Grateful Dead Music Forum

by **1960strat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:59 am

I need to get a mic to record a live performance. While i would rather direct out from the board the vocals are the only things going through the PA. Can someone suggest what the best alternatives are for recording mics?

by **Tennessee Jedi** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:15 am

Are you looking to record everything via one mic?
Nothing else is mic'd?
Does it have to be an impressive rec/mix or is it say to record your kids local choir,where you are just hoping to record something for posterity?
Under $500 or over?
Guess you would want a phantom powered mic.
I got a "pencil" condenser mic that I ve had mixed results with.I think the brand was Mxl.Kinda cheap.
But all I could afford at the time.
Good luck.
Strummingsix has some great sounding stuff.Maybe he will recommend something more definite.

by **Dozin** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:38 am

I bought a Sony ECMMS907 One-Point Stereo Mic for Digital Recorders and the thing kicks ass.

I record with this everytime we jam. We jammed on this deck once that is about 10' off the ground and put the mic about 50' away on a picnic table and was blown away by the recording. I've used it to record Bobby too.

Product Description:

Sony's ECM-MS907 One Point Stereo Microphone was created for the advanced amateur to make instrumental recordings. Ideal for Sony's MD Walkman™ and DAT Walkman® Portable Stereos, the ECM-MS907 features a One-Point Stereo Design, Mid/Side (MS) Capsules with a Switchable Pickup Angle, an Oxygen-free Copper (OFC) Mic Cable, and a Gold-plated L-shaped Stereo Miniplug.

I use microtrack recorder with it

by **1960strat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:48 am

Looking to spend in the 400-500 range. Nother else will be miked due to the small size of the room. This will be used to record the annual family christmas jam which will have 2 guitarists, vocals, a keboard, drums and possibly a bass player. I am looking for something i can set in the middle of the room and pick up the whole band.

by **strumminsix** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:49 am

Tennessee Jedi wrote:Strummingsix has some great sounding stuff.Maybe he will recommend something more definite.

Can't offer much help here. I am usually the recipient of recordings not the creator.

Which recordings of mine are you referring to??

My band's myspace was taped off a board at a live show.
My personal myspace was from a studio with a previous band.

by **Tennessee Jedi** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:15 pm

The One More Sat. Night on your Myspace Strum.
A very good recording both musically and technically.
Its a very "clean" recording.
The reason I say that is I havent had any decent success with recording.Ya know something peaks out,cymbal ring,levels too high or too low,etc.
You seem with it on technical stuff,Strum.Like you have a lot of experience with this kinda thing.
Another R.U.Kinder I jam with has some kind of dat machine with shotgun style mics so I gave up the recording duties.What a recording that thing can do!
Oh Fretful Dave where art thou?
For $500 bucks you can get decent mics.
I guess if you are throwing up a mic and going to tape ? I would use some kind condenser mic.
Also I would put it farther rather then closer to what you are trying to record.Esp.if you arent EQ'ing the mic with compression or whatever? :smile:

by **1960strat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:29 pm

I went with Dozin's suggestion and just ordered a Sony ECM-MS907. I am going to use it to record with my olympus digital recorder, which can record in stereo. I also thought about recording directly into my ipod. Anyone ever do this?

by **Dozin** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:35 pm

1960strat wrote:I went with Dozin's suggestion and just ordered a Sony ECM-MS907. I am going to use it to record with my olympus digital recorder, which can record in stereo. I also thought about recording directly into my ipod. Anyone ever do this?

You wont be disappointed. You can get them really cheap off eBay.

by **1960strat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:50 pm

Dozin, so i should place the mic dead center on the other side of the room. (probably 20 ft max)

by **capin_chowder** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:08 pm

1960strat wrote:I went with Dozin's suggestion and just ordered a Sony ECM-MS907. I am going to use it to record with my olympus digital recorder, which can record in stereo. I also thought about recording directly into my ipod. Anyone ever do this?

I've done some recording with my iPod and had pretty good experiences with it. I use Belkin's TuneTalk (less than $50). It has a direct in that I've hooked up to our sound board. The built-in stereo mics are okay for getting down ideas for songs and such, but not great for live recording of a band. The mics also pick up the click of the iPod's hard drive on quite stuff. The biggest drawback of recording with iPod is that you can't use it to set levels. When going out of the board this hasn't been a problem with the auto-gain/line setting. A mixer would allow you to use mics and set the levels. Bottom line is that if you have an iPod and go in knowing limitations, the cost is pretty low for the additional hardware and the recordings have the potential to be very good.

Hope this helps.

http://www.myspace.com/tumbledownshack

by **Dozin** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:31 pm

1960strat wrote:Dozin, so i should place the mic dead center on the other side of the room. (probably 20 ft max)

Sry, driving around in my truck and it's tough to type and drive. :shock:

But yeah, you can put it in the center of the room or anywhere. Right now ours is in between the two front vocal mics mounted on a mic stand raised all the way up. We've done everything with the mic and it works great where ever.

by **strumminsix** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:00 pm

Tennessee Jedi wrote:The One More Sat. Night on your Myspace Strum.
A very good recording both musically and technically.
Its a very "clean" recording.
The reason I say that is I havent had any decent success with recording.Ya know something peaks out,cymbal ring,levels too high or too low,etc.
You seem with it on technical stuff,Strum.Like you have a lot of experience with this kinda thing.

Well thanks, TJ! The success of that recording was from time in a professional studio. Yes, slightly overboard by today's myspace standard but not a few years ago.

IMO the key to recording is a good mix from a board.

You need that to get everyone at a proper level. Then everyone needs to be dialed in correctly.

From there much patience is required.

You need to quickly establish with your band:
- what is the purpose?
- how much time do we all agree to invest?

IMO, the best way for band publicity is to play a gig with a good soundguy who mics all the instruments and setup a room mic right in front of him. Or, if in a basement set all the levels and just keep recording.

From there grab 90 second snippets of a few songs to make a very quick to listen to say 5-8 minute demo.

by **broomhead** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:07 pm

I see you went w/the sony, you'll be surprised how high quality a recording you are able to get, especially in a reasonably decent acoustic environment w/out 30,000 screaming fans..lol

to get any improvement over that type of set up becomes exponentially more expensive for only incremental improvements.

btw.. the only people who rant and rave all knowingly worse than gearhead guitarists are deadhead tapers. If you get further into it or need any help,just ask, while i cant offer too many answers to modes questions, i can answer taping q's..lol
joe

by **1960strat** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:00 am

Will i need to pre-amp the sony? I am planning on plugging it directly into my olympus WS-310M digital voice recorder. That little thing suprisingly records music very well with just the stock stereo mics so the sony mic should be an improvement. It also converts the files to WMA and plugs right into your pc with a usb port.

by **Dozin** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:09 am

No, the Sony takes a AA battery.

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