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Garage Band
Oski
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I recently bought ilife so i can use my mac for recording music, and i was wondering what ideally what microphone i should get, preferably something that can pick up guitar and vocals equally well (if such a thing exists? this drummer i played with swore by shure, and he did all the recording for us). Also I was wondering what cables I'll need, if I'll need a mixer, and where I might find free loops or something.
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Most people will use them, once they get a wider variety of mics, for drums and such, since they're dynamic mics, but if you have nothing, start there.
You won't need a mixer unless you're mixing -- as in, having more than one sound source at a time. You will need a way to get the audio into your computer, though, which usually means you need a USB "soundcard" (if you're using a laptop).
Tell us a bit more about your setup, and how you plan to accomplish it. (plus, by telling us the separate steps, you'll also see how you can set it up yourself once you do have the requisite parts). There's no big secret to it; you just need to approach recording logically.
edit: for clarity's sake, I'll use an example. My friend didn't want to pay studio fees for his solo work, so I helped him get set up to record at home. We figured out how much he wanted to record at once, how he wanted to mic things, and the kind of playing/recording he would generally do. We figured out how computer savvy he was with audio software. I then gave him recommendations so that he could, essentially, just "buy the list" and start recording. It's not that expensive, but there's a few bare minimum things that need to be addressed, and many people either under- or over-compensate. For example, wanting to record an acoustic guitar in stereo and sing at the same time, but don't have enough inputs (or mics). Or buy enough to record an orchestra when you're only going to play one instrument at a time.
I'm not sure specswise how they differ from SM57, but honestly either one is probably a good bet. The SM58 is pretty much the standard for vocal mics though.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
a mixer is highly reccomended. you can get an alesis usb sound board for about $150. it will only send 2 channels (the newer usb2 models send 8 i think), but is pretty good. i mean, you can get a xlr to 1/4 inch cable and then bump that down to a 1/8 jack, but that introduces alot of noise. plus pushing xlr to 1/4 loses alot of fidelity, and you end up having to push the gain too much. so... yeah. some sort of usb 'soundcard'.
as far as free loops, check out flashkit.com. they have a ton of straight mp3 loops. otherwise, you are looking for a sequencer program like propellerhead reason. i would typically say fruityloops, but no mac version.
No, they are identical except for the windscreen. The SM58 has a round windscreen with an integrated pop screen, which lets you get closer while singing without clipping. Same capsule, same electronics. You can look up the specs on Shure's website, or you can look at numerous sites out there by searching for "sm58 sm57 comparison."
They do have a slightly different frequency response, but it's entirely because of the windscreen. If you remove the windscreen from both mics, you will have two identical mics.
The cartridge is shaped differently to accommodate the different windscreens, so no, removing the windscreen won't make them act entirely identically. That aside, it doesn't matter if the actual electronics are the same, telling someone that it doesn't matter which they buy because the electronics are identical is still stupid fucking advice because guess what guess what guess what
they behave differently.
And that's what actually matters to the purchasing decision. The SM58 gets a brighter sound and doesn't pick up as much bass. If you're looking for an instrument mic the SM57 is better designed for that purpose. If you wish to dispute the fact that they do behave in appreciably different fashions as a result of their different designs, then you'll have to do so somewhere else because it's not okay to tell outright lies in H/A.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Either mic could be used for either purpose with some effort either on the part of the vocalist or in post, but the SM57 on vocals is probably easier to work with than the SM58 on instruments.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I didn't say "they're absolutely identical." Someone said they didn't know what the difference was. I clarified. I even stated, same as you, that the frequency response is different due to the different windscreen design. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that I said there's "no difference when it comes to buying one."
Especially since the SM58 costs about $20 more. Why rail on me about something I didn't say?
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
If you are singing, and playing acoustic style guitar. I'd grab a condenser mic rather than a dynamic mic.
I use an MXL 990 and a 991, which sounds great. It's also very cheap, and sometimes comes with its own pre-amp with phantom power in certain deals.
We're not. We're recommending the SM57, which is specifically designed for recording instruments and voices in some cases.
I agree that a condenser mic is a good second purchase, but a dynamic is a better first purchase in the long run in case he wants something he can also use live.
Remember, the SM in SM57 stands for Studio Microphone.
I got the impression he was recording acoustic guitar not instruments with high sound pressure levels. Vocals is really the only thing it'd be suited for in his situation. For acoustic guitar at least, he'd get a much better sound out of two condenser mics positioned correctly. Even a condenser for singing works great in studio setups.
I mean these type of mics are used because they are durable and work well with drums and electric guitar amplifiers.
I'm just saying, he'd get a better sound for what he wants with a condenser. If he actually wants to go live, then that's another story.
Do you O.P?
I probably will go live at some point yeah
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tascam-US122L-USB2.0-Audio-Midi-Computer-Interface?sku=242192
And I dig it. Stereo recording ready, phantom power, and super super easy to use.
I highly recommend these mics
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/AudioTechnica-AT2041SP-AT2020-AT2021-Microphone-Pack?sku=270455
fantastic price, and a much better response then you'd expect. Someone will probably come in and say they're shit and that you get what you pay for, but seriously, I've used these mics for about 3 years, and get some amazing sounds out of them. What I personally like about them is that they both have a much flater response then any other mics in the price-range I've found, the benifit of that means you can get a lot of different sounds out of them, the disadvantage is you'll have to learn how to get those sounds out of the EQ, but thats hardly a bad thing if its something you'd like to continue to do. Plus you can do live recordings with them. Set the large condenser up in front to sing into, the the small one pointed at the 12 fret or bridge about 3 feet away, and go nuts. you have to mess around with the pan to get the phase to equal out, but I recommend it.