microphones

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 2:34 am

Just for kicks I asked my nephew if I could borrow a microphone from him (he plays bass in a rock band) He loaned me a AKG c 1000 S from Harmon international industries. he said he paid over 200 bucks for it. And honestly I can't really see any difference over the Walmart microphone I bought for 10 bucks. I guess my question is this, is there not that much difference from a walmart mic and one for a pro musician for simple voice recording?

GCharb · Post by **GCharb** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:31 am

Sure there is.

Do you record at your dest or in a sound booth. Your Walmart microphone probably does not record half the noise surrounding you desk, so the 200$ mic might give you even worst sound then the 10$ one.

You can build a sound booth really cheap, just check the web for a solution that might suit you.

Mine is made of 3 parts thick of gypse(half inche), held to each other with sticky styrofoam squares, each sheet is sealed with foam tape and the whole thing sits on top of an anti vibration, insulated mat.

4 X 4 X7 high.

Cost, about 120$

G

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:52 am

I use quilts that hang from the ceiling, I would guess I'm in a 12 x 12 foot area In the guest house, you can google earth my house and the house in the back is my studio. 108 king Arthur's ct Weatherford TX.

J. Baker · Post by **J. Baker** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:10 am

The AKG c 1000 S is a condenser mic. It will pic up any noise around you. Like GCharb said, you'll definitely need a sound booth. If you don't have room for a sound booth, then dynamic mics come in hand. And this is what your walmart mic is. Just for the simple fact that you won't find a condenser mic for $10.

I have a AKG D 88 S and a M-Audio Nova. I use the AKG the most. Since I usually record right next to my pc. But it's also hooked up to a M-Audio preamp. Then the preamp goes to the line-in on my sound card. Anyway, a preamp is a must if you want a recording that has good sound levels.

Oh and don't forget to normalize your audio when editing.

GCharb · Post by **GCharb** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:14 am

sbtamu wrote:I use quilts that hang from the ceiling

You need to kill evey possible sounds from the outside, not sure a quilt can do that.

Also, have you pass both recording through sound analysis and see what it pickedup for noise, might be quite different.

Is that your place?

G

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:39 am

GCharb wrote:
sbtamu wrote:I use quilts that hang from the ceiling
You need to kill evey possible sounds from the outside, not sure a quilt can do that.

Also, have you pass both recording through sound analysis and see what it pickedup for noise, might be quite different.

Is that your place?

G

yes thats my house

if you look in the back yard I have 20x 15 studio, it has AC and a bathroom with a small kitchen with beer.

here is what i got the 1st winter i got when i moved back from hawaii..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r983ZVrmlY

NE ways, all the magic i do is done from that lil room in the back yard

P.S. Baker, my nephew is explaining this to me in detail of what you said, TY for the input!!! He also says for what i am doing that the cheap mic i use is just as good as the high dollar one he uses for his music. As long as i just use it for voicing cartoons.

his band was impressed with my studio and now it seems i got a bunch of teens wanting to drink all my beer in my studio.

GCharb · Post by **GCharb** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:34 pm

Nice house!

Yeah, for voice and tv your mic is good enough, now if you ever want to go big screen, or record live music, a sound booth will be a must, with good sound recording equipment.

Ahhhhh, snow, you gotta love the stuff, Plenty of it here!

Glad I could help.

sbtamu wrote:his band was impressed with my studio and now it seems i got a bunch of teens wanting to drink all my beer in my studio.

LOL, just put brocoli pictures on your frig, should keep them away!

G

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 2:20 pm

Thanks for the tips guys. I was trying to avoid the step of removing that little noise I get when i start recording. But both mics picked it up. Although the noise is easy to remove buy recording a few seconds before I speak and just removing that sample from the entire recording later on.

One other problem I get is with the "P" sound. Its so bad with me that I find myself writing scripts avoiding any words that start with a "P".

GCharb · Post by **GCharb** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:28 pm

sbtamu wrote:One other problem I get is with the "P" sound. Its so bad with me that I find myself writing scripts avoiding any words that start with a "P".

Replace the Ps with Ss or Zs, that should sound funny!

Tried putting a large foam ball on top of your microphone?

G

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:05 pm

You could also try making a "spit shield" out of an old embroidery ring and an old pair of your wife's tights. (This is more embarassing to build if you aren't married...)

J. Baker · Post by **J. Baker** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:47 pm

jahnocli wrote:You could also try making a "spit shield" out of an old embroidery ring and an old pair of your wife's tights. (This is more embarassing to build if you aren't married...)

LOL! True but it does work.

AmigaMan · Post by **AmigaMan** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:11 pm

Sbtamu....I want to come to your studio - sounds fantastic!

You could just buy a 'pop filter' as they aren't very expensive. I guess stealing your wife's tights is cheaper though.

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:31 pm

Thanks for the tips.

I ordered this a few mins ago.

GCharb · Post by **GCharb** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:32 pm

When in doubt, go to ehow.com

http://www.ehow.com/video_2378323_use-m ... tudio.html

G

Blighty · Post by **Blighty** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:06 pm

I started using a kitchen splatter guard as a pop shield.

I cheaped out and bought a pack of 'em at a pound shop and they work well at diffusing the 'P', 'B' and 'T' sounds... I think they're called plosives.