harvey Gerst and read his postings about mics a bit.

Also another thing to try is swapping the tube on your MXL I managed to grab a bunch of old tubes from a CB repair shop here in town and try out all kinds of them till I got the right amount of warmth/clarity I was seeking.

Enjoy the board and I can't wait till you learn about preamps and plugins, cause this is where you're going to really blow lots of cash next!
 
My Bad,
The character "Trelane" was played by William Cambell who is a Liberace
look alike. They probably couldn't afford the real deal, and had to settle for the
TNC version.
 
zorf said:
....Also bonus points if you know the name of his character from his appearance on Star Trek.
Click to expand...

I know where you're going with this, but there's a reason no one will ever get it right: Liberace wasn't on Star Trek. The character he resembled was called Trelane, but was played by an actor named William Campbell. When I was a kid I thought it might be Liberace, too, but it was more of a parody of him. They did look alike, though...

An odd thing about William Campbell--he was once married to Judith Campbell Exner, a mistress to JFK (and some mob bosses, too). Like I said--odd.
 
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