Reasonably priced mics for garage rock and roll band

[gordholio]

Hi guys:

First time caller...er, poster I'm an absolute newbie to recording.

Anyway...we have a little 3-piece R&R band. We practice, jam , etc. in my garage. We want to record ourselves without dropping a lot of money but while mantaining a decent quality recording.

I've contacted a lot of music stores up here in Vancouver and a lot of Internet sites in regards to mics. Seems everybody has a different recommendation. What would you guys (and gals) recommend for a two or three mic setup (I know, this isn't exactly a professional arrangement). I'm auditioning a Rode NT1 right now, but it is awfully expensive ($350.00 up here). I suppose we'll want one or two good drum mics and a good all-around electric guitar/bass mic (although we'll be direct inputing our instruments also) . We play some fairly raunchy stuff with ample distortion. We want mics that can handle sonic power without croaking. We'd like good sound, but we can't go crazy withour money, seeing that we all own homes and have mortgages to pay.

So, what do you think? Thanks so much in advance.

gordo

 

[chessparov]

gordo, there are better large diaphram condensers than the NT1 for
less money. Knowing your total budget and more precisely the
various applications you want will help narrow things down as far as
receiving better advice as to proper microphone selection.
How are the acoustics of the room you're using to record the band?
You'll probably be using at least one dynamic microphone for live or
scratch vocals BTW.

P.S. Welcome to the bbs!

 

[LeeL]

gordholio, I suggest you pick up a handful of Shure SM-57's. These mics are a one of the most basic all around tools that you can have in your mic locker.

There are better and worse mics than the sm-57 but even studios that own top of the line, high dollar Neumanns still have a few of these good ol' standbys. For a lot of engineers a sm-57 well placed in front of an amp is the only way to record a good guitar sound.

I think you are looking at about $70 each.

Now if you are willing to spend more and want to expand your options you can look at a condensor mic. But then you have to have Phantom power and "generally" speaking they are not as rugged or as a dynamic.

For a garage band just starting out this would be my .02.

Lee

 

[heylow]

57s........YES! Guitars, toms, snare, cheap kick(?)

MXL 603s.......stereo overheads.

MXL67............Vox, maybe guitars.

What's that cheap kick mic? Someone help me out here....the 60 dollar one.


If nothing else, start with 57s. I've used them as Overheads and kick drum mics and they can work wonders with a little placement tweaking. Stay away from the NT1 at all costs.


heylow

 

[A Reel Person]

My vote is also for the SM-57.

 

[gordholio]

Hi again everybody:

Thanks for the responses. In answer to one of the questions, our room is far from acoustically perfect. It seriously is a garage.

From what I've seen from your responses and throughout the rest of the forum, I will be getting two or three Shure SM57s for instruments drums, etc. I think these will do the job. But what about a good "overhead" mic for recording the whole band? What do you think?

Thanks again.

gordo

 

[the tallman]

Our trio used 2 Radioshack PZMs to a Minidisc recorder. A PZM on the wall caught vocals, guitar, and symbals. The other PZM on the floor caught the bass and bass drum as well as the snare. Mixing the two signals to mono in n-track on my PC using parametric EQ and lots of compression, we got pretty good results. Running the 2 PZMs straight to the minidisc is simpler than routing it through a mixer then to the recorder. The money you save with a setup like this is better spent in a recording studio when you're ready do some serious recording.

Here's the URL,

http://home.attbi.com/~shinola/

 

[Tom Hicks]

If your board has phantom power,get a pair of ECM8000s for overheads.They are only $35 each and have a nice sound.
Tom

 

[Track Rat]

The ECM-8000's are decent mics but they're omni. IMHO, cardiods might be a better "one size fits all" pick.

 

[Raven586]

Hi

I live in Kelowna(hope you know where that is)
I just picked up a Superlux CM H8A condenser for $175 Canadian
These are realy great mics for the price.(vocals,Acoustic instruments,Drum overheads)
Give them a try with a Joe Meek micro meek pre amp you cant go wrong.

Raven586.

 

[knownuttin]

For stereo overheads, I'd go with the MXL 603 which can be had for about $80 each.

The $60 kick drum mic someone was asking about would probably be the ATM PRO25.
-kent

 

[neirbo]

Three mics are all you really need to get started:

MXL V67m (at Marsmusic.com for $99)
sm57 ($80 anywhere)
ATM Pro25 (around $60)

Check around this BBS and you'll find most folks regard each of these mics very highly, especially for the price.

Drums can be recorded well with 3 mics:
overhead - MXL V67m
snare - sm57
kick - ATM Pro25

Vocals - MXL v67m

Guitar amps - sm57

Bass - I'd record direct, but I imagine the ATM pro25 would work well on a bass amp too.

You can get away with just these 3 mics if you plan on recording parts separately. If you want to record live jams I'd add 2 more mics: either the MXL 603 or ECM-8000 as a drum overhead (leaving the v67 for vocals) and get another sm57 (one for snare, one for guitar amp).

I'd stay away from the NT1. The MXL v67m is much nicer, and cheaper.

 

[Axis]

sm57's are a must and get 2 berhinger ECM8000's for drum overheads.

To buy you should go here: musicgoround.com You can get everything for extremely cheap there, not long ago they were selling a Sm57 for 39.00