Recording the inside of a computer, which mic to use?

[Kombucha]

OK, I know it's often hard to say which is "better", but any help here would be appreciated.

My flatmate needs to record the sound of the inside of a computer working (the fans, hard disk, optical drive etc.) and currently the mics we have available are a shotgun mic (condenser) and an SM58. I realize neither of those are ideal for the job, but they're all we have to use.

The shotgun is, I believe, a decent one, but I can't give too much info on it. My belief is that it would probably be best to use the SM58 to record the overall sound of the computer and maybe the shotgun to pick up any individual sounds that he would like to be more prominent.

He seems kind of set on using the shotgun but I feel the recordings he's getting with that mic have too much of a "documentary" feel to them, I believe partly because it's not picking up much low end.

Firstly, any suggestions on the best way to record the sounds of the computer, and secondly what processing would you recommend for the sound afterwards (as far as you can tell without actually listening to it) to improve the overall sound of the recording?

Sorry for vagueness but I'd appreciate whatever answers you can give with the information available. Thanks.

 

[Shadow_7]

How inside is inside?

You're probably going to want something OMNI. The shotgun is probably cardioid / super cardioid. Usable if you want to record each component separately and mix. Or record from a distance. Otherwise not ideal. The dynamic is probably too directional and not detailed enough to be ideal either.

If inside is inside, that's an electronically noisy environment. You will likely need something with good interference rejection and the proper shielded cables and all that jazz. Bearing in mind that the heat, metal, magnetism and other traits of said gear will influence the mic, especially with proximity. Some mics more than others. But then again how many people have had their heads inside a running computer to know how a recording compares to being there?

As I wonder what the purpose of said recording would be? A stealthy bug? You're going on safari and can't get to sleep unless you hear a running computer and all you'll have is an iPod. You're working on an audio filter to remove those sounds for voice recognition software or other pursuits.

 

[Kombucha]

The electrical interference is not something I had considered actually, so thank you for pointing that out. The cables are, I believe, reasonably well-shielded (they are borrowed from a university, so all I have to go on is my assumption that they would have bought good quality equipment rather than something cheap).

The purpose of it is for a university project my flatmate is working on. He wants the sounds a computer would hear, if it could.

 

[Vinnydude]

I would personally mount the 58 inside pointing at your optical drives, try get as much as you can from that, then mount the shotgun mic just outside the case pointing in the way to catch the overall ambiance of the computer. You will need to use a fair amount of gain for the sm58 though.

 

[Vinnydude]

Oooh....

Just had another thought, if you can spare a few quid for it, get a cheap stick on capacitor mic, the kind you'd stick on an acoustic guitar for example. You can pick one up for about £15. Stick that on the inside of the case, or on your harddrive chassis. Either should produce some interesting results I would think.

I'm quite intrigued to hear what you come up with

 

[Kombucha]

Not enough time to buy things, unfortunately.

My flatmate has stuck with the shotgun mic. He won't believe me that it's for voices etc. rather than a larger range but it should still sound OK if he works on the EQ. He's mostly ignoring anything I say (he won't normalize either) so meh.

Thanks to everyone who helped, it's appreciated. Hopefully I'll eventually be able to be answering questions here instead of just asking...

 

[mshilarious]

Next time, not to be flippant but the mic that comes with the computer probably works pretty well for micing the computer.

 

[Kombucha]

No mic came with the computer, but to be honest I doubt it anyway. He needs good quality recording.

 

[jab2980]

You're going on safari and can't get to sleep unless you hear a running computer and all you'll have is an iPod.

Safari? If that's the case, I recommend a rifle mic.

 

[moresound]

The SM16 assault rifle microphone

Is there a reason to record yourself? or could you use an already recorded public domain file....something like the sound on the bridge of the Enterprise from Star Trek?