Tell Me About Recording Gear and Mics

[shogunlegend]

i've got a boss micro br and it has a condenser mic on it. the thing is that when i crank my amp a little, i get a fuzzy vibrating sound from the mic. when i move the recorder farther away from the amp, it gets rid of the noise, but the recording doesn't sound good.

i've noticed how people put microphones right in front or even touching their amps, but why don't they get that fuzzy vibration noise? is there a certain kind of mic you need for putting in front of amps or something? what is an affordable studio quality mic that i can use for recording in front of my amps?

also, i was thinking that i coud get this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-MM141-4Channel-Mini-Mixer?sku=630433

and plug it into my micro br input. that way i can have multiple mics. what do you guys think? is this a viable and affordable solution?

 

[thucydides]

Re: Tell Me About Recording Gear and Mics

I can't explain the fuzz w/your condenser mic, but the Shure SM 57 is an inexpensive, and classic, instrument recording mic. Many recordings over the years have been done w/the SM 57.

As w/many aspects of music gear, there are many other choices these days. While I think that the SM 57 is a solid choice, I'm sure some of the other forum bros can turn you on to their experiences!

 

[ginormous]

Re: Tell Me About Recording Gear and Mics

If the mic is built in, it's not of any consequence with respect to quality; it's like singing into a home answering machine mic. Seems like that mic is breaking up (distorting) at high volume from the amp.

You can get a good deal on a used mic, or even an entry-level new mic, and still get better sound than the built-in.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Tell Me About Recording Gear and Mics

There's a big difference between sticking an 84-cent built-in condenser mic and an SM-57in front of a guitar cab. Dynamic mics like the 57 are designed to handle high SPL (sound pressure levels) like those generated by guitar amps, drums and horns.

Don't worry about a little mixer right now. Get a good mike and experiement with different placements - that alone will give you a wide array of tones. Multiple mics is a huge leap beyond that in terms of complexity. Walk before you run.

The no-brainer classic is the SM-57. More-modern alternates include the Shure Beta 56A (more money) and PG57 (less money). A lot of people like the Sennheiser E609 (and big brother E906). This is just a sample - there are literally dozens of great mikes out there these days.

Any decent mic you get is going to be low-impedance with an XLR connector. I don't know what kind of input your Boss has. If it doesn't have a lo-impedance mic input, you'll need at least a matching transformer (cheap and maybe even still available from Radio Shack). Better yet, some sort of active (or even tube-based) mic preamp would be a good way to tailor the mic sound and bump it up to line level. There are lots of nice mic pre's around for a wide range of prices.

Note that Nady mixer has 4 high-Z 1/4" mic inputs - basically, it allows you to mix four crappy mics into a single crappy output.

 

[shogunlegend]

Re: Tell Me About Recording Gear and Mics

well, i don't know a lot of technical electronics stuff about it, but the micro br has a 1/4" guitar input, so i was thinking i could plug a couple of amp mics into the nady and then an input from my drum machine just to get some beats and stuff for recording.

this is by no means what i plan to use to record serious stuff, but for now it may be better than recording everything playing together with a little mic in the middle.

 

[Johnny L]

Re: Tell Me About Recording Gear and Mics

Looks like the Nady has no mic preamps.

If you just have the MicroBR, you'll need to get either a standalone mic pre or a mixer. I'm using a Soundcraft Compact10 in my practice space/studio and the preamps are plenty adequate for demo-quality stuff. Its little brother might interest you:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Compact4/

Get one of those and either a 57 or an Audix i5 for close, and maybe a condenser to get some room in your sound. Audio Technica makes a pretty decent $100 condenser in my experience; I know people have found some good MXLs as well.