Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] recording guitar interfacing
From: Paul Winkler (slinkp23_AT_yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Nov 29 2001 - 10:57:39 EET
On Wed, Nov 28, 2001 at 10:52:30PM -0500, Jason wrote:
> <rant>
> There's not much that I find more irritating than microphone snobbery.
I can think of plenty of things. :)
> You
> can get perfectly fine mics for under $200.
Sure. A lot of the r.a.p. regulars own, use, and recommend some mics
costing under $200. Even some of the guys who also have $10000 mics.
The problem is you can also get total sh*t for the same prices,
sometimes by the same manufacturers. It pays to shop around and do
some research first, or stick to the old standbys... SM57, MD421,
SM81, etc.
I think too much is being made of this perceived snobbery. When the
only people sticking up for the C1000 are amateurs, and a number of
working professionals are recommending other mics in the *same* price
range, it makes sense to take that as a warning sign against the
C1000. Yet I've seen threads in r.a.p. where some guy with a C1000 and
a 4-track gets offended because he recommended the mic to somebody
else, and others with more experience had the nerve to contradict him.
Granted, some of those r.a.p. gurus really could stand to work on
their social skills...
> There's a lot to be said of an
> electric guitar sound gotten by sticking an SM57 right up against the
> speaker grill.
Again, SM-57 is one of the most often recommended mics by the "snobs"
on r.a.p. It's the first mic I bought, and I'll probably have it
forever even though I seem to be among the small minority who doesn't
like it very much. In a pinch I can use it for just about anything. I
have an old AKG D-1000E (NOT the C-1000; it's a dynamic) which I like
better as an all-purpose cheap mic ... too bad those are hard to find.
> Sure I'd give my eye teeth for a matched pair of Earthworks
> TC40k's, but that doesn't mean thtat those microphones are going to be
> appropriate in every situation.
Exactly. Ask what mic you should buy, and the correct response is "but
what do you want to *do* with it?"
> I'm always noticing when I look at the
> gear listings for recording studios that they seem to have spent tens of
> thousands of dollars on old tube microphones and antique neumann
> condensers, and yet they don't have workhorses like shure SM81s or more
> than one RE20, or they've decided that for some reason having a D112 is
> the only kick drum mic you'll ever need so long as you have a wide variety
> of large diaphragm condensers available.
I don't know what studios you're looking at, but I think it depends
who they're trying to attract. If they mostly do pop vocal groups,
they'll want the mics that those people and their producers
expect. That means big high-dollar condensers. If they want to track
rock bands, they'll need a collection of good dynamic mics, because
that's what most producers and engineers are accustomed to using for
that material. The last studio I played in had a slew of 421s, a dozen
or so SM-57s, two or three RE-20s that I saw, a variety of nice
small-diaphragm condensers, some cool ribbons (royers), and a handful
of the big fancy Neumanns. Plus a crate of old weird crap for lo-fi
fun. We once used a Shure "Green Bullet" harmonica mic on kick
drum. They had a mic that sounded good for everything we wanted to do.
Then they went and built a bigger facility and priced themselves way
out of my range. :(
> In most circumstances, those
> 10000 dollar microphones just aren't as useful as an RE20 or a 421 or an
> sm81 or a
> grip of sm57s and maybe an AKG C3000 or C535 for vocals.
I'd agree with all of that, except that I really don't like the C3000,
and I'm pretty sure I decided that before I heard other people bashing
it. ;) I know someone who makes pretty decent recordings with one, but
I'd rather not have to do it myself. I haven't heard the 535 yet but
they're loved by people I trust, so that's on my short list to check
out when I want more mics.
I'll add that, even if someone thinks they want to spend a lot of
money on a mic, it's probably a waste until you've spent some serious
time working with cheaper stuff learning what you like and what you
need. There's no point spending an arm and a leg before you're even
able to judge whether it's right for you.
> Seriously, for a homestudio owner, it's more important to find mics that
> sound good with your equipment and with your voice if you sing, than it is
> to spend a bunch of money on the kinds of microphones that highly paid
> engineers get paid large amounts of money to to talk about.
Amen.
> In most cases,
> those really expensive mics will only serve to reveal flaws in the
> performance anyway.
> </rant>
What kind of flaws are you talking about? This doesn't make any sense
to me. If an inexpensive mic hides flaws, wouldn't it be hiding some
good stuff too?
When I want to hide flaws in my performance, I try to do it better. :)
--paul winkler home: http://www.slinkp.com music: http://www.reacharms.com calendars: http://www.calendargalaxy.com
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