Still indecisive... which mic to use for recording?

[FURAX Eric]

I see all of your points of view, and chessparov, thanks for the concern, but I like to take good care of my voice. I always do warmups before every practice/gig to prevent straining. I know in the long run this won't completely save me, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to perform the music I love. =)

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. I will embark on my way to purchase my beta58! =)

 

[chessparov]

Good points Furax.
One trick you can do to further aleviate strain on the voice is to raise
the volume output to make your voice louder than normal.

Best of luck on your singing,
Chris

 

[sjoko2]

Funny that, I grew up in a 'musical family' with a father who played violin (as a hobby) and a mother who was a concert pianist.
Always loved classical and opera, went to lots of concerts in The Hague, Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna and places like that.
Then at 13 / 14 I really got into the blues, cut my first record at 15, and from then on got really into the, then, 'heavy' stuff, and worked with most of them, from the who to led zep and deep purple etc.
In the last decade I also really got into the whole industrial scene, where I found with bands like Skunk Anansie, Fear Factory, Sepultura etc., again some of the passion and emothin which I thought music had lost completely. Now that genre is getting main stream, and despite that, its still awsome with often outstanding lyricks etc (S of a D for instance).
In the meantime, I still love my blues, my metal, my opera, my industrial, my classical.

The key (me thinks) - its art, screaming or not, and art is only art if it has passion and comes from the heart. Doesn't matter what it is, opera or industrial. Likes or not likes is just personal preference, and if its good and moves you, youjustgottaloveit.

 

[Roel]

Very true... I grew up listening to my dad's classical records when I was young (<12) while my brothers were watching tv. Then I got in to more alternative music, Nirvana on the way, ended up listening to hardcore -and worse- when I was around 18. Into that for a few years, then went to jazz, with some blues in between, then back to classical. And now I wander in between jazz, blues and alternative stuff.

I don't like alot of hardcore bands anymore. Most of the bands I see are pretty local, and just lack creativity. There music is transparant, I see right thru it. But some bands really are good and worth listening too. Even the screaming...

The screaming is more kindof a percussive use of the voice, as I see it. It's not like contemporary composers don't want a good sounding piano to go fiddling with the strings, right?
(Actually, 2 years ago, I went to a contemporary piano recital. The composer of one of the pieces found the dynamic range of a piano quite limited. In the middle of the piece, the pianoplayer HIT the upper notes with his fist, as hard as he could. After that piece, there was a break, they had to tune the piano anyways... )

 

[Michael Jones]

(Actually, 2 years ago, I went to a contemporary piano recital. The composer of one of the pieces found the dynamic range of a piano quite limited. In the middle of the piece, the pianoplayer HIT the upper notes with his fist, as hard as he could. After that piece, there was a break, they had to tune the piano anyways...

Well, see that artist hit the keys out of frustration, not out of passion for the music.

Speaking of alternative/comtemporary, have you ever seen a piece performed using what's known as a prepared piano?
The piano is prepared for the performance by modifing its timbre in a variety of ways. For instance, it may include putting a quater between the stings on a given note, or a paper clip or any variety of methods. The pianist then plays the piece as written in standard notation.

Its.... different.

 

[littledog]

I still have an old double album (vinyl) collection of John Cage's works for prepared piano (on Tomato Records, if I recall). Inside the cover is a wonderful photogrtaph of the prepared strings with all the various screws and washers, along with a precise list of instructions as to exactly what sizes of hardware are to be placed exactly where. The end result sounds remarkably like a Gamelon recording. It's actually quite musical.

I've recorded some prepared piano here recently - mostly using various springs, bells, and other metal objects laid across the piano strings. The pianist was doing free improvisation, and in one case, playing a Bach Invention. (Kind of a variation of "Switched-On Bach"...) I think it came out great!