Good Microphone stash for recording?

**dhuebbe** · 12-03-2007

My band is going to record our first album. We have a Shure KSM32, a Shure 57 Beta, and an M-Audio Luna. We are going to record everything other than the drums (which will be done in a local recording studio). If we are to record vocals, acoustic, electric guitar, Bass, and keyboards, what would be TWO other mics to get. I was thinking a AKG D112 for the Bass stuff and a Shure SM81 for acoustic. Also maybe a Sennheiser evolution e906. Any other ideas? Also, got any Bass/Guitar cab micing techniques?

Thanks

**sleepy** · 12-03-2007

For bass, I personally prefer going direct. There's nothing lacking from a direct signal where I feel I would have gotten a better result with mic'ing. Unless I were going for a more lively feel so that's a deciding factor also.

For instrument mic'ing it never hurts to have an SM57 laying around, specially for electric guitars and percussion. I'd get one of those and play around with the KSM32 placement if I wanted some of the room sound. The EV RE20 is also a mic that I feel I can stick in front of an instrument and most of the times it will give me what I want.

I'd get an SM57 for electric guitar and spend the rest of the money on bette pre-amps to get the most out of your mics. I might catch some heat for this but I feel that even the cheaper mics (not radio shacks and such) are capable of good sound. The tricky part comes with the placement and the rest of the chain. You still have to use the right type of mic. So you can't stick a kick drum mic on acoustic guitar but I think common sense dictates that for most.

Some mics do offer better definition at certain frequencies but if you're careful with your mic'ing then you should at the very least have decent to good results. Remember, I'm not saying to buy computer headset mics and use those but you don't have to have the most expensive gear to get good sound.

Vocal technique is very important also. I've recorded people where I know that the vocal recording we're doing is pretty much how the final mix should sound. This is ideally what you want to aim for when recording. This goes back to mic selection also. If you're doing death metal, metal, rap, and other genres that require strong vocals, most condensors get way too harsh in the high end to be adequate. Dynamic mics hold up way better and just sound better almost all of the time. Of course, with a singer, there's nothing wrong with a condensor that has a silky high end that just sounds good. The right mic and environment is only half of the work, the vocalist has to do the rest.