Mics, Recording, etc.

[Suiken]

Hi all. I'm a real beginner at recording as you're about to read..

If I wanted to record voice, I would need a condenser mic right? (Assuming that you want to get a little better quality of course)

Not only that, would I need something else.. that circle thing in front of the mic? Just assuming it helps because I see it on videos but have no clue what it is.

What does the condenser mic connect to, and what is a good way to record the acoustic guitar? Currently I'm running on a MAC with logic pro/garageband if that's any helpful information.. do I need a "box" to connect the mic to? Maybe a mixer/something like that?


thanks for everyones help in advance

[Seafroggys]

No, you would not necessarily want a condensor mic, and condensor mic do not always mean better. I would much prefer a nice Sennheiser dynamic over a cheap chinese condensor.

Probably the most utilitarian vocal mic is the Shure SM7b, which is a dynamic mic actually (though usually mislabelled as a condensor on most online retailers), and its not that expensive either.

Microphones plug into preamps, which plug into analog-digital converters, which plug into your interface into your computer. Most prosumer sound cards have all of these built in.

Your standard sound cards generally only have 3.5 mm microphone jacks, where your mic is gonna be an XLR more than likely. You will need a converter to get that to work. If it is a condesnor, you need phantom power, which requires an interface with phantom power.

If you decide to go with a dynamic mic, they don't have a lot of gain on them, thus you need a good preamp which ain't noisy. Using the onboard soundcard will have issues with this, since those preamps suck (and are noisy as hell).

[El Calle Gato]

it all depends how serious you are about recording and how much work you will put in, how good you want things to sound, and what your finances are like.

if you just want to record voice (singing, screaming, rapping, spoken word) to "jot" ideas down, you can pick up a pretty cheap mic with a 1/4" plug, then get a 1/4" > 1/8" adapter, and record right into garage band.

if you want to step it up, you can get some kind of USB interface that has better preamps than your soundcard, can record multiple inputs whether its 1/4" or XLR, and has phantom power for your condenser mics (if u go that route).

and if you want to leap forward from that, well, walk before you run kiddo.

think about where you want to go, then ask us q's, and we can be better suited to give you the best advice we can.

[Moseph]

If I wanted to record voice, I would need a condenser mic right? (Assuming that you want to get a little better quality of course)

Need? No. Want? Maybe. My recommendation is to start small: the home recording market has become very large and option-rich. All you technically need to make an audio recording is a capturing device (microphone, DI box, or line level device), and recording medium (computer with sound card, tape deck, flash recorder, etc.).

It's also highly advisable that you have a playback device (headphones/speakers) so you can listen to what you've done.

That's really what you need.

Not only that, would I need something else.. that circle thing in front of the mic? Just assuming it helps because I see it on videos but have no clue what it is.

Seafroggys already mentioned mic preamps. Preamps are devices used to take a mic-level signal, which is typically quite low-gain, and amplify that signal to what is called "line level" which is a well-formed signal of a uniformly convenient gain (I believe line level is dictated to be around 1 V peak amplitude).

The "circle thing" in front of a mic is called a "windscreen" or "pop filter", or about a half dozen other variants of the same idea. The point of the pop filter is to disperse the high-impact air energy associated with certain vocal sounds (heavy 'H', hard 'B', and most 'P' sounds in particular), which are called "plosives." These happen naturally in speech, and are not only unpleasant to listen to, but they can potentially damage a microphone's voice coil/membrane. The pop filter is therefore a very useful, low-cost device.

What does the condenser mic connect to, and what is a good way to record the acoustic guitar? Currently I'm running on a MAC with logic pro/garageband if that's any helpful information.. do I need a "box" to connect the mic to? Maybe a mixer/something like that?

We'll need to know your budget restrictions. Also, Logic Pro and Garageband are not the same product, but are within the same family of products. There's a huge discrepancy in cost: knowing which program you actually are using will help inform us of your budget situation.

We'll also need to know what sort of recording you plan on doing. Are you only recording yourself on voice and acoustic guitar? Are you planning to work with a group of musicians? What style of music? That sort of thing will definitely be useful in helping to make a suggestion.

[Aaron]

Budget is key here. If you were recording spoken word or solo vocals, and want A mic, you could even look at a USB-based podcasting mic, or alternately a Zoom H4 which I'm going to be buying soon.

[adrianman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lghgo4rDeLE

the sm57 sounds pretty good in this vid so i would go with seafroggys

[Motleyguy]

Froggys said sm7b, not sm57... completely different microphone.

[adrianman]

Froggys said sm7b, not sm57... completely different microphone.

oh, right. thought he said sm57.

the vocals still sound decent on the 57 though

[Motleyguy]

Not necessarily my first choice, but it's alright, I'd really only use it for scratch or guide vocal tracks... maybe spoken words/dialogue.

[TriggerNYC]

suiken how bout a little bit more information.

if your going with just acoustic guitar and vocals, id say get a usb mic condenser mic
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/CAD-U37-USB-Condenser-Microphone?sku=271322
cheapest one i could find without extra information.

in addition to a mic stand, cable, and a pop filter, that should do you good for beginner acoustic guitar and vocal tracks, especially with garageband (which came with the mac for free)

if you want to move beyond that, let us know what youre doing, if your acoustic has a pickup, and what your price range is.