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Thread: less expensive equipment

  1. #1

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    Default less expensive equipment

    hey guys havent been to the forums in awhile, just been a busy bee! anyways i was looking around and i couldnt find another topic like this one, or maybe there is i dont know. anyways, i thought id ask a few questions that have been on my mind for a long time.

    regarding less expensive recording mixers, microphones, or cables; what are the good and bad points about them, how do they rate against the more costly ones, can the microphones be equalized to replicate the properties of the bigger boys, and just any general things to know about proper use and care of less expensive equipment in general? do different types of instrument cables affect the actual sound of the microphone and make it noticeably better, and if so how? what type of room do i need to take advantage of a setup with fewer or more microphones used, and does the room need to be climate controlled or vented, and what shape should the room be? my final question, is it possible to mic your drums with megaphones, or some type of intercom system?

    you have my grattitude for any advice you can give, thanks.
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  2. #2

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    hey mate.
    The only advice i can offer on this subject (as am not particularly experienced) is that you can use one microphone suspended from the roof, above your kit, inside an old, open umbrella.

    Like in the attachment


    Take an old umbrella and put the 1 mic through it. Then suspend it above your kit. The umbrella helps with soundwaves bouncing back from the ceiling and should help give an even coverage of the drums.

    If you have another mic you could use it for your bass drum.

    Thats the cheapest method i know.

    Hope this helps
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  3. #3

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    Wow, huge questions you threw out there. Cheap for one person is expensive for another. I think Audix D6 mic is a work horse for the bass drum and is not really expensive in my opinion. A Neuman mic can go for up to six thousand dollars vs a sm57 (another cheap studio mic). And yes you can here a huge difference between the two. So I am not really sure where to go with your multiple questions. If you have specifics throw them out there and we will se what we can do.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by DantheDrummer View Post
    hey mate.
    The only advice i can offer on this subject (as am not particularly experienced) is that you can use one microphone suspended from the roof, above your kit, inside an old, open umbrella.

    Like in the attachment


    Take an old umbrella and put the 1 mic through it. Then suspend it above your kit. The umbrella helps with soundwaves bouncing back from the ceiling and should help give an even coverage of the drums.

    If you have another mic you could use it for your bass drum.

    Thats the cheapest method i know.

    Hope this helps
    Wow, I've never heard of anything like that before, I should try it.
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  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by xweasel View Post
    Wow, I've never heard of anything like that before, I should try it.

    Hope it works for you because ive never tried it lol
    Ive heard that it works very well though because the umbrella stops sound bouncing of the roof and walls and creating a "fuzzy" sound. Because it is basically one overhead, it should get equal sound levels for your cymbals, snare and toms.
    I would reccomend a 2nd mic for the bass though as an overhead will not pic it up very well.

    Again. Hope it helps
    www.youtube.com/dannyatcranny

    PHROGGE'S AQUARIAN ARMY

  6. #6

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    Dan, you truly missed your calling as an artist. Is that image copyrighted?

    In all seriousness, the setup seems to make sense. I might give that a shot since I'm a cheapskate.
    Robert

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  7. #7

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    Default Re: less expensive equipment

    What you will find with cheaper gear is probably a smaller dynamics range on the microphones. Instead of reproducing say 20 Hz it only allows 30. This would mean the bass tones of the mic wouldn't be as well produced as the 20Hz rated mic.

    As far as cheaper cables, I've not noticed any difference in noise problems but maybe the ends won't hold up as well over the long run of plugging and unplugging for every gig. You might also run into poorer solder connects that may need to be resoldered over time.

    For mixers, less usually will mean fewer channels in which to work with. Real Low-end boards (not necessarily cheaper) may have more background noise or other options don't get included that you might want.

    But cheap should work well for the home DIY'ers.
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  8. #8

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    lol lagerhead.
    That was done on the computer in like 10 secs lol
    But its very good init.
    www.youtube.com/dannyatcranny

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  9. #9

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    The main difference I've noticed between cheaper mikes and more expensive models (for example I have a Shure SM58 and a Shure Beta 58) is the more expensive mike has more sensitivity which means more signal from the mike, which means better signal to noise ratio. As far as cables go, check the diameter of the conductors the bigger the diameter the better it will conduct and the more signal you'll get to the mixer. Note that the diameter of wire goes up as the numbers get smaller so a 12 conductor is bigger than a 14, which is bigger than a 20 you want cables with at least 20 conductor for most applications and lengths. Shielding is also skimped on in cheaper cables. If you're going to use cheaper cables keep the lengths down to just what is required.
    I would get the best mikes you can afford, and if you have to skimp on the cables, they can be upgraded later.
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  10. #10

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    The mixer i got (behringer xenyx) woulds probably be considered cheap compared to something like a firewire mixer. The main difference is my mixer will record all the mics into 1 track. The firewire, firepod mixer will route them all to different tracks so you can tweak each mic independantly

  11. #11

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    just a digital camera can do, i even made a drum mp3 with only the laptop built in webcam, the other few drum mp3 with my friends digital camera. i upload to youtube then use youtube to mp3 freeware to convert it, can even convert to high quality bit rate, about 256kbps, no need mic, no need studio

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by DantheDrummer View Post
    hey mate.
    The only advice i can offer on this subject (as am not particularly experienced) is that you can use one microphone suspended from the roof, above your kit, inside an old, open umbrella.

    Like in the attachment


    Take an old umbrella and put the 1 mic through it. Then suspend it above your kit. The umbrella helps with soundwaves bouncing back from the ceiling and should help give an even coverage of the drums.

    If you have another mic you could use it for your bass drum.

    Thats the cheapest method i know.

    Hope this helps
    im gonna have to try this
    The only way to catch a butterfly is never waiting for the wings.

  13. #13

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    Welcome to Drum Chat Eddttanhh! I think you get a win for the most inexpensive way to record.
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  14. #14

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    someone give him a cookie!, but anyway, that is a genius way of getting all the sounds of you kit

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