What can you do with cheap mics?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PhilGood
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PhilGood

PhilGood

Juice box hero
I'm probably gonna get alot of shit about cross posting, but hey, I'm pretty proud of this. I posted this in the MP3 forum, but wanted to swim with real sharks!

You guys here in the mic forum are a little harder on folks than in other forums, so I thought this would be a good litmus test for how this sounds seeing as it was done with inexpensive mics and pres.


The electric guitar is done with a GLS ES-57 and a Nady RSM-1 ribbon mic.

The acoustic was done (its actually the scratch track, but I left it) with a CAD M177.

The backing vocals are with my modified Apex 460.

The lead vocals are with my home-made Ela-M 250, made from an MXL V67 body and a SP capsule.

The preamps are either the stock pres on an old Ramsa mixer, a Symetrix SX202 or a Presonus Tube Pre.

Computer inputs are a Delta 1010lt.

It's all me except for the guitar solos, cause I can't solo.

Tell me what you think about the quality of the sound. I can take it! Is it harsh in any spots? Obviously it would be better with expensive mics, but I can't afford those so I'm stuck!

Have a listen...

"7 Years"



I'll be in my anti-shark cage!
 
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I can't stand it any longer!! :D

I think it sounds great Phil!!! I would not have known they were inexpensive mics, if you had not told me.
 
amazing
you wanna uh, work that magic in my home studio?
 
now I don;t feel so bad about all my cheap mics... lol

seriously, sounds really good no matter what mics you used.
 
Is the lead guitar a modeler? It sounds really processed. The rhythm tracks sound good.

Over all? Great sounding tracks! :cool:
 
Micter said:
Is the lead guitar a modeler? It sounds really processed. The rhythm tracks sound good.

Over all? Great sounding tracks! :cool:
Click to expand...


The lead guitar was done on the same cabinet. The guitarist had his own pedals. Same cabinet, same mics. I think the major difference is an Ibanez v. Les Paul.
 
PhilGood said:
I think the major difference is an Ibanez v. Les Paul.
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absolute difference. dead guitar vs. tone guitar, respectively ;)

but i will listen later! you must have excellent mic placement, based on the reviews. i guess thats the key.
 
Great!

Excellent! Love the snare sound. Are the drums real?
 
Compared to my Mics your Mics are Top of the Line and expensive(Mine all cost under $20 each or are home made)...

Great sound though, Maybe one day My recording will sound as good.... :D
 
Sounds really good. I'm not one for the over processed guitar myself, but that's just me. If there was one weak point it would be the drums. They don't sound bad at all, just not quite as "pro" as everything else. The vocals are great, sit great and sound great. Are you using some kind of harmony gadget on the lead vocals? or did you just double track or something? In any event, this should show everyone what could be done with cheap gear. The fact it sounds better than many who post out here using high end gear speaks to your producing skills as well as their over hyping their "real" gear.
 
I would say the drums just need to be brought up in volume a tad in the mix, in several places, especially in the rolls. They are somewhat buried in the mix on some of those, but I thought they sounded pro...in fact, I thought them to be excellent!!




Inspiring and thought provoking post Phil....

....so now the question, "what's the best mic I can buy for under 20 bucks"....... could be validated?" :eek: :D :D :D :D :D
 
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EDAN said:
Sounds really good. I'm not one for the over processed guitar myself, but that's just me. If there was one weak point it would be the drums. They don't sound bad at all, just not quite as "pro" as everything else. The vocals are great, sit great and sound great. Are you using some kind of harmony gadget on the lead vocals? or did you just double track or something? In any event, this should show everyone what could be done with cheap gear. The fact it sounds better than many who post out here using high end gear speaks to your producing skills as well as their over hyping their "real" gear.
Click to expand...

The solos are going to be redone. There really is not alot of processing. It's just a distortion pedal and some delay. I think his distortion pedal sucks. I used the amp's distortion with the Les Paul.

On the vocals I just double tracked each part and made the second track softer than the first.

The drums by themselves sound amazing, but once you layer all the other instruments in the nuances get lost. I'll try bringing them up a tad (or rather, out). I don't want to lose the power behind the guitar.

Like I said in the MP3 forum, everything at this point is a balancing act.
 
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PhilGood said:
The lead guitar was done on the same cabinet. The guitarist had his own pedals. Same cabinet, same mics. I think the major difference is an Ibanez v. Les Paul.
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I hope you didn't take it wrong. I just heard a more processed tone from the lead guitar. If he used a different guitar with some pedals in front of it that would have caused the tonal difference I was hearing.

Again, great tracks!
 
What you can do with cheap mics?

I heard that you can use them to make interesting sculptures, paper weights, and sex tools. :D

Nice job man!
 
i like the sex tool one... you can really hear what going on - sluurp!!-
or plug it in as a speaker and send some low freq vibrations to it --- haha!!

(sorry that post was not rated G ... maybe rated G-spot)
 
Rock On

Hi,

Philgood proves once again that Rock and Roll will never die.

Lately I've been wondering. It seems like the only rock you ever hear is on oldies stations or country music stations targetting teenage girls.

Great song. Great execution. And most importantly you sing really well.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
PhilGood said:
Tell me what you think about the quality of the sound. I can take it! Is it harsh in any spots? Obviously it would be better with expensive mics, but I can't afford those so I'm stuck!
Click to expand...

I don't think that lack of expensive mics is what holds your sample back sonically, and it's rarely what holds most people's stuff back. In this sample, it's mostly the guitars and drums, from what I'm hearing. Guitars sound like they were amp modeled. Thin-sounding; that would be the first area to focus on for improvement. Reverb on the snare is kinda' cheezy. Drums overall sound like they were produced by a novice engineer and player on a cheap daw or portastudio.

Everything else sounds good; vocals, backing vocals sound particularly good. Accoustic parts work within the context. Overall, I would say it's a respectable-sounding demo if the goal is composition, or just having a rough demo lying around or to pass out to friends & family, etc.

.
 
chessrock said:
I don't think that lack of expensive mics is what holds your sample back sonically, and it's rarely what holds most people's stuff back. In this sample, it's mostly the guitars and drums, from what I'm hearing. Guitars sound like they were amp modeled. Thin-sounding; that would be the first area to focus on for improvement. Reverb on the snare is kinda' cheezy. Drums overall sound like they were produced by a novice engineer and player on a cheap daw or portastudio.

Everything else sounds good; vocals, backing vocals sound particularly good. Accoustic parts work within the context. Overall, I would say it's a respectable-sounding demo if the goal is composition, or just having a rough demo lying around or to pass out to friends & family, etc.

.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. The amps and drums weren't modeled, but I definately can focus more on them. This was mostly for composition and being that vocals were done last that was probably where most of my focus was during these mixes. After a nice break I can come back with fresh ears.

And this is more for my own satisfaction than a career attempt. I gave up on that a looooong time ago. I do this just because I enjoy writing and playing.
 
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