Yet another mic question...

[CanopuS]

OK, this one concerns getting as good a setup as is possible. I have around $600 to spend on mics. Sound good? Well there's a problem. I need 4, to mic a drum kit, and also gonna need one to double as a vocal and acoustic mic etc. Oh dear. Yep I know it's tight, but it CAN be done Anyone got some suggestions?

*Puts on armour and shield*

 

[Scinx]

So you are intent that 5 or more is not a possibility and 3 or less is way out. Ok - how about a $79 SM57 for snare, 2 Oktava MK012s for $100 (or 2 MXL603s for $170), an ATM25 for kick ($80?).

 

[SteveMcB]

MXL 603's/Oktava MC012's - $150

SM57 on snare - $80

AT Pro25 $80

Mics up your kit, and leaves $290 for:
SP C1 and B1
AT 4040
MXL v67 and pair of B1's
Pair of B3's
and the list goes ever on and on

Alternately:
MXL 603's/Oktava MC012's $150 - OH and acoustic
Sennheiser MD421 $299 - Kick, vocals, brass
SM57 $80 - snare, vocals, brass, amps
MXL v67 or SP B1 $80 - Vocals, amps, brass, end of kick tunnel

Gives you a nice dynamic (the 421) as well as covering your other bases

Steve

 

[CanopuS]

Cheers for the feedback. Isn't such an expensive mic like the 421 a bit of a waste on the kick, considering I could spend the money on the snare or overheads (I would consider them more important?). I'm thinking of just getting one good mic for guitars and vocals and going a bit cheap on the others. It's tough!

 

[bsanfordnyc]

Don't forget to add in the cost of cables, phantom power supply, mic stands, pre-amp, pop filter etc....if you do not already have these items!!

That shit alone can rack up quite a bill, I have recently learned.
Spent $100 on the MXL V67, then about $160 more on all the other auxiliary equipment to use it correctly, and that's not even counting the preamp, which I already had.

 

[SteveMcB]

There are sooo many ways to split $600 on mics.

The 603's or 012's are going to do at least a reasonable job on overheads and acoustic (and percussion, piano or whatever). For the money you can't really beat them, although you could sub in a pair of Studio Projects B1's for a similar price.

The sm57 for snare is the most widely used choice. Of course, it may not ring your bell, but it's a great starting point, and also useful on vocals, and guitar amps. Daniel Lanois uses them for acoustic (which I can't fathom - mine sounded terrible when I did that).

I would also want a dedicated kick mic (which may have other uses), and similarly at least one dedicated vocal mic. It's your choice whether you spend up big on a kick mic and get a cheaper vocal mic, knowing that the kick mic will possibly serve well on vocals (as in the 421) or spend up big on vocal mic or mics, and end up with a cheaper (and possibly less useful for other things) kick mic.

The 421 is a great mic, and you will never need to upgrade (though you may want to add other colours). It's not just a kick mic. It can be great on bass amps, guitar amps, some vocals, brass, sax, low toms,...

On the other hand, something like a 4040 is likely to be good on voices, acoustic, percussion, guitar amps.

You pays your money and takes your choices. I suggest trying out as many different decent vocal mics as possible with the voice/voices you'll be recording. You may surprise yourself with which sounds best.

Steve

 

[jdier]

SM57 on Snare
2 Beta57's for overheads
Beta 52 for kick
Studio Projects C1 for voice

57 = $79
Beta 57 = $120 x 2
beta52 = $130
C1 = $200

I hate people who suggest things they do not use, but I just did it. I have a Studio Projects C3 which I like very much, but to fit your price range I suggested the C1 which I am pretty sure is the same mic with out the pads and patterns. I am about $50 over but you might be able to get a package deal if you buy all at once or save some dough buying from ebay. I would also imagine that you could swap the Beta 57's for regular SM57's

Here is a link to a song recorded with just these mics:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2999&alid=-1

The correct song is Virginia. Everything on this scratch track was done with these mics directly into my Aardvark Q10 (bass was direct, piano and organ MIDI)

Hope this helps.

Jim

 

[CanopuS]

Hmmmm.

SM57 for snare, and AKG D112 for kick. I think those are pretty much to be assumed now. However, the pair of overheads is still a problem

Thanks for all your input, I'm downloading that mp3 now

 

[CanopuS]

Wow, it sounds really good So you used the above mics on the drums, except for the C3 on vocals. Depending on what else I get in my setup (soundcard, preamps etc), I may have more to spend, but it's all a matter of what I can find. What soundcard/preamps did you use (or Multitrack etc). Cheers

 

[jdier]

Wow, it sounds really good So you used the above mics on the drums, except for the C3 on vocals. Depending on what else I get in my setup (soundcard, preamps etc), I may have more to spend, but it's all a matter of what I can find. What soundcard/preamps did you use (or Multitrack etc). Cheers

The Beta 52 right outside the kick, the Beta 57's as overheads and the SM57 on the snare. Mixed the overheads up first and concentrated 100% on them. I worked on placement a long time with the thought being that I wanted to try to get the drums with just these two mics overhead. Once I had it as close as I could I then filled in the sound with the 52 and the 57 snare. As strange as it might seem I have NO eq on any of these mics just a very little compression (very little, just to control peaks) which helped me raise the volume of the overheads and control the snare and kick.

These mics go straight into my Aardvark Q10 (with no other preamp being used) and I then mix in Sonar. The compression that I mention is the Timeworks compression that comes with Sonar XL.

The track is really just scratch and we are using it for two purposes, 1. song composition decisions, 2. learn about micing drums.

We keep trying new things, but this is one of the nicer sounds we have.

The vocals are indeed through the C3. You will note that their is some terrible sibilance which I have not tamed at all yet. That is just a first take by a guy who heard the song for the first time that day. I have had much better luck with the C3 since then by using different addressing and locations.

Hope this helps.

Jim

 

[CanopuS]

Very Impressive! Gotta work out what setup I want