[Trombone-l] Home recording setup

Mon Jul 3 13:06:12 CDT 2006

Are you sure you want to record in MONO?  If you really only want to hear 
what notes were played and the rhythms, then this sounds good.  But what 
about tone quality?  What about the nature of the attack?   What about junk 
in the sound and noise and stuff?

Using only a single Shure SM57 (which is a great dynamic mic. . .don't get 
me wrong. . .this is the defacto standard of snare mics for recording 
studios) will give you just a monaural sound image.  This is a great dynamic 
mic which is near impossible to destroy and which is found in front of 
almost every rock and R&B band horn section.

I find decide you DO want to get a better picture of your sound in the 
environment if you at least use a stereo pair or a pre-set X-Y or similar 
type mic.  As an alternative I've been using a mic that came with the 
M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 which is a T-shaped set of two electret condenser 
mics.  It is available for less than 90 bucks.  Alternatively, and as a 
great way to start a collection of mics, you could get a mounting bar and 
another SM57 and you would be able to put up decent stereo sound.

There are several different available stereo mic set ups.  Also there are so 
many smallish condenser mics which can easily be set on a stereo rail 
(always available at any Guitar Center, mind you!)

The one problem I can see with the Shure is that it rolls off in a straight 
fashion below 200hz (yes!  that means we definitely are not flat even down 
in low tenor bone, regular bass bone and tuba range).  By the time the 
frequency makes 50hz we are at -10db response (that is quite a drop. . .for 
those not used to this stuff).  I'd think you could dial in gain of maybe 
6db with a two-octave wide Q and you could build back some low and mid low. 
Best thing to do is experiment.  I'd start just recording pure sound with 
the mics and then dial in any compensating EQ afterwards.  Later, If I 
figured out exactly what worked I might tend to "print the thing" with 
compensating EQ.

Remember our trombone is a mid-low and low frequency sound source.  The 
"color" comes from higher frequency content, but the fundamentals are really 
quite low, indeed.  (e.g. pedal Bb is around 52hz).

Once again, this is great to just "take notes" on what you did in performing 
basic notes and rhythms. Not so good to be capturing what the tonal 
qualities were.

Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Burlison" <wburliso at rochester.rr.com>
To: <Trombone-L at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 12:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Home recording setup

>I have an M-Audio FastTrack USB that works pretty good.  It has an
> XLR input, a 1/4inch input, and goes into my iBook via USB.  There's
> no preamp, I believe, but it's a good system.  The MobilePre is the
> next step up from the FastTrack, but if you already have a preamp,
> you wouldn't need the MobilePre, right?
>
> Your manual should tell you what you need to go from the preamp to
> the computer.  My guess is you need something like the FastTrack.
>
> On Jul 2, 2006, at 2:44 PM, Jeff Albert wrote:
>
>> If your cpu has a mini plug in, you might just need an 1/4 in to
>> mini cord
>> to go from the Buddy to the cpu.  I think a better solution would
>> be to get
>> a USB or Firewire audio interface that has a preamp built in.  I
>> like M-Aido
>> stuff.  i use a Firewire 410, but the Mobile Pre USB might be more
>> what you
>> need.
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> On 7/2/06, Nick Mahon <nickmahon at rogers.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm trying to get a decent setup to record my practicing.  Based on
>>> research and recommendations, I've bought a Shure SM57 mic and an M-
>>> Audio Audio Buddy preamp.  I want to hook this setup up to my iMac
>>> (which does have one of those mini PC microphone inputs).
>>>
>>> So in summary:
>>> Shure EM57 ---- XLR Cord ----> M-Audio Audio Buddy ----- TRS Output
>>> -----> ???? ------> iMac
>>>
>>> Do I need to buy a USB or Firewire interface to hook the preamp to my
>>> computer (if so, recommendations)?  Or can I use some sort of
>>> converter to convert the TRS cord to hook to my computer?  I'm not
>>> looking for amazing sound quality, just something better than my
>>> internal mic.
>>>
>>> While I'm at it, anyone have a preferred mic stand?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any help.
>>> Nick Mahon
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Trombone-l mailing list
>>> Trombone-l at maillists.samford.edu
>>> http://maillists.samford.edu/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> www.jeffalbert.com
>>
>> www.scratchmybrain.com
>>
>> www.pepperenterprises.com
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Trombone-l at maillists.samford.edu
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>
> Wayne Burlison
> "Don't send forwards. "
>
> Fight the worldwide "spamidemic"...go to snopes.com to check hoaxes
> before forwarding, and use blind copy (BC or BCC) when addressing
> messages to multiple people.
>
>
>
>
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