i thought I'd start a thread for people to post about what microphones they have and what they use them for and any advice you have from your experience with different Mic's. I have become quite interested in different Mic's and would like to read about others experiences and advice on differing models and their uses. So what do people use and what are you GAS'ing for?
i have a Shure SM57 and a rode NT1-A I have yet to decide if I want/need another (GAS is dictating that I do!). I look forward to reading your posts.
Tomorrow will be a good day.
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SM57 - Guitar cab (dual mic in phase with a condenser)
SM58 - Guitar cab (dual mic with 57 and grille removed)
MXL990 - vocals (been superseded by the 4400a)
Pure XIX - vocals and acoustic guitar
SE X1 - not taken it out of the box yet...
SE 4400a - vocals, guitar cab, acoustic, I love this mic.
I also had a Rode NT2A which I sold as it had a very harsh metallic sound on my voice, sounded very nice on guitar cabs though.
A dynamic like an SM7b or RE20 (the two I own) but also including things like the MD441 is a lot more versatile than you might imagine - great on voices, acoustic guitars, drums, amplified stuff.
If you want ultra-fast transient response and sizzle, there are better options. But it's important not to equate quality with frequency/ transient response - sometimes that slightly slower response makes things sound subjectively bigger, weightier, generally suits the sound better.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
SE2200
SM58 Beta
SM57
Rode NT5 pair
Thats it...
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For vocals I use an SE Gemini ii, Pearlman Tm-1 or an md421. Same for acoustics but an SE voodoo ribbon in place of the md421.
For guitar amps a general purpose condensor, baby bottle, E906 or a ribbon blended.
For drums, loads incl an RE20 for kick, beyer m201 for snare/toms. Budget SDCs sound too sharp for overheads so it's ribbons or LDCs unless I can get a pair of M-Geffels at some point.
We sold a lot of mics when I left the studio, keeping only the ones more suited to live recording as still do plenty of that.
Dynamic wise we still have loads of 58's and 57's plus the very under rated Behringer XM8500's . For kick and bass we have Shure Beta 52 and AKG D112.
Condensor wise we have Shure SM81's, SE2200's ... Pulse boundry mics, home made mic's ... vintage ex BBC stereo XY mics and a few other bits and pieces. Complete set of Senn 9 series as well for drums and guitars plus 945 for vocals.
In the early days of the studio we sometimes spent hours putting different mics into different positions around drums and using multiple mics as room mics. I remember dangling mics from the ceiling over drums and putting room mics 10 metres away at floor level and smashing the audio with compressors.
Basically I learnt what mic you use depends not only on what instrument your gonna record but what else is going on at the same time. So you won't go far wrong with a 57 on guitar if it's fairly loud and nothing else is playing but it your tracking a whole band a 906 is a better bet for keeping out the sound of drums and other instruments.
Drum wise I found the mic's were almost irreverent. You could (and we did) stick 3k's worth of mics around a drum kit but if the drummer wasn't up to much it still sounded like a bag of shit. Get a good recording drummer and all you need are 2 overheads and a kick mic ... not even a kick mic sometimes if going for an ol'skool Led Zep or Radiohead vibe.
This is 2 SE2200A's used as room mics about 6 metres from the kit ... around half a metre off the ground going into a Rane compressor ... love that sound
http://www.2020studios.co.uk/Big_Room_drums.mp3
Vocal wise I tended to have problems with the pre amps ... basically with no money left we were using the stock pre amps on the Tascam DM4800 which were clean but suffered with noise at high gain levels and could run out of headroom and clip ... to the point I would record one rough take of the vox and then use that as a visual to what was gonna be coming in and I then rode the gain on the pre amp rather than compress on the way in. Almost all vocals were done with the good old SE2200A condensor .... absolute belting mic for the money
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
The BBC actually etch BBC in the metal body of the mic ... that's how I know ours are ex BBC