Anyone know any good music recording devices(mics and such) that I can connect to my iMac g4. I am looking to record some of my music and I was wondering what would be good for a beginner to intermediate person. What software would you suggest also?! Thanks in advance!!!
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Good Microphone for Music Recording?
- Thread starter swahilibill
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I am also interested in music recroding! I intend to buy Imic from the apple store. SOunds like a great USB input device for mics and instruments! As software I heard Cubasis is great for G4...but I have a G3 so I dont know if that would be so good for me. Audacity is also available as shareware or demo. Cant remember. Any reviews or comments about Imic and softwares appreciated!
Are you interested in multi-tracking, or just live recording? It makes a big difference in whether to use an omnidirectional or unidirectional mic.
Are you interested in recording your music to sell it, or just for your own listening? Professional mics will give you much better sound quality, but will need to be put through a mixing board.
My favorite mic for recording instruments is the Shure SM57. For voices, the Shure SM58. They are probably the most popular mics arounds. However, I have only ever used them through a mixing board or directly into a 4-track tape recorder. I can think of a way to put one directly into your iMac, but it involves 2 adapters. There might be a single adapter that would do the job, but I don't know how good it would sound.
Chris
Are you interested in recording your music to sell it, or just for your own listening? Professional mics will give you much better sound quality, but will need to be put through a mixing board.
My favorite mic for recording instruments is the Shure SM57. For voices, the Shure SM58. They are probably the most popular mics arounds. However, I have only ever used them through a mixing board or directly into a 4-track tape recorder. I can think of a way to put one directly into your iMac, but it involves 2 adapters. There might be a single adapter that would do the job, but I don't know how good it would sound.
Chris
You have 2 options:
1. The cheap beginner: That would consist in getting any soft that does the job and use any good cheap microphone like an AKG 57 or 58. Now, any good microphone has balanced conection (XLR) and you need a small console or you can get a really cheap mic that comes with a 1/4 plug and use an adapter to a 1/3 (mini plug) and have the job done just for a hobbie.
2. The serious beginner: We are talking about $600 or a bit more. You can get something that is called the M-Box that comes with the protools LE (www.digidesign.com) and get a Condenser microphone even a creap one that is about $150. Now, you are gonna get a sound of such good quality that you are gonna drop the first oftion so fast. A condenser microphone (it is a kind of microphone, every bran produces it) is a mic that takes power from the console or your audio interface (like the M-Box) and amplify the original signal many times from the microphon diafragma, that means that you will listen to more details of the originals sound than using a cheap microphone.
If you just want to fool around works with option #1, if you are getting greative and have some money get #2, specially because you can not impruve the quality of what was recorded with a cheap microphone. May be things here and there but not that much.
That is my penny.
BTW, both systems works with any G3 computer, all you need is ram, at list 256 to be incredible happy.
1. The cheap beginner: That would consist in getting any soft that does the job and use any good cheap microphone like an AKG 57 or 58. Now, any good microphone has balanced conection (XLR) and you need a small console or you can get a really cheap mic that comes with a 1/4 plug and use an adapter to a 1/3 (mini plug) and have the job done just for a hobbie.
2. The serious beginner: We are talking about $600 or a bit more. You can get something that is called the M-Box that comes with the protools LE (www.digidesign.com) and get a Condenser microphone even a creap one that is about $150. Now, you are gonna get a sound of such good quality that you are gonna drop the first oftion so fast. A condenser microphone (it is a kind of microphone, every bran produces it) is a mic that takes power from the console or your audio interface (like the M-Box) and amplify the original signal many times from the microphon diafragma, that means that you will listen to more details of the originals sound than using a cheap microphone.
If you just want to fool around works with option #1, if you are getting greative and have some money get #2, specially because you can not impruve the quality of what was recorded with a cheap microphone. May be things here and there but not that much.
That is my penny.
BTW, both systems works with any G3 computer, all you need is ram, at list 256 to be incredible happy.
A good medium beginner option is a portable MiniDisc Recorder (Buy a Sharp if you can find one, Sony's have far less control) and the best mic you can afford. That way you can keep your mic around.
Sony makes a good single-point stereo mic for around $75. But I'd head to Sound Professionals and buy something from them. They make very nice and affordable products.
You can even get your iMic cheaper there!
Sony makes a good single-point stereo mic for around $75. But I'd head to Sound Professionals and buy something from them. They make very nice and affordable products.
You can even get your iMic cheaper there!
It's right that both microphones are still very popular even though they are pretty old, but both mikes you normally use for live performances on stage, but not in a studio environment. Especially the SM58 doesn't sound that great, people just use it because it is a classic and very robust. But for recording voices in a studio situation I never would even consider it and I also never saw one being used for that purpose. It's just not made for that.
I think it would really help to know first, what our friend wants to do exactly and how much he is willing to spend before giving any tips.
groovebuster
It all depends on taste, style and soundsource. I agree, the sm58 is not a typical studio-mic (for vocals anyway), but hey, Steve Tyler uses it as his main mic on almost every aerosmith album, and he sur is not alone...
If you want a nice clean sound (or at least the option, you can always make it sound worse in your software... you have to go for a condenser-mic instead of a dynamic one.
To be as versatile as possible without spending too much... I'd go for a cheap Rode microphone (nt1 or 2) Extraordinary quality for the price. That goes for the whole Rode range.. I own a NTK which cost me about $600 but sounds like a $2000 Neumann...
If you want a nice clean sound (or at least the option, you can always make it sound worse in your software...
you have to go for a condenser-mic instead of a dynamic one.To be as versatile as possible without spending too much... I'd go for a cheap Rode microphone (nt1 or 2) Extraordinary quality for the price. That goes for the whole Rode range.. I own a NTK which cost me about $600 but sounds like a $2000 Neumann...
Low Cost Condenser
If you do go the mbox rout, try looking at an Oktava MK316. It's got a good warm quality, excellant for accoustic guitar, vocals. Bets thing is it's cheap as hell. guitar center has marked them down to $99. I have one and i use it for voice over demo's and radio spots. I also have a rode (which is much more expensive) but the oktava should be a good mic to get used to audio recording with. The Mbox is a pretty nice piece of equipment. Good luck and have fun.
If you do go the mbox rout, try looking at an Oktava MK316. It's got a good warm quality, excellant for accoustic guitar, vocals. Bets thing is it's cheap as hell. guitar center has marked them down to $99. I have one and i use it for voice over demo's and radio spots. I also have a rode (which is much more expensive) but the oktava should be a good mic to get used to audio recording with. The Mbox is a pretty nice piece of equipment. Good luck and have fun.
I'm looking to do some acoustic guitar recording too, and the internal mic on my iBook is just not cutting it anymore. It's useful for recording little clips of what I'm playing that I use as reminders the next day. I can't really do anything else with the recordings because of the poor quality and hard drive noises that it captures.
I looked at the digidesign site to read up on the Mbox and it sounds nice. I want to get into all that stuff eventually, but I'm not ready to drop $500 on anything yet. Is there a way I can buy a decent mic like the one trebblekicked mentioned and run it into my iBook? I can't tell if the iMic will help me here or not.
I looked at the digidesign site to read up on the Mbox and it sounds nice. I want to get into all that stuff eventually, but I'm not ready to drop $500 on anything yet. Is there a way I can buy a decent mic like the one trebblekicked mentioned and run it into my iBook? I can't tell if the iMic will help me here or not.
More questions
I live in New Orleans and enjoy recording live music. I have two professional mics and a tascam DAT. Unfortunately I dont have anyway to get the digitial recording from the DAT into my 12" powerbook. What is the cheapest option. My DAT is actually on the brink and I was wondering if there is a way to plug the same mics into the mac through a USB or firewire and some kind of adaptor. Do you need a preamp or is there software you could use. I've also been searching for an MP3 recorder that could replace my DAT but dont want to go the minidisc route. And I need to be able to have some control over signal levels. I would love to hear suggestions for the mobile recorder.
I live in New Orleans and enjoy recording live music. I have two professional mics and a tascam DAT. Unfortunately I dont have anyway to get the digitial recording from the DAT into my 12" powerbook. What is the cheapest option. My DAT is actually on the brink and I was wondering if there is a way to plug the same mics into the mac through a USB or firewire and some kind of adaptor. Do you need a preamp or is there software you could use. I've also been searching for an MP3 recorder that could replace my DAT but dont want to go the minidisc route. And I need to be able to have some control over signal levels. I would love to hear suggestions for the mobile recorder.
Which type of mic you're going to buy depends greatly on what you'll be using it for. Drums, vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bass, acoustic bass, something else?
Because I'm on a severely restricted budget, I went to Radio Shack and got myself an Optimus 33-3018 cardioid mic for setting in front of my guitar amp. I'm sure everyone will laugh, but it's perfectly suitable for personal recording and sounds just fine to me. Your talent is much more important than the microphone. A ****ty guitarist is a ****ty guitarist whether or not he has a $2000 mic pointed at him.
As for getting the mic into your computer, you could use the Mbox, but that's $500. Have a look at other USB interfaces like the M-Audio Duo ($230), which is basically the same thing, and the Edirol UA20 ($180). The iMic is the cheapest solution, but you do get what you pay for.
As far as software, Audacity is free, but very weak. There is good software for well under $100 like SoundStudio, Spark, etc. if you look at Versiontracker, and really great software for over that.
Because I'm on a severely restricted budget, I went to Radio Shack and got myself an Optimus 33-3018 cardioid mic for setting in front of my guitar amp. I'm sure everyone will laugh, but it's perfectly suitable for personal recording and sounds just fine to me. Your talent is much more important than the microphone. A ****ty guitarist is a ****ty guitarist whether or not he has a $2000 mic pointed at him.
As for getting the mic into your computer, you could use the Mbox, but that's $500. Have a look at other USB interfaces like the M-Audio Duo ($230), which is basically the same thing, and the Edirol UA20 ($180). The iMic is the cheapest solution, but you do get what you pay for.
As far as software, Audacity is free, but very weak. There is good software for well under $100 like SoundStudio, Spark, etc. if you look at Versiontracker, and really great software for over that.
Re: More questions
All you would need to record the DAT perfectly into your computer is an audio interface with 48+kHz sampling and a digital input to match the DAT player's digital output. One option would be the M-Audio Duo ($230), but I'm not sure that's the cheapest option. Otherwise you could use an iMic, which is very cheap, but you would have to go through analog to do it that way.
I have used both with very good results, both live and in studio. They stick around because they work great.
Chris
i have windows and ok well ive gotten a bit desperate and frustrated at the barren results for my efforts and searches
my predicament:
i am 15 years old and have been recording on my computer for a little while, i play alot of instruments and do complete songs by myself (talk about being a social pariah)
what im looking for is a microphone that i can use to record my brass instruments, which is also compatible with a LOW budget, as in less than 100 dollers
i need advice pleeeeaeeeease
frustrated at the barren results for my efforts and searchesmy predicament:
i am 15 years old and have been recording on my computer for a little while, i play alot of instruments and do complete songs by myself (talk about being a social pariah)
what im looking for is a microphone that i can use to record my brass instruments, which is also compatible with a LOW budget, as in less than 100 dollers
i need advice pleeeeaeeeease