Mic sale... which to choose?

with industry Pro, Nick Batzdorf

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by hummingbird » Mon May 29, 2006 9:07 am

hmmmm.... when my head stops spinning I'll give my Shures a big hug. I bought them without trying anything out, and I think they've served me pretty well especially when you consider I only started home recording a little over a year ago, and I've used them on some pretty significant projects, including my recently released CD.thanks for all the thoughts on.... micology
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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by hummingbird » Mon May 29, 2006 1:59 pm

Hey thanks for explaining that Nick.I'm a baby producer who records on a shoestring budget. I have an M-Audio FastTrack mic/guitar preamp and I guess through trial & error I've learned to set the gain where it picks up the voice effectively without going into the red on the recording software. I record vocals into a little piece of recording software that has a nice little compressor on it, & then import the vox tracks into Tracktion. I use a little compression at the time of recording my vox because I sit so much in the high frequency it can be tough to work with the tracks later if they don't have some initial compression. I have a pop filter and always use it. I splurged on slightly better speakers a little while back, they certainly aren't anything like you hear in a studio; I did spash out on a good set of headphones. Most of this is still Greek to me but I appreciate all the help. I try to read the articles in Recording Magazine and decifer what the heck they are talking about.I save money on studio time by recording or sequencing tracks at home, and collabin' with other folks on tracks, but I have a great studio engineer I work with on mixing & mastering my songs, which helps a lot. He plays bass, drums, & guitar so he can help me fill in live tracks as needed. Interesting thread this turned out to be! Very educatational
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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by nickbatzdorf » Mon May 29, 2006 2:36 pm

I was actually the editor of Recording magazine for 10-1/2 years. It sounds like you're doing it right.

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by 53mph » Tue May 30, 2006 5:47 am

Thanks alot Nick,I too don't like overly dead rooms. I've been using a small corridor space between my living room and bedroom to get a nice sound. It's like how you said, short reverb time with enough coats hanging on one wall to deaden the sound a bit witout making it dead.Are these max panels basically the same as foam padding? I might try to knock some up (DIY style) at home and see what I get.I did a voice over in a studio in Milan recently. They had geometric wooden panels on the walls which are means to break up the reflections of the sound. They look beautiful but I don't know how effective they are. in reality. They're probably just like fancy egg boxes Dave, I think the egg boxes work by reflecting the sounds in all directions because of their undulating shapes, so you don't get direct reflections of the sound coming back in straight lines creating echo. I don't know about the bass, but I've read in bulding manuals that carpet is very good at reducing bass frequencies so maybe that's what it is Nick correct me if I'm wrong but don't bass frequencies tend to drop down over long distances where as trebly ones rise? I can't remember where I heard that one...might be bull****?

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by ernstinen » Tue May 30, 2006 6:13 am

I built a vocal booth to record singers, and it has a combination of reflective surfaces (solid core door, double pane glass) and absorbing surfaces (carpet, foam). It's fairly dead, but I think it sounds great.I record my own vocals in the control room, and have a variety of stuff on the walls. The booth wall and floor are carpeted, the ceiling is not. The side wall has a rectangular piece of acoustic foam on it, while the other side is open.My favorite treatment, though, is a little invention of mine that works great. I built a frame out of 1x2's that is about 4 feet by 6 feet. Then I went to a fabric store, and bought a large sheet of fabric that has a pattern that looks like modern art. I stretched the fabric over the frame, and stapled it to the frame on the rear side. I hung it on the back wall on two large nails near the upper corners. Voila!Now if I could only get rid of the damn moths that drown themselves in the toilet. Ern

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by ernstinen » Tue May 30, 2006 10:23 am

I've done the egg carton trick before, and it does work. One thing to be aware of before raiding the dumpster at Denny's: They are extremely flammable! If you guys use 'em, they really should be treated with fire retardant.Also be aware that egg cartons do next to nothing in the way of soundproofing, i.e. keeping sound from going through the walls. I learned this the hard way when the neighbors of our "band house" kept calling the cops! Ern

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by andreh » Tue May 30, 2006 12:27 pm

Quote:andreh, Ethan Winer...never mind. He's a nice guy, and his bass traps are good.Sorry Nick, you're not getting off that easy! I'm not encouraging you to bash anyone here, but is there some particular information on the site I recommended that you would dispute? I'm not stuck in my ways, and I like to hear other informed perspectives that might cause me to re-evaluate and possibly alter my owen.Respectfully,Andre
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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by ernstinen » Tue May 30, 2006 5:38 pm

Quote:All I meant to say is that I take his opinions with a grain of salt. You should take mine the same way.Oh I do, I do, I do! A grain of salt is taken with ol' Nick B. Just kiddin' --- Nick is da man!Ern

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by nickbatzdorf » Tue May 30, 2006 6:22 pm

Come on now, ern, I didn't say a salt block, I said a grain...

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Re: Mic sale... which to choose?

Post by Casey H » Wed May 31, 2006 2:06 am

I have a $20 Radio Shack mic... But it DOES have an on/off switch...Just wanted to lighten things up a bit ... Casey

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