Topic: Winter Formal Song...

[Stephen]

So, I wrote this song, and I recorded it, and I decided I'd post it here.

It's really badly done; the harmonies are so loose, it makes me laugh. Thankfully, I did a much better job when I sang it to her in person.

It's at my PureVolume.

http://purevolume.com/stephencope

Oh, yeah... Criticisms and comments please. I feel like, at the beginning, I'm singing too airily; I need to sing more through my nose.

[hans]

Not bad. I like the 'Sometimes' song better. The biggest suggestion I have is use metronome or do a simple drum track.

Generally, I'm impressed.

honestly, I thought the vocals sounded too nasally.

What sort of gear are you using to record with. I'm guessing a small investment could help your sound quite a bit too.

[Stephen]

Yeah, Sometimes is somewhat better. A metronome's a good idea. I can use a beat track, so I'll try that out.

I'm using a Shure SM58 microphone and a cheap mic chord I bought from a local Pete's Music. I plug it into the mic jack of my laptop and use Audacity to record. I just sing and play at the same time.
I probably would invest a bit, but I have no idea what equipment.

[jkim]

I'd say that pretty good quality if it's just your mic jack on your laptop.

I myself was thinking about getting this which is a pretty good price considering the interface itself is around $150.  I haven't heard stellar reviews for it though.  And...I suck at singing.  Drats.

[hans]

I think you'd hear a huge improvement by getting a condenser mic and a real mic preamp (or even a cheap mixer). The SM58 is fine for your vocals but a condenser will be much better for your guitar work. Much less hiss. Oddly enough, your cables can make a huge difference too but your hardware is your bottleneck for now. Even a better mic preamp/audio interface will make your SM58 sound tons better.
A cheap mic pre that I highly recommend is a DMP3. You should be able to find one for $150 or less. Plenty of gain to play with Then use the line in on your audio card (which usually has a much better S/N ratio).

[Rob]

tgm is definitely right about condensors. Just a note of caution though, they pick up everything, fan noise, traffic, birds. You do need a quiet room.

Another suggestion (that may get shot down ). Behringer make some low-cost mixers with phantom power that work well with condensors. They also make reasonable mics, as do Samson.

Don't be tempted by the Samson USB mic. Pretty good quality, but the drivers (allegedly) suck. Minimum 23ms latency

[Rob]

Oh, and I liked Sometimes better too.

[hans]

I'm not going dis behringer too badly. They get the job done for a cheap price. The biggest problem with getting any behringer product is the quality control. Don't expect to give it to your children years down the road.

This seems like a decent deal for a mic package for a low $$$:
http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=31445&Category=Microphones

I'm a big fan of the MXL603s and since they now have the 604 model you can get a pretty good deal on them. They sound really good on acoustic guitar.

[Rob]

Wow, that's a hell of a deal. Shame it's in the States, or I'd be seriously tempted. The 603's the little end-fire one, correct? How's the 2001?

edit>> Damn, the best UK price I can find on the 603s alone is about $120. I'm tempted to order one from the States...

edit2>> Ebay is my friend.. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GET-BOTH-MICS-MARSHALL-MXL-2001-and-MXL-603-MICROPHONE_W0QQitemZ7382035801QQcategoryZ15198QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yeah, I've heard Behringer can be "variable". I have one of their 6-channel mini mixers, and it ain't the quietest in the world, but for $50 odd *shrugs*

[hans]

The general concensus is the 2001 is blah. Really, you can think of it like paying $100 for the 603 and getting a free mic that they can't sell on it's own. It works but it's nothing spectacular.